Seagull chick in car park, can't get to car without being attacked, dh got cut in the scalp yesterday

[goingtohellinahandcart]

Very young seagull chick in our car park, none of us in our row of houses can get to our cars without being swooped and dive bombed. Dh has been shit on by the parents and yesterday one actually gouged him on the scalp as he was walking to the car.

One of our neighbours was trapped in his car, every time he tried to get out the parent swooped at him.

The chick is very young likely to be around for a few weeks before it can fly, we are worried that someone is going to get badly hurt and we don't know what to do

Seagulls are going to take over the world at some point. They're just waiting...

Nesting on a neighbours so can't do anything about that, they've been coming back for a few years now and seem to be getting more aggressive. We normally do a quick check be for we go out, poor dcat is under house arrest after we saw them attacking another cat(knocked it over)

Unloading the shopping yesterday dh backed the car up onto the garden as close as he could to the front door as they were circling above.

Just hope this chick grows quickly, generally as soon as they are fully feathered the parents are less vigilent

You need to put food nearby. Use animal psychology. They'll soon stop attacking anyone who feeds them.

I put sugar out for wasps and it stops them coming into the kitchen.

Make friends with animals and birds and use the universal currency, food to calm them. They'll raise their chick then leave.

We have seagulls near us. They like the factory roof. They make a lot of noise and fly around in circles high up and look so beautiful against the blue sky.

Don't watch Hitchcock's The Birds

Surely this just means they'll never leave and worse more will descend

No, because they'll leave the area once their chick is raised. They won't attack people for food. Just stop feeding them and they'll stop coming. They might remember for next year, but won't bring hundreds with them. They're just frantic at the moment because they have chicks. All birds are frantic at young producing time.

Stick a hat or bike helmet on to go to and from the car.

Anyone remember the episode of Round the twist with seagull poo?

Funny enough DD was watching it this morning which is why I clicked on this thread. Its on Prime if anyone is interested.

OP - sorry no helpful ideas!

We have them nesting on our roof at work so if we go outside we use an umbrella.

The ones here tend to swoop and shit rather than outright attack us though.

We do pop them back up on the roof if they’ve fallen off and they’re too young to get themselves back up.

Umbrella is probably your best bet. I'd be tempted to shoot them with a strong water pistol or swing a rope above your head to deter them

Or, ideally, all three at the same time. And make sure someone films it so we can all watch.

Nobody is filming it!
A few years ago we had the orange feather duster incident, a young chick had come down in back garden and dcat got out, we ended up with the cat having the chick pinned against the fence, me trying to get cat off chick, parents attacking me and cat while dd1 waved the first thing she grabbed-a bright orange feather duster-to try to fend them off, luckily nobody saw it😂

OMG I didn’t even realise this was a thing and it sounds awful. I can’t abide seagulls, horrid creatures and the thought of being dive bombed by one gives me a cold sweat. This would be enough to keep me indoors until the chick is grown! I’m kidding of course.
I usually detest folk feeding them and encouraging them, but this in situation it might be necessary to make them trust you. I’m assuming it’s only parenthood that is making them crazy. Throw food down near the chick and approach very slowly with more while they are eating? With an umbrella in case it backfires of course

What? The umbrella is vicious? 😂

We used to live somewhere where this happened every year. Multiple chicks fell off roofs and the parents made our lives a living hell. We used to have to carry a bin lid over our head when leaving or arriving. Umbrella is a good idea. I definitely wouldn’t feed them. I am an animal lover but I grew to hate seagulls and actively wanted the chicks to be eaten by a fox. The noise and mess the seagulls made was atrocious. Our cat was terrified of them.

If you feed one and it learns to love you like people have said, what about if a toddler walks past. They don't love that kid and can really hurt them.

I dislike seagulls a lot, vile things. Shame there isn't a council dept, or pest control that can shoot them! I'm sure that isn't allowed, but it should be!

If they are as clever as crows, that is a really stupid idea as they and their offspring for generations will attack you.

They're vermin and becoming out of control. But they're protected. People won't have them culled even though their babies are dropping into school playgrounds and potentially threatening the kids. They will take over

Never mind the umbrella, I’d be tempted to carry a massive pair of garden shears and chop at anything that even thinks of coming close. Bastards!

The council where I used to live tried throwing their eggs off the roofs but it was very time consuming and expensive . Shooting the damned things would be better.

We've got 2 down now, can hear them shouting all the time, parents screeching and swooping at anyone in the car park

Feeding them = let’s visit more often!!!
do not feed them
umberella - open it and pretend it’s raining to keep them off your head or to push them away with and catch poo

Feeding them won't make them visit more often - they are at an established nesting site. Like it or not, this is their home for a bit and they will return year on year. Feeding them will engender trust and calm things down a lot. Umbrellas will make them more agitated and protective, which means you and your umbrella might be fine, but they might be ever worse for your neighbours!

Do not feed them!! Seagulls are a scourge, our councils here in Dublin were debating about having a cull recently, one town on the outskirts of Dublin, Balbriggan, had one a few years ago, it was as if the population were being held to ransom & it was actually affecting tourism, it's a seaside village but they're a protected species apparently so it's a big deal 🙄

They move to nest though, that isn't their permanent residence. Interestingly enough, they can drink seawater and generally mate for life. They are pains in the arses to humans sometimes, but are pretty impressive birds.