To be scared of a seagull?

[cariadlet]

It sounds ridiculous, and typing that I decided I must BU.

Every year we have seagulls nesting on our roof. On two previous years one of the chicks has fallen down the chimney and landed in the fireplace. Each time I've grabbed it and put it out in the back garden. Each time the over protective parents have dive bombed me as I've gone out.

The first time it happened the parent seagulls panicked so much that they made distress calls and we had dozens of seagulls circling over our garden. It was like a scene from "The Birds".

Last night or this morning a chick either fell off the roof or tried flying and didn't get very far. It's been wandering around the patio and up and down the side path with one of the parents standing guard (either on the conservatory roof or the shed roof - wherever it gets the best view of the chick).

I know it's stupid, but I feel nervous about just going out into my own garden and am dreading having to walk down the front path when I have to go out later in case the chick is wandered off that way and the adults see me coming out.

A cage Lassfromupnorth I linked to the company we used up above. We have one and it covers the whole chimney, much more effective than spikes.

I find them fascinating and scary at the same time. Probably one of the biggest birds that you can see close up outside of captivity.

They are definitely getting much bolder and we regularly see them now near the office in the City which only really started in the last 3 years or so. I did see one a few months back that had caught a pigeon and was doing its damnedest to eat it whilst it was still alive. Pigeon managed to get away though.

They don't have any redeeming features as far as I can see

Everything has its place. Why should we think something is fluffy and cute and nice in order to have any value?

Relative of mine died after being attacked by a pack of seabirds during nesting season. An air ambulance carried him away but he had a fatal heart attack.
Vile creatures.

Hester - even if they were cute and fluffy, I suspect I'd still dislike them. They're aggressive and a menace. I live by the sea - I'd probably feel a little bit more positively about them if every single interaction wasn't unpleasant!

Do you know that scene in the first star wars when Luke is chased by the planes of the empire? Nothing resembles that scene more than a few seagulls trying to snatch a piece of bread from a unlucky duck.

They are vicious...

Brighton dweller here; I love seagulls. They're tough mofo's and have fabulous feet. I admire the way that they look at you with naked hatred.

At a beach one landed on my ds' head, reached down and plucked the food from his hands and took off (pushing off from ds' head ) - it was so quick and totally freaked ds out!

also remember a piece on TV about a car park attendant in a seaside town that helped a seagull which seemed to be inured, put it in his car to take to vets after shift but let it free when it seemed better - it then waged aerial war on him - i think this it it but my pad doesn't play vids anymore so hope it is

www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/video/exteriors-psycho-the-seagull-flying-at-don-weston-weston-news-footage/103817601

I live in The Hague and tote a massive water pistol when taking out the rubbish, if any of the brazen f**kers try anything, I lock and load.

Seagulls rule the streets but geese and swans, own the parks and it's very satisfying watching them on the receiving end of aggression.

Wow, I sound deranged but I really hate seagulls.

Just caught up on the thread. Don't know whether to be reassured that I'm not BU cos other people find them scary too, or too wish I hadn't started the thread because so many people have had much worse experiences than me and it's a bit scary reading about them all.

You sound very brave, OP. When I lived by the sea, I used to get a visitor every night. Apparently he was in love with his own reflection and used to bash on my window for what seemed like hours. Really freaked me out, though when I relayed the story people found it amusing (I NEVER saw the funny side). They are dogs with wings. Evil bastards.

The seagulls round here are getting increasingly aggressive. Last week one landed on my head, swooped down and pecked a 7 month old baby. No-one is safe. They are definitely getting worse and hang around waiting to dive-bomb tourists with an evil glint in their eyes.

oddfod, I live by the sea too, so close as to be almost in it! Not far from St Ives itself in fact. I know for a fact - it's my job to - that the ONLY reason herring gulls have become such a menace is because of slovenly human habits like fast food, inadequate disposal of rubbish, dropping litter and overfishing and lastly FEEDING them. My town doesn't have nearly the problem with gulls that St Ives does, simply because there are fewer idiot tourists feeding them

Maybe people hate them because they are too much like humans.

A shame you've only had negative interactions with them. I find them quite fun, and that's despite having to clear up their shit most days. They're characters. Have you seen ? :o But seriously, all that shopkeeper has to do is keep the bloody door shut!

I absolutely agree with you Hester. I originally wrote something nasty about tourists feeding them and not binning their rubbish properly in the seagull proof bins but deleted it because I decided it's not really their fault - I don't think it would have occurred to me before I moved here that they'd rip op bags.

That video's brilliant! :o I have to say that I did admire the one outside our restaurant window the other week who had figured out how to flick up the lid of the wheelie bin to get to the leftover pizzas which some fool had chucked in unbagged. They're very smart

Seagulls are basically rats with wings.

Only if rats are the size of cats! They're huge!

I grew up in a seaside town and we never had any problems with gulls. Though I did once look out of the window and thought it was snowing - massive flurry of flying feathers as the cat dealt with one ... We did look at him with new respect after that.

Chimney cages are a good idea wherever you live, we have one to stop jackdaws.

Just when I thought our seagull troubles were over for a year....

Last night there was a whooshing sound like a load of soot falling down the chimney. Then I thought I heard something else and was convinced that it was the other baby seagull that had fallen down the chimney and was moving around. I listened carefully but couldn't hear anything more so decided I must have imagined it.

This morning, DP called me over and said he was sure that a chick had come down the chimney. I knelt down, listened carefully and there was a definite cheeping.

The reason I hadn't seen it last night? At least previous chicks had managed to fall into the open fireplace in the lounge. This one is trapped behind the gas fireplace in the dining room.

Oh no! How are you going to get it out? I have massive bird phobia, I'd have been under my duvet all day and night if I'd been at your house this week!

no constructive advice.

Rats are massive though.

Cariad we've had that a few times too, it's pretty grim but unless you are going to rip the wall open you just have to wait for the inevitable to happen and deal with the swarm of flies that appear around 5-6 days later . Horrible to say but it's much less of an event if it's a very young chick, we had a big one that cheeped away for 4 days once , awful.

I had ordered a fish pie from a pub on the coast one evening. When it arrived, I turned round to the next table to ask if they could pass the ketchup, and in the split second it took to do this, a gull dive bombed my pie!

I left, disgruntled, and found a pub inland by a few miles, and ate my supper... Inside.

Bloody evil things. I was mugged by one a few weeks ago, it whacked DS1 around the head and stole my baguette, the bastard!