Why are seagulls such a pain?!

[Fillyfrog]

I actually think seagulls are the bane of most seaside resorts. We went to Llandudno in north Wales today, it's such a lovely place and been a favourite for many years. But today the seagulls were so awful, I saw countless people getting their food stolen from them to the point where instead of risking to eat our picnic on the front we ate it in the car! Some of the gulls are absolutely massive, I saw one steal a full ice cream from a toddler in her pram and I feel like it must have hurt, she was beside herself. They seemed worse than any other time I've been there.

Why do they do this? Do they not have enough food to eat? I know tourists must drop litter and food etc and I often think of seagulls like, eating some chips someone's dropped on the floor but when did it evolve to swooping in for people's sandwiches?! I can't imagine living somewhere seasidey with them there all the time 🙈

(light hearted thread)

One stole my ice cream out of my hand on Brighton Pier 7 years ago.
Bastard.
I'm still bitter about it.

I understand that they are protected, but I also wonder if perhaps they need to be culled because they are a menace. Pigeons are controlled, I think gulls should be too. Sky vermin.

It doesn't help that some of them are the size of pterodactyls.

I'm quite fond of them. I think they have pizazz. Like if they could talk I think they'd be quite funny

I live at the coast. All I have heard all day is seagulls shouting at each other over the sound of the foghorn.

This is my favourite seagull tale https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/events-and-entertainment/original-pepperoni-seagull-hotel-ban-letter-1936746

YES!!! I got assaulted and robbed at beakpoint last year in Llandudno, bloody terrifying, stupidly I'd bought some donuts on the way out of the pier and they saw their chance. I still have flashbacks.

I do admire the ones that just stroll into the Co-op and nick bags of crisps 😂

It's because we're messy and they like easy pickings. We leave bits of food out all over the place, in bags, in bins, at our feet. Now they've sussed this they're seeing other possibilities too. Think about it : what would you do? I mean, faced with the choice of a quick darting fish moving under a rippling surface in the sea or a nice bag of steaming hot chips held loosely aloft by a slow moving land tethered target : which would you go for?

I was robbec of my cake by a seagull in Llandudno! However, grew up on the coast in Sussex and never once was harassed by seagulls and I don't know anyone else who was. I love them. Just the sound of them reminds me of home.

I saw a man swooped on by a flock of pigeons when he was walking on Brighton Beach trying to eat some fish and chips he’d just purchased. He was literally attacked as they tried to get the food from him and in the end he just had to throw the stuff at them and run. It was savage.

They have as much right to be here as humans do.

We have seagulls where we live. 9/10 they wake us up before we wake up naturally or before the alarm rings. What I don't understand is when a seagull finds food they call in other seagulls and then when other seagulls arrive on the scene they then fight the other seagulls making such a racket. All in all seagulls are dicks.

DH was staying in a seaside hotel last week for work. Reception warned him about nesting herring gulls on a ledge just above the balcony of his room. The hotel had received complaints about angry nest-defending gulls attacking guests and pecking them

DH was brave enough to go out on the balcony to take a picture, I wish I could post it to show you.

@BigButtons yeah but I paid for my ice cream - not them.
They owe me £2.80.

I'm a fan of seagulls, and pigeons. Long live the city sweeps of messy towns folk!

I was talking about this to DH! I don't know anything about culling but what's the alternative? They're just allowed to terrorise the seafronts so people can't eat in public?!

They get it for free. Their rules. They win!

This.

They are scavengers and their job in eco systems is to tidy up so that's what they're doing.

If we as humans didn't leave easy calories lying around they'd be out at sea living off fish and not stealing packets of Doritos out of shops.

I live in the NE of Scotland with very assertive seagulls the size of small children so I am very familiar with this but ultimately it's our own fault.

We also got seagull proof bins put in our main streets years ago which then apparently led to a spike in rats and mice instead as they had less competition for food litter that didn't make it into the bins.

I've grown up in North Wales and live 5 minutes down the road from Llandudno but in another seaside town and the seagulls have been a nightmare since I can remember (I'm 30 now). Such a nice place to live/visit but they are a pain in the arse! My car is always getting shat on. Does my head in but what can you do 🤷🏼‍♀️ it would help if people didn't feed them.

@BigButtons are you a seagull 🤔

Littering has gotten worse so seagulls have gotten used to the easy pickings - discarded chips etc - and become conditioned to go for human food rather than fishing for fish. But they have no concept of ownership - they can't make a distinction between discarded chips and chips that someone is currently eating. It's all just easy pickings to them so people end up getting attacked. We've brought this on ourselves:-(

I love them. So cheeky! Easy pickings at the seaside for them. I love the really daring ones that clearly plan their manoeurvres to get best snacks.

Not helpful but I think they are hilarious with their grey-pink anaemic looking legs if they haven't got yellow ones.

We get massive ones in my area and they go to outdoor eating areas and genuinely show malicious intent