I feel thge same about falling underneath the camera rather than on top of it. It would seem churlish not such a great composition, given the risk ran taking it.
Sea folks claim that the reason why humans normally don't eat seagulls is because they taste like rubber. I can imagine by and large the same applies to him.
Well, not too sure about that. A couple of yahoos driving by opened their truck door into me (I was on the side of a gravel access road). They thought it was very funny. I am surprised that I am not bruised all over. Many years of fly fishing taught me to protect my flyrod (or camera) when falling. Sacrifice the body for the gear. I would have sacrificed them if they had come back.
The simple fact of taking pictures of a seemingly weird and purposeless nature does seem to invoke aggression with some. An online friend of mine got insulted by a truck driver while taking pictures of a field. If I remember well he actually pulled over in order to make sure his insult hit the target. I was once taking pictures of an industrial building when a tiny window on the second floor flung open and a human head popped out shouting "Can you see it? Hey, can you see it?". Food for Dr Phil