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Attacks By Seagulls

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GingerTabby said:
The Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, has "pardoned" a guest whose actions unintentionally resulted in seagull mayhem in April 2001:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43632914

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, his name isn't Frank Spencer.
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Wonderful, really gave me a laugh on a horrible morning before work! I loved the photo of him telling the reception staff what happened. :clap:
 
This very brave woman is studying the habits of Torry Eagles. Full story at link.

She will compare the diets of "healthy" gulls on the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth with the urban diets of birds in Aberdeen.

While island birds feast on fish and clams, the city birds have adapted to what is available, which could be a diet of chips, bread and ice cream.

The research will explore how the food the gulls digest may impact them later in life.

It is hoped the results from the project might explain why Aberdeen's gulls can be so aggressive.
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Seems pretty obvious to me that eating junk food will change the seagull's behaviour for the worse, just like it does in humans.
 
I took my mum to the seaside recently, as we walked along the prom eating hotdogs a seagull swooped down and took a bite out of mums hotdog and finger, luckily we were near my car and first aid box. It was pretty scary, she won't eat food now along the seafront, she had to have a course of antibiotics to ward off any infections.
 
Destiny. said:
I took my mum to the seaside recently, as we walked along the prom eating hotdogs a seagull swooped down and took a bite out of mums hotdog and finger, luckily we were near my car and first aid box. It was pretty scary, she won't eat food now along the seafront, she had to have a course of antibiotics to ward off any infections.
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Nasty, hope she's okay.
 
The previous owner of my house used to feed gulls and they were a bloody nuisance and very aggressive if they didn't get fed, even trying to get into the window if it was open. I finally found a non-lethal way of getting rid of them - if found some gull alarm calls on the net and copied them to my phone and set up a bluetooth speaker by the window. Whenever they appeared they'd get a blast of "GET AWAY IT'S DANGEROUS!!!" in gullese. After a few days they stopped. Never had any bother again.
 
Bigphoot2 said:
The previous owner of my house used to feed gulls and they were a bloody nuisance and very aggressive if they didn't get fed, even trying to get into the window if it was open. I finally found a non-lethal way of getting rid of them - if found some gull alarm calls on the net and copied them to my phone and set up a bluetooth speaker by the window. Whenever they appeared they'd get a blast of "GET AWAY IT'S DANGEROUS!!!" in gullese. After a few days they stopped. Never had any bother again.
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Brilliant! Have they got alarm calls for black flies?
 
Bigphoot2 said:
The previous owner of my house used to feed gulls and they were a bloody nuisance and very aggressive if they didn't get fed, even trying to get into the window if it was open. I finally found a non-lethal way of getting rid of them - if found some gull alarm calls on the net and copied them to my phone and set up a bluetooth speaker by the window. Whenever they appeared they'd get a blast of "GET AWAY IT'S DANGEROUS!!!" in gullese. After a few days they stopped. Never had any bother again.
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I call the buggers flying rats. I share your distain of seagulls. Once while fishing numerous gulls decided to swoop my boat. They came very close, nervy darn things. It only occurred once but t was quite alarming.
 
Jim said:
I call the buggers flying rats. I share your distain of seagulls. Once while fishing numerous gulls decided to swoop my boat. They came very close, nervy darn things. It only occurred once but t was quite alarming.
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It's when they get up close that you realise just how big they are.
 
Destiny. said:
I took my mum to the seaside recently, as we walked along the prom eating hotdogs a seagull swooped down and took a bite out of mums hotdog and finger, luckily we were near my car and first aid box. It was pretty scary, she won't eat food now along the seafront, she had to have a course of antibiotics to ward off any infections.
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Hope your mum's finger is getting better, Destiny. Sounds quite terrifying.
 
I live in Plymouth England and I've never, ever, seen a seagull swoop down to pinch somebody's food here, although I hear it sometimes happens in other coastal towns.
Perhaps our Plymouth gulls are too civilised to do that swooping stuff..:)
 
Jim said:
I call the buggers flying rats. I share your distain of seagulls. Once while fishing numerous gulls decided to swoop my boat. They came very close, nervy darn things. It only occurred once but t was quite alarming.
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I caught one once, I was uptiding (casting my line rather than dropping it straight down for non sea anglers) and the bugger grabbed my bait mid-air.

They are mostly feathers, quite light. I untangled it and away it flew away unscathed.

When nesting they have a habit of swooping down when we are in the garden. I just hold a broom head up above me and they just attack that instead.
 
First time Techy and I cycled to Llandudno there were loads of people stuffing pies, candy floss, hot dogs etc and the seagulls were plundering mercilessly. HIGHLY entertaining. I was falling about laughing at the screaming and arm-flapping.
 
Waymarker said:
I live in Plymouth England and I've never, ever, seen a seagull swoop down to pinch somebody's food here, although I hear it sometimes happens in other coastal towns.
Perhaps our Plymouth gulls are too civilised to do that swooping stuff..:)
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I'm in Plymouth reasonably often for work, and have barely even seen the buggers compared to other coastal towns, come to think of it.

There's actually posters up around my work advising people that seagulls will attack you and try and steal your food on the short walk from the main building to the canteen. Happens with quite alarming regularity - they're nasty and persistent things. They tend to swarm around the main taxi rank at around 3-4am on a Sunday morning, too - after most of the revellers have gone home, so they can pick up all the discarded chips and bits of kebab, it's a real feeding frenzy.

I've had a nip on the finger from one as it swooped down behind me and knocked a sandwich out of my hand, and another grab the lid of a takeaway chip carton I was holding and just fling the whole thing on the floor. It's quite astonishing how fearless they can get, though many of them are likely the result of generations living in the same coastal towns and cities, and see nothing unusual about living alongside humans to such an extent. You don't see the same behaviour from other species of gull that tend to spend more time by the water than you do from herring gulls.

I like to think that I'm fond of all animals, and know that seagulls only behave the way they do because we're so wasteful as a species that we've given them all the junk food and rubbish they can eat, but I still can't stand the bloody things.
 
Yossarian said:
..they can pick up all the discarded chips and bits of kebab, it's a real feeding frenzy....we've given them all the junk food and rubbish they can eat, but I still can't stand the bloody things.
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Let's give seagulls "hygiene operative" medals for keeping our streets clean by picking up all the bits of food that'd otherwise be left laying around and going mouldy..:)
There are lots of benches along Plymouth seafront where people (including me) sit munching stuff, but like I said, I've never, ever seen our high-class gulls swoop to snatch it from people; a group of them might land and stand watching in the hope you'll toss them a morsel, but they never come closer than about 6 feet.
In fact as an experiment I sometimes taunt them by deliberately making a show of unwrapping food items and letting them see me feeding my face, but even then they never try to snatch anything.
If it happens to people on rare occasions it must be a low-class gull visitor from another town..:)
 
Water guns are the business.

A waterfront restaurant in Perth has begun arming its customers with water guns to help them fight off flocks of seagulls that are defying all attempts to stop them disrupting their dining experience.

Toby Evans, owner of 3 Sheets pizzeria, said it was a desperate measure, but the seagulls had become so good at stealing food, particularly off the plates of children, that it was affecting his business.

"We wanted to so something humanely and there's not much you can do," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-...-water-guns-to-combat-seagull-problem/9766180
 
A nicer seagull story - if you ignore the whole shop lifting thing.


Actually I'm sure I posted that here before, maybe in this very thread. Or else stole it from here before - memory is such a difficult thing to keep track of sometimes.

I once had a seagull eat a chip out of my hand on Brighton beach. Probably not good form, possibly illegal and definitely not good for the seagull, but I was thrilled. I offered it, he took it - we both seemed pleased with the bargain.
 
It's behind you...

Aberdeen community terrorised by gang of gulls
by Jon Hebditch
May 29, 2018, 6:46 am
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Councillor Martin Greig has appealed to the community around Viewfield not to feed the seagulls in the area as they are a problem to the area. Picture by Kami Thomson 25-05-18

Residents of a leafy Aberdeen community claim they are being terrorised by a gang of gulls.

Homeowners say there is a “constant” problem with about 15 to 20 “permanent” seabirds setting up home in the Seafield Crescent and Viewfield Avenue areas.

They have complained of the noisy birds swooping on people to attack them and causing a “constant racket” in the early hours of the morning.

But city council staff are unable to do much to help people living on the affected streets.

The local authority website states that environmental health officers have “no statutory duties or powers to take action against gulls”.

Only the owner or occupier of a property can take measures to help prevent the large seabirds nesting on buildings.

Some of the residents have been forced to install their own measures to deter the feathered pests.

etc
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https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...erdeen-community-terrorised-by-gang-of-gulls/
 
Get ready for Gulls on Acid!
Flying ant day 2018 will come early and cause seagulls to be tripping out on acid
'Flying ant day' is expected to come earlier with millions more insects than usual - which is great news for seagulls
By
Max Channon
  • 08:52, 30 MAY 2018
  • UPDATED14:29, 30 MAY 2018

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VIDEO UNAVAILABLE
WHAT IS FLYING ANT DAY?



Seagulls will soon be getting off their beaks on acid from millions of flying ants.

Experts are warning that it should expect an early invasion of flying ants - with millions more of the insects than usual - experts have warned.

They say the nation's ant population is normally 150 billion, but this has risen to 200 billion thanks to the recent warm weather.

And now Pest control bosses are taking record numbers of calls and reporting a 148 per cent increase in the past two months, according to the Daily Mail.

£1 coins with new minting error are selling for £200 each
David Cross, head of the technical training academy at Rentokil Pest Control, which is based in Camberley, Surrey, said: 'Last month we saw reported ant infestations rise to levels we wouldn't usually expect until June or July.
etc
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https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/uk-world-news/seagulls-soon-tripping-out-acid-1621364
 
That's all we need

Drunk gulls found 'stinking of alcohol'
  • 3 hours ago

Media captionDrunk gulls have trouble standing, but most recover after vomiting
Drunken gulls "stinking of alcohol" are being rescued by the RSPCA along the south coast of England.

"Disoriented and confused" birds have been found in Devon and Dorset after apparently devouring brewery waste.

Officials from an RSPCA centre in West Hatch, Taunton, Somerset, said the birds struggled to stand, but seemed to recover after vomiting.

Calls to rescue drunk gulls started in mid-June. Since then, many birds with the same symptoms have been treated.

"At first the birds look like they have botulism but then, after vomiting, most seem to recover," said RSPCA officer Jo Daniel.

etc
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44736447
 
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