Gulls - are they getting worse?
Discussion
Having just returned from a week in Salcombe in Devon, is it just me or are the gulls getting worse?
By worse, i mean swopping down and taking food off people's plate while they are still eating it (which is especially bad when you have paid the thick end of £10 for a breakfast, for a gull to eat it for you!), if you ate anything outside they was always one watching you ready to pouch...there also seems to be a lot more of them now?
I've been going to Salcombe for 30 years, i cannot remember them being so numerous, bold or bloody loud!
By worse, i mean swopping down and taking food off people's plate while they are still eating it (which is especially bad when you have paid the thick end of £10 for a breakfast, for a gull to eat it for you!), if you ate anything outside they was always one watching you ready to pouch...there also seems to be a lot more of them now?
I've been going to Salcombe for 30 years, i cannot remember them being so numerous, bold or bloody loud!
Just like foxes, they've become much bolder. Why bother chasing after fishing trawlers when there's an abundance of food easily available.
I don't know why it's happened (more fast food perhaps leading to easily available food being chucked on the floor) but it is a problem. In Torquay they rip open bin liners and, at the school I used to work at, they would sit on the buildings at break time and swoop down on the rubbish the kids had left (they occasionally wandered into the school by mistake which was amusing, though they are big sods up close and you wouldn't want to get pecked by one).
I don't know why it's happened (more fast food perhaps leading to easily available food being chucked on the floor) but it is a problem. In Torquay they rip open bin liners and, at the school I used to work at, they would sit on the buildings at break time and swoop down on the rubbish the kids had left (they occasionally wandered into the school by mistake which was amusing, though they are big sods up close and you wouldn't want to get pecked by one).
You want to try living in Conwy!! They are much more prevalent and bolder than I recall. They are on the Red List so classed as threatened/endangered so killing one is a big no-no. Definite prosecution if caught. a group of Conwy residents have paid to have a group of people with birds of prey patrol the town and let their birds fly to try to ease their numbers. We'll see!!
Quite topical, there was something on the BBC about this recently. The expert they had on explained it was much akin to gang mentality, there are so many of them and they're not scared of humans (in the main) and so they get more and more confident.
From what I remember, birds of prey don't work....and if you're eating out and about, stay close to a wall, so the gull can't 'swoop' on you.
From what I remember, birds of prey don't work....and if you're eating out and about, stay close to a wall, so the gull can't 'swoop' on you.
Itsallicanafford said:
ah, sounds like it is becoming an increasing problem...they cannot be culled?
http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/gulls/thelaw.aspx"Gulls and the law. 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".
This is Pistonheads so I'm going to blame their bad behavior on Grange Hill.
It's a problem everywhere in Bath the council spent thousands on a fancy paint that was supposed to make the gulls think the tops of buildings were on fire. It as about as effective as those fake bomb detectors that were being sold in Iraq ( probably the same guy ).
It's a problem everywhere in Bath the council spent thousands on a fancy paint that was supposed to make the gulls think the tops of buildings were on fire. It as about as effective as those fake bomb detectors that were being sold in Iraq ( probably the same guy ).
Cotty said:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice...
"Gulls and the law. 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".
I see...to me they were a minor irritation while on holiday, it would really get me down to live with them all the time..."Gulls and the law. 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".
There must be a tipping point where the populations become so large as to warrant culling on public health grounds?
Sheets Tabuer said:
Does anyone remember when you only saw gulls at the coast and wood pigeons in the woods?
I have gulls circling my the skies above my house after dark making a racket and I live as far from the sea as you can.
I guess if gulls can live on human food not just fish then they can live anywhere. Darwin in action.I have gulls circling my the skies above my house after dark making a racket and I live as far from the sea as you can.
In 20 years they'll probably have opposable thumbs!
Simpo Two said:
I guess if gulls can live on human food not just fish then they can live anywhere. Darwin in action.
In 20 years they'll probably have opposable thumbs!
Probably need those to open their crispsIn 20 years they'll probably have opposable thumbs!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/01/crafty-...
Cotty said:
Simpo Two said:
I guess if gulls can live on human food not just fish then they can live anywhere. Darwin in action.
In 20 years they'll probably have opposable thumbs!
Probably need those to open their crispsIn 20 years they'll probably have opposable thumbs!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/01/crafty-...
Ali Chappussy said:
I was in Whitby the week before last and watched a gull pull a woman's purse from her bag and try and take off with it in its beak. It didn't but it shows just how daring these little buggars are getting.
Whitby is infested with the b
d things, often encouraged by morons who feed them on the beaches.Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff