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I once heard a tale of an elderly farmer whose ill-fitting dentures were causing him pain while he worked in a field one day. Apparently he removed the dentures and set them on a fence post. Some time later he spotted a gull picking up the dentures and flying off with them. At the time I found the story implausible but perhaps it was true.
 
I was just attacked by a seagull. Kind of a daily occurrence living where I live, at this time of the year- breeding season. Tough little territorial buggers.
 
People who deliberately feed seagulls to be hit with £80 fines
By LBarton | Posted: May 01, 2017

Seaside residents and holidaymakers who feed seagulls could be fined under new council powers in an effort to stop the birds attacking people for food.

People, such as the couple filmed below near Tesco in Truro, who feed the often aggressive animals could be hit with an £80 fine as part of Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs).
Video: 3m 28s.

East Devon District Council has become the first authority in the country to take punitive action but many councillors in Cornwall will be watching the situation with interest.
Truro mayor Rob Nolan recently told Cornwall Live he is so worried about the seagull problem spiralling out of control that he was considering fines for those who feed them.

The city council has also had a demonstration by a falconer who showed how a bird of prey could efficiently deal with the seagull problem.

The action by the Devon council comes on the heels of a debate about how to tackle what has been described as a "scourge" on Britain's seaside areas.
In 2015, then Prime Minister David Cameron said a "big conversation" was needed about the threat from seagulls, and he recalled ham once being stolen from a sandwich by the birds.

While gulls are an important part of the coastal environment, their behaviour can be problematic, said East Devon District councillor Iain Chubb.
He said: "You like to see the birds, it's a nice part of the landscape, but you just don't want them to be aggressive."
The fines will be aimed at addressing habitual feeders and cafes and restaurants which do not dispose of waste food properly, he said.
"It's more a fine for where there is, say a catering establishment with bad practice of disposing of food, or there are little old ladies who like to go down and feed the seagulls," said the councillor, who holds the environment portfolio.
"It's one of those things where, if you've got somebody who is habitually feeding seagulls, it's something to say you shouldn't be doing this, there is a fine at the end of the day."
Mr Chubb described the new measure as a "final backstop" which tackles the issue where anti-litter legislation could not, and added: "There aren't going to be the police out looking for people throwing chips at birds, that's for sure."

In February MPs debated the issue ahead of breeding season, warning that pensioners had been among those attacked by the birds.

http://www.cornwalllive.com/people-...ith-80-fines/story-30305470-detail/story.html
 
Are there financial rewards for killing seagulls?
 
There can't be - they are a protected species.

"All species of gull are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. This makes it illegal to intentionally or, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, recklessly injure or kill any gull or damage or destroy an active nest or its contents."

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involve...den-advice/unwantedvisitors/gulls/thelaw.aspx

You can get licences to destroy the birds or the nests in particular situations though.
 
There can't be - they are a protected species.

"All species of gull are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. This makes it illegal to intentionally or, in Scotland and Northern Ireland, recklessly injure or kill any gull or damage or destroy an active nest or its contents."

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involve...den-advice/unwantedvisitors/gulls/thelaw.aspx

You can get licences to destroy the birds or the nests in particular situations though.

I presume if you are attacked and you kill/injure a seagull during the incident, you're not committing an offence?
 
Dunno mate - although I've just been told that it wouldn't wash in court!
 
I've posted this before here in the Star Wars thread but it surely also belongs in a seagull attack thread ..

 
The guy I spoke to said the problem with the 'self-defence' defence is that it's such an obvious/easy lie to make if you have done one in intentionally, a court will never believe you. His words:

"You'd just bloody run away wouldn't you? It's not a fucking pterodactyl."

It may surprise you to hear that he's not actually a judge.
 
The guy I spoke to said the problem with the 'self-defence' defence is that it's such an obvious/easy lie to make if you have done one in intentionally, a court will never believe you. His words:

"You'd just bloody run away wouldn't you? It's not a fucking pterodactyl."

It may surprise you to hear that he's not actually a judge.

Self-defence would be a valid excuse for killing a seagull if you were sure it was able to kill or severely injure you. Same as if a person attacked you.


"You'd just bloody run away wouldn't you? It's not a fucking pterodactyl."

I dunno, some are big, they all have sharp beaks AND we've all seen The Birds! :eek:

Found a young herring gull in my garden last year, it looked big - quite a bit larger than a duck, y'know - and as it couldn't fly I sent for the RSPCA who came out within 40 minutes and carted it off. My cats had wisely left it alone.
 
Don't expect to gain anything of intellectual worth from this vid .... so let's go !

 
I went to Poole on Friday to snoop round the charity shops, and I always end up eatng chips on Poole quay.
One seagull actually swooped in and pinched the chip off my little wooden fork! :)
Just as well you had a wooden fork, or it might have had your finger as well!
(NB: seagulls can carry salmonella.)
 
A constant diet of take-away food has had an effect on the gulls in my neighbourhood
gulls.jpg
 
Just as well you had a wooden fork, or it might have had your finger as well!
(NB: seagulls can carry salmonella.)



Actually if I were the sort of person who doesn't much care for birds, I would have found it all a bit un-nerving!
I was surrounded by a hungry mob of black headed gulls, and they meant business!

(But my surname is 'Tough' so of course it's a case of 'Tough by name, tough by nature!':) )
 
Battle of Balbriggan: Locals in a flap over seagulls
Residents of north Dublin village can remove eggs and nests but schoolgirls blame litter

Sat, May 13, 2017, 01:00
  • Balbriggan is the subject of an experiment, one that has been provoked by years of complaints from locals about the behaviour of the gulls that have congregated in the north Dublin village in recent years.

    From May 1st, the Government has sanctioned the local community, if they are brave enough, to remove the gulls’ nests and their eggs, temporarily circumventing EU protections – but not to kill adult birds.

    Many locals have become increasingly irritated by the birds, but others believe the latest move is heavy-handed: “It’s definitely a problem for people on the beach; they swoop down,” says Kara Bissett as she sweeps the pathway outside Morelli’s ice cream parlour.

    Bissett says such incidents are not uncommon; her children were targeted in their back garden and she put up nets to stop it happening: “They were terrified. I have had them swoop at me before; it’s not a very nice experience.”

    Loreto girls’ school in the town is quite familiar with the tempers raised by the birds. Sometimes 200 birds can gather in its courtyard at lunchtime. Falcon kites and sound devices to scare them off have been tried – as many as 200 birds can gather in the courtyard at lunchtime.

    However, three pupils in the school have taken to studying the problem, rather than complain about their birds. So far, their work has appeared at the Young Scientist Exhibition. Next month, it will go to the Young Environmentalists Finals. ...
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/envi...est&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_digest
 
Now this is just nasty
Seagull rips off man’s testicle as he sunbathes naked
By The Editor | August 7, 2017




A rogue seagull ripped off a man’s right testicle as he sunbathed naked in his back garden, it has emerged.

Experts say the fearsome bird mistook the man’s exposed privates as a couple of birds eggs and dropped in for a tasty snack.

As the man – who has not been named – dozed on his patio in his detached home near Ipswich, the seagull swooped from the sky, and with one bite of its beak ripped away the right testicle.

He woke screaming in agony, and saw the bird flying away with one of his ‘crown jewels’ wedged in its yellow beak.

Etc...

http://www.suffolkgazette.com/news/seagull-testicle/
 
This story features in the Suffolk Gazette, which also announced the invention of the world's first cordless garden hose.

HoseAway ingeniously runs via wireless internet technology, which means there is no need to lug the traditional rubber house around the garden.

And another key benefit is not having to spend ages carefully rolling the hose back up afterwards.

Householders can even save money because there is now no need for them to install an expensive outside tap.

Costing just £19.99, HoseAway has already been featured at the Chelsea Flower Show and on the BBC’s popular Gardeners’ World programme.

I've ordered one.
 
I've a feeling I should have drank more coffee before posting that one :oops:
 
I saw a seagull today attempting to bully some summer visiting swoopy thing too far away to identify (possibly a House Martin). It awkwardly lumbered around after it for at least a couple of minutes. It was a bit like how I would imagine a Boeing 747 trying to attack a Mig29 would look. Never seen that behaviour before. I was pretty surprised by it and wonder what the seagulls problem could have been. They aren't competitors for anything that I can think of.
 
I saw a seagull today attempting to bully some summer visiting swoopy thing too far away to identify (possibly a House Martin). It awkwardly lumbered around after it for at least a couple of minutes. It was a bit like how I would imagine a Boeing 747 trying to attack a Mig29 would look. Never seen that behaviour before. I was pretty surprised by it and wonder what the seagulls problem could have been. They aren't competitors for anything that I can think of.

I noticed that the oystercatchers who had been nesting on the roof at Bigphoot Towers didn't take any nonsense from gulls. Even the chicks would have a go at them.
I can't blame the gulls for making a sharp exit, apart from the racket the osytercatchers made, having that long beak anywhere near your nether regions is a cause for concern.
 
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