Posted on 07/07/2002 12:13:39 PM PDT by yankeedame
Friday, 5 July, 2002, 11:44 GMT 12:44 UK
The return of the seagulls
A pensioner has died after being attacked by seagulls in his garden. As the terror of overprotective gulls returns all round the UK, people are asking what can be done about them. It's that time of year again when seagulls living in towns and cities can become very aggressive, with potentially dreadful consequences.
Seagulls
In the UK, the term usually means herring gulls They can live until they are 40 It is illegal to kill them, or disturb their nests or eggs (except under licence) The tragic news that Wilfred Roby, an 80-year-old retired ambulance driver from Anglesey, died on Wednesday from a heart attack after being attacked by gulls in his back garden will surprise no-one who has been the victim of such an attack.
Mr Roby's death is the most extreme case in recent times, although last year there were reports of a woman being nearly "scalped" by the birds. Several dogs and cats have been killed by seagulls - actually herring gulls - which become over-protective of their young who are now leaving the nests.
And there's not much that can be done about it.
Gulls are leaving traditional habitats
BBC News Online reader Emily Swift-Jones says her garden, in Brighton, has been made a no-go area for her boyfriend. The gulls which are nesting on the flat roof of an extension at the back of their house are content to let Emily into the garden, but have swooped down on her boyfriend and her dog.
"He says that the birds seem OK when you're looking at them from a distance, but that when they are swooping down on you, and the beak is about a foot away, it's a different matter. That's when you see Man Running Into House."
Another reader, John Shaw, from Liverpool, believes he was targeted for special attention by one gull in the city centre.
"Running down a street, wearing T-shirt and shorts, I was dive-bombed," he says. "Not content with one pass, it made a further two attacks. Worse was to come. On my return some 30 minutes later, the bird obviously recognised me, and made a further three swoops to scare me off. I can only presume that my different attire marked me out as different from the usual lunchtime pedestrians."
Nationwide
Similar tales come from Gwynedd, Dundee, Edinburgh, Bristol, Berwick, even central London where last year postal deliveries to one row of mews houses had to be suspended because the gulls ruled the roost.
So what can be done? The answer it seems is not much. It is against the law to kill seagulls or interfere with their nests, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Food sources are plentiful, especially on bin days
If gulls pose a particular threat to health or safety, councils can conduct a cull - usually by shooting or poisoning. But few authorities take advantage of this right, as it tends to be an unpopular step.
Andy South, of the RSPB, expressed sympathy for Mr Roby and his family, and for anyone who was being attacked by gulls.
"Inevitably all the gulls are doing is protecting their own young, which is the same as any human would do. They are just being overprotective of their territory," he says.
Aggressive
In this period when birds can get aggressive, he says the best answer is for people to be patient.
"It's a relatively short-lived process, only about three to four weeks. What we would suggest is if people can be patient until the end of the breeding season, and once the young have flown the nest, then people should try to use preventative measures to stop them nesting in the same place, because otherwise they will do."
Those measures include putting down chicken wire to stop the birds from landing and thus preventing nesting.
But if you think the problem will just go away and the same won't happen next year, think again.
Seagulls can takeaway too
Gulls can live for 40 years, Andy South says, and start breeding when they are three. If they have nested successfully in one place, that is where they will try to nest again.
And in any case, the problem is getting worse. Urban seagulls are increasing at 7% a year.
"In seaside towns we have made their lives a bit easier. There have been changes to cliff-top habitats and gulls have spotted chimney pots as their next best bet.
"From there, they get good visibility, they are safe from other predators, and there are food sources around. In a sense you can't blame them."
Discarded take-aways are the infamous food source, but in places such as Brighton where the rubbish is still collected in black plastic bags, seagulls think of dustbin day as an excuse for a feast, pecking bags open and leaving waste strewn over the road.
For reasons that no-one quite knows, the population of herring gulls, which are such an integral part of the seaside sights and sounds, has dropped by 40% in the past 40 years.
Isn't that the motto of the Euros with regard to Islamic terrorism.
What I don't understand is why are these pest birds protected in Britain? They're certainly not endangered here.
Everything is protected in Britain. No guns, a very safe place to be. </sarcasm>
Britain seems to be having some sort of bird population problem. There was a report about a decrease in the number of house sparrows. The cause is unclear.
This bird did his fair share of the same.......
No doubt we'll be hearing theories about the Ozone Layer or greenhouse gases. Could be just nature taking its course, Britain loves their housecats.
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