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Letter from FT reader in issue 370 describes a seagull plucking a pigeon out of the air and eating it. Anyone else witnessed a seagull acting like an eagle?
 
They'll certainly eat a pigeon given the chance, as youtube will attest. I wouldn't put it past the buggers to pluck an unwary one in flight occasionally.
 
It's only a matter of time before one makes off with a small dog...
 
not really an attack as such..

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/09/seagull-lobster-roll-picture-maine

“It was the most picturesque place,” she said. “You’re standing on the seashore overlooking the lighthouse. I don’t really take a lot of food pictures, but I knew this needed to be documented.”

The picture in all its uncropped glory – or horror. Photograph: AP

She spent about 20 seconds framing her shot, so she could capture the sandwich and the Nubble Lighthouse in the background. As she took the picture, she said, she felt something rustle in her hand. She thought she had dropped the lobster roll.
“That’s when I realized the seagull had swooped in and I hadn’t even seen it coming,” she said. “It’s a really smart bird and it all happened so fast.”
Before she had time to shoo the bird away, Jessop said, it was feasting on the lobster roll with “all of [its] friends”.
 
She spent about 20 seconds framing her shot

Ah now see, that's where she went wrong. 20 seconds is easily long enough for a seagull to plan and execute the operation. Lighting three gaspers off one match to give a sniper time to load, aim and fire - amateur stuff in seagull terms.
 
i liked this bit

“I was really embarrassed,” she said. “You hear stories of people taking crazy Instagram pictures and hurting themselves and I was like, ‘Oh my God, you are now that person. You just wasted $21.50 for a picture.’”
 
It could be worse. Here’s the magpie situation in Oz:

e89050b0cf5b42ab32ac9872801c3afa


The recommended action:

Cable-ties-helmet.jpg


maximus otter
 
It could be worse. Here’s the magpie situation in Oz:

e89050b0cf5b42ab32ac9872801c3afa


The recommended action:

Cable-ties-helmet.jpg


maximus otter


They're fair buggers to be candid.

I like to feed 'em in winter, which they remember in spring...my dog though, who will chase birds, is building up some animosity and come spring it'll be on.

And yes, that helmet is a thing - one other method has been painting eyes on the back of your helmet.

The funny thing is that nobody turns a head when this example comes pedalling down the street.
 
Seagulls keep couple hostage in their own home for six days by attacking them every time they leave house

Nesting seagulls kept a couple hostage in their own home for six days by attacking them every time they tried to leave their house.

Roy and Brenda Pickard, 71, say they were constantly confronted by two squawking adult seagulls after two chicks ended up on their roof.

Mr Pickard, 77, was once so viciously attacked that he ended up with a bloody head wound that needed hospital treatment.

Speaking about how difficult it has been to complete simple tasks while stranded inside, Mr Pickard from Knott End near Morecambe Bay, Lancs., said: "The whole thing has been terrible.

"I've not been able to go out of the front door. If I try to get out of the door, the two adult birds are right there and I've got no chance. It's genuinely frightening."


Full Article:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...e-hostage-home-six-days-attacking-every-time/
 
Seagulls keep couple hostage in their own home for six days by attacking them every time they leave house

Once again l recommend the “Three S” method:

Shoot
Shovel
Shut the [hell] up

Really, can you imagine this headline being printed in 1919? These vicious pest birds would have been a pink mist about ten seconds after their first attempt at an attack.

maximus otter
 
Now they are practising biological warfare.

Australian gulls are putting humans at risk with dangerous superbugs that they have developed after scavenging on waste and leftovers.

Scientists believe that more than one in five common silver gulls carries bacteria such as E. coli, which can cause serious urinary tract conditions, blood infections and sepsis in humans.

It is thought that the gulls’ appetite for human leftovers and waste is responsible for the growth of drug-resistant superbugs in the birds.

A study published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, led by researchers at Murdoch University in Western Australia, uncovered the widespread occurrence by testing faecal samples from the birds.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/...ugs-pose-health-risk-to-australians-njxgtdj83
 
not really an attack as such..

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/09/seagull-lobster-roll-picture-maine

“It was the most picturesque place,” she said. “You’re standing on the seashore overlooking the lighthouse. I don’t really take a lot of food pictures, but I knew this needed to be documented.”

The picture in all its uncropped glory – or horror. Photograph: AP

She spent about 20 seconds framing her shot, so she could capture the sandwich and the Nubble Lighthouse in the background. As she took the picture, she said, she felt something rustle in her hand. She thought she had dropped the lobster roll.
“That’s when I realized the seagull had swooped in and I hadn’t even seen it coming,” she said. “It’s a really smart bird and it all happened so fast.”
Before she had time to shoo the bird away, Jessop said, it was feasting on the lobster roll with “all of [its] friends”.

That is actually fantastic.

We stopped on on Conwy Quay a few weeks ago during another epic bike ride. It was one of those outdoor gourmet food days where you can try nosh from other countries.

Some stalls had meat cooking on barbecues and the seagulls were dodging under the canopies and nicking it, with the sellers shouting abuse and trying to fend them off.

I enjoyed this diverting sight while waiting for our meals, and was reminded by staff to be careful of the gulls while we ate.

I said 'Any gull trying to rob me will be the first gull in space. Or on the Moon, even!'

The Seagull Has Landed, indeed.
 
That's just reminded me, the other week I happened to look out of the window and saw a woman and her dog being divebombed by seagulls. She was frantically waving her arms around to fend them off.

This can't be a new phenomenon, but I don't remember them being that aggressive back when I was a kid.
 
This can't be a new phenomenon, but I don't remember them being that aggressive back when I was a kid.
I think they weren't.
But these days, they have become habituated to the junk food that is generally found on the street at seasides.
They may also be struggling to find insects and small fish to eat (their traditional food).
The street food is easier to find... all they need to do is follow humans.
 
Yes, I think that's it. I'm just glad there are no bears around here.
 
I'm sure it has been noted before that gulls are not necessarily seagulls. Their taste for junk-food makes them a regular feature at inland schools, where Hitchcockian scenes are played out daily. I have sometimes had a ring-side seat for the lunchtime show and settle down with my flask to enjoy the horrors, from an upstairs window. Photos would be frowned on, I know but the size of the hideous creatures increases by the year. The gulls are quite big too! :omg:
 
Strangely, our funny little cat and my pet seagull always ask very politely for breakfast and tea at exactly the same time. Having eaten they then have a staring contest in the back garden, presumably to see who blinks first. Cat usually gets bored and comes in. Next doors cat has cottoned on and whines at the front door for some nosh at the same time.
 
Get a pair of stick on eyes on the back of your hat or head if you don't ware one,
gulls like lots of things pefare to attack from the rear were you cant see them.
I have often seen Gulls take mice and a panicked greater black back can lift
a cat hanging on its leg up to a good 200ft were the cat lots it's grip the gull
survived don't know about the cat.
We often see gulls worm charming and they also lift shell fish into the air n drop
them on the slip way to get into the shells.
 
I have the book of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (which was a racket if ever there was one) and have seen the film, which is mostly sky with a seagull in the distance.
 
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