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How to deal with bloody gulls?!

160 replies

Seagullhell · 30/07/2025 09:21

Posting in AIBU shamelessly for traffic, sorry, but getting rather desperate for some help!

We moved to our new house earlier this year. Our bedroom is in the extension with a flat roof, upon which, we quickly found out, are nesting seagulls. And OMG, the NOISE 😭

It annoys me a fair amount, but I'm generally capable of going back to sleep after being woken. But it's starting to make my DH ill. He's always been a light sleeper, so when they start up at 4/5am stomping around (it actually sounds like they're dropping rocks), he can't get back to sleep. He works in a high pressure job and has a long commute half the week. It's reached the point where he's called in sick - in nearly 20 years I've known him to do this once, maybe twice.

Since this all started we've discovered he has a B12 deficiency, and he's waiting for an appointment to delve into and hopes to get injections prescribed which we hope will help with the lightness of his sleep generally. But what else can we do?!

He tried sleeping on the sofa - can't sleep. The other rooms are occupied or face a busy main road. He's tried earplugs, but can't sleep in them. He's taking B12 tablets until his docs appointment along with magnesium to help, but they don't seem to do anything.

We've got to the point where we can't help but wonder about just kicking the bloody nest off the roof. We know this is illegal, so we won't, but it's hard watching him reach breaking point and not feeling a bit murderous.

We need tips to get him through the summer where the babies will have flown the nest and we can engage professionals to do something to hopefully prevent them from coming back.

Can anyone suggest any other supplements, aids, remedies etc to help him get better quality sleep until that point?

(Also any suggestions about things that will actually work to get rid of the bastard gulls highly appreciated too!)

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
muddyford · 01/08/2025 16:01

JMSA · 31/07/2025 05:13

That’s so horrible. It would have been better to put down something preventative in the first place.

Destroying the nest is illegal, even at that stage.

ayepecking · 01/08/2025 15:54

lovemycbf · 01/08/2025 12:13

Highly illegal as they are a protected species

it's also illegal to drive above the speed limit.

lovemycbf · 01/08/2025 12:13

Ange59 · 31/07/2025 19:30

They used to nest on the roof of a school I worked at - school got someone to dip the eggs in oil so they wouldn't hatch - this meant the gulls wouldn't return to nest the following year - don't know if it's illegal to do this nowadays

Highly illegal as they are a protected species

ladyofshertonabbas · 31/07/2025 19:36

He could try Magnesium Glysinate, it did knock me out. Sounds awful OP.

Ange59 · 31/07/2025 19:30

They used to nest on the roof of a school I worked at - school got someone to dip the eggs in oil so they wouldn't hatch - this meant the gulls wouldn't return to nest the following year - don't know if it's illegal to do this nowadays

MMUmum · 31/07/2025 18:43

You have my sympathy. My DN lives in a coastal city and recently cannot let her dog or her Ds in the garden because the gull on the roof dive bombs them to protect it's nest. Hopefully over soon and in the non nesting season you might find a solution

JMSA · 31/07/2025 05:13

lizzyBennet08 · 30/07/2025 17:11

we had a similar issues with swallows who nested right outside my bedroom window . We had to put up with it for thr first cluthch but when they came back the following year to build in thr same spot we washed off their nest each day. Honestly it took about a month of this before they fecked off. They come back every year and try and start a nest which we also wash away each time but it doesn't seem to take as long for the penny to drop with them.
my sympathies. Guls are practically rodents in my eyes.

That’s so horrible. It would have been better to put down something preventative in the first place.

DrPrunesqualer · 30/07/2025 23:10

smallglassbottle · 30/07/2025 22:19

Apparently the gull population has lost 10% of its breeding population due to bird flu recently, so all you anti gull people can celebrate. If it continues, perhaps numbers will reduce even further and you can go about your lives free from the burden of at least one wildlife species. Wildlife is such a nuisance isn't it, you'd think the government would have done something about it by now. I suppose insects are practically wiped out now, so that'll reduce other bird species as well as bats (disgusting clicky flying things) so it's moving in the right direction at least 👍🏻

Next:

How to cut down your neighbour's tree without them knowing.
How to kill your lawn in 3 easy steps.
Trapping and disposing of hedgehogs, foxes and badgers.
The Wonders of Plastic Grass.
Squirrels, why are they so evil and what can be done about it?
The final answer to the Crow Problem.
How to replace fresh air in your home with plug ins.
DDT Revival - let's finally banish those spiders!

And when the bees are gone because they buzz too much, how dare they
No fruit and veg.

Some people are just selfish and evil

smallglassbottle · 30/07/2025 22:19

Apparently the gull population has lost 10% of its breeding population due to bird flu recently, so all you anti gull people can celebrate. If it continues, perhaps numbers will reduce even further and you can go about your lives free from the burden of at least one wildlife species. Wildlife is such a nuisance isn't it, you'd think the government would have done something about it by now. I suppose insects are practically wiped out now, so that'll reduce other bird species as well as bats (disgusting clicky flying things) so it's moving in the right direction at least 👍🏻

Next:

How to cut down your neighbour's tree without them knowing.
How to kill your lawn in 3 easy steps.
Trapping and disposing of hedgehogs, foxes and badgers.
The Wonders of Plastic Grass.
Squirrels, why are they so evil and what can be done about it?
The final answer to the Crow Problem.
How to replace fresh air in your home with plug ins.
DDT Revival - let's finally banish those spiders!

NeverDropYourMooncup · 30/07/2025 22:00

Terrribletwos · 30/07/2025 14:17

The gulls here drive me nuts with the constant noise which is through the night too. They are a protected species and I don't know why.

Because they're endangered, that's why. Same way tigers are endangered, snow leopards are endangered, polar bears are endangered, sharks are endangered and rhinos are endangered. Except for the fact that you and your children aren't very likely to get eaten by your average Herring Gull, that is.

MimiGC · 30/07/2025 21:49

I live by the sea and as a fellow light sleeper, I can confirm they do make a blooming racket at an ungodly hour. Ours start at first light, around 3.30/4am this time of year. The good news is that they are noisiest at this time of year, as they have chicks. I barely notice them during the winter. The bad news is that they return to the same spot every year, so buckle up, this is your life now!

BlackeyedSusan · 30/07/2025 21:46

Stayed in a holiday cottage, we arrived in the dark, in the morning I thought there was another flat upstairs with toddlers running about. Bastard seagulls wearing hobnailed boots.

Straightjacketsandroses · 30/07/2025 21:44

Zanoni · 30/07/2025 21:31

Did you not feel embarrassed typing that out, you should be. Utterly bizarre and gross.

Not even one tiny bit no

Zanoni · 30/07/2025 21:31

Straightjacketsandroses · 30/07/2025 17:07

I’d be buying a BB gun if it were me. We went to Staithes one year on holiday and those creatures are an absolute menace. I spent the week fantasising about how I’d cull the lot: a huge raft just off the shore covered in bacon and plastic explosive would be my chosen method

Did you not feel embarrassed typing that out, you should be. Utterly bizarre and gross.

Keepingthingsinteresting · 30/07/2025 21:27

lizzyBennet08 · 30/07/2025 17:11

we had a similar issues with swallows who nested right outside my bedroom window . We had to put up with it for thr first cluthch but when they came back the following year to build in thr same spot we washed off their nest each day. Honestly it took about a month of this before they fecked off. They come back every year and try and start a nest which we also wash away each time but it doesn't seem to take as long for the penny to drop with them.
my sympathies. Guls are practically rodents in my eyes.

Swallows,I can’t believe you did this to swallows.

I despair at humanity.

Keepingthingsinteresting · 30/07/2025 21:25

HelpMeGetThrough · 30/07/2025 13:52

Don’t live in Cornwall do you OP? They are a bloody nightmare where I am. I got floored by one a couple of weeks ago. It’s endless here, 24 hours a day. Bastards!

Bloke across the road must have had enough yesterday. His roof is now nest free. Brave bugger!!

Not a brave bugger, a bastard. Interference with nesting birds is illegal and a generally shitty to do. We’ve created this issue by the way we live, the least we can do is not interfere with their breeding cycle and kill their babies. I hope karma gets him, and tell you to report him but you’re clearly just as bad, only not as “brave”.

DrPrunesqualer · 30/07/2025 18:50

I live about half a mile from the coast. An old medieval ship building port with a lot of seagulls.

So yes we get them all the time
Plus farmers machinery through the night at harvest and sewing time
Plus sheep bleeding and foxes

As we’re a listed 14c timber building we also only have single glazing and many of the lead windows don’t even fit the openings properly so there are large gaps.

We have oriel windows with nothing between the overhang and us other than floorboards ( we can see the grass outside through them)

So yes we have a lot of 24 hour noise that we are just used to.

Terrribletwos · 30/07/2025 18:13

It's fixking horrendous btw. I have to work in the morning

Terrribletwos · 30/07/2025 18:11

Mercurial123 · 30/07/2025 17:07

Such a MN response. Thankfully there will be no culls.

Do you live right by them? Are you woken up all night from them? They don't go to sleep. How would you feel if they were making an horrendous noise all during night

Seagullhell · 30/07/2025 18:10

Wow - I've just got back from a day out with the kids and want expecting as many replies! I'm sharing the thread with DH and I/we will respond to individual messages as needed a bit later.

OP posts:
Allmarbleslost · 30/07/2025 18:00

He needs to persevere with the ear plugs. He will
get used to them.

JMSA · 30/07/2025 17:25

I work at a secondary school and we occasionally get a trapped gull inside. Last time it happened, it was stuck at a high up window. Don’t worry, our caretakers managed to get it out! But the whole time it was trapped inside, its mate was anxiously watching it from the other side of the window.
I know they’re not the most popular birds, but I found this adorable 😳

RaininSummer · 30/07/2025 17:25

They are noisy. They nest opposite my house too and match on the roof. However I do think they are entitled to live somewhere tho I don't go as far as feeding them directly they do share food out for other birds sometimes .

JMSA · 30/07/2025 17:22

0LIVESANDWINE · 30/07/2025 14:31

90% of gulls are underweight.
We stole all their food from the ocean.
I like them.
Other people feed foxes and other birds.
I have left over cat food from fussy cats every day and it means the bins don’t stink.

Good for you!

Swimbikerunmummy · 30/07/2025 17:12

I have always loved by the sea and it’s just background noise to me. I love them.