Feathered fiends

james73 · Feathered fiends

THEY raise the hackles of urban and seaside dwellers like no other members
of the animal kingdom. Seagulls snatch take-away food, keep people awake
at night with their squawking and litter the streets with their droppings.

In Glasgow, gull numbers have boomed in the past 25 years thanks mainly
to the explosion in fast-food outlets and the city council say the number of
complaints about the menace birds are rising.

In some cities they have become such a pest house prices have fallen
where they congregate and residents have shot them to keep numbers
down.

Attacks on humans have taken place in scenes reminiscent of Alfred
Hitchcock's The Birds.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman admitted today: "Our public health
unit has seen a rise in complaints about the behaviour of seagulls and
some of the problems that they can cause over recent years, mainly
noise, aggression, faeces and also birds disturbing refuse."

Recent incidents have shown that nothing is safe from the marauders of
the sky.

At last weekend's Glasgow Show a bird of prey was chased by what
onlookers described as a "gang" of up to 50 angry gulls.

The gyr falcon failed to return to its handler after it had been "dive-
bombed". But it was found safely two days later on a roof at the city's
Victoria Infirmary and returned to handler Gary Swainson.

At the Faslane naval base, sailors watched in astonishment as Blackie the
kitten was snatched from its mother and then dropped onto a barbed wire
fence by a menacing gull. The five-week-old feline required stitches to its
paw.

And, in Dumfries, a couple told of how they're prisoners in their own
home due to a gull nesting in their roof.

The crazed two-winged assassin swoops and excrements on Anthony and
Margaret Culshaw continuously - and it's even ambushed their car. The
kitten's attacker, a black-backed gull, is one of two large gull species to
have moved from their traditional coastal feeding grounds to city centres.

The other - the herring gull - can grow to 27 inches long and has a
maximum wing span of 63 inches, making it a fearsome predator.

James H

Hugo Drax

Once you start on the gulls who/what will be next?

james73

Neds?

James H

Hugo Drax

That was exactly the answer I was hoping for

Perhaps we could ship off all the neds and seagulls somewhere and let them deal with each other.

Smartalex

Stick bits of sandwiches to neds and tie them to poles for the birds.

Voila spectator sport.

scallopboy

If it wasn't for the amount of food litter about the streets of most cities, there wouldn't be a problem with gulls. Go on cooncil, 2 pronged approach, cut down on the food litter, including shops leaving bags of rotting food in plastic bags, and shoot them.

Fjord

Seagulls are a pain in the ass but rather than shoot them why not deep fry them in a special recipe batter and set up a franchise. But this time with an old guy with a white Mohican as opposed to a beard?

Lets face it there's bugger all in the sea for them to eat so they've moved on to discarded burgers/Kebabs & fish suppers laced with fresh vomit as part of their diet.
I blame it on our entry to the Common Market and City Bakeries

falseface

can you not eat them?

Fjord

wee minx

A fricoosay of seagull a la frying pan..with a hint of fishy smell wrapped in seaweed....topped with a worm and crab sauce and the odd feather.

tasty

poodiecat

Humans create problems and kill to solve them again.
WHO THE F DO WE THINK WE ARE??

May I just say - grey squirrels ... Native Americans .... and there is an island somewhere up north where hedgehogs were introduced and now they are getting killed for eating birds eggs.

I sometimes feel ashamed belonging to this species.

poodiecat

cybers

The Western Isles cull has been abandoned since last year seeing as Mr Hedgehog is making it onto the endangered species list himself.
Gulls are a problem in the city centres one i might add that we ourselves have created. instead killing them why not just make them sterile...
God knows there is some professor somewhere not happy at just doing this to humans without their consent...
Problem solved

Also please bear in mind we are not just persecuting animals we as a species have a very good track record of also persecuting ourselves...

Well it keeps those at The Hague in work in these times of recession !!!

james73

Task force to tackle cities’ gull menace (Evening Times)

THE menace of urban seagulls is to be tackled by destroying their nests.

Environment Minister Mike Russell today announced he was forming a
Seagull Task Force to combat the growing problem.

It will find ways to prevent gulls from nesting and how nests can be
effectively destroyed.

These include installing wires and spikes in known nesting areas.

Mr Russell said: "Seagulls thrive on litter and their aggressive behaviour
towards other birds, pets and even people is increasingly problematic.

"I even read this week about a young paperboy who has had to abandon
his deliveries due to attacks from the birds."

In Glasgow, gull numbers have increased over the last 25 years largely
due to the boom in fast-food outlets. The city council says its public health
unit is receiving a rising number of complaints about the gulls.

They include aggression, droppings and the birds raiding refuse bags and
bins.

Last month the Evening Times reported how a falcon taking part in the
Glasgow Show was chased by up to 50 gulls.

It failed to return to its handler after it was "dive-bombed" and wasn't
recovered until two days later.

And at the Faslane naval base, sailors watched as a five-week old kitten
was snatched and then dropped on to a barbed wire fence by a gull.

James H

Scary

The so called `Task Force`are starting in Dumfries...? when do they
come here ?