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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to wonder if a seagull could really steal a chihuahua????

267 replies

CrocodilesCry · 26/07/2019 15:38

So people are saying on social media that the chihuahua "plucked" from a garden down south wasn't actually taken by a seagull at all.

Searches have been called off. I've read people saying that the dog had actually been sold and this was a worst ever cover story Shock

So what does everyone think really happened? Could a seagull take a 2kg dog?

PS, I did look for other posts about this and couldn't find any. Apols if this is a TAAT or anything's been deleted for any reason.

OP posts:
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TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 26/07/2019 19:09

The speed with which a seagull swooped past and took my ds's jumbo sausage makes me think it absolutely could take a chihuahua by surprise. And they do take rabbits and which are comparable in size to the smaller chihuahuas.
I believe it's possible but it's equally likely someone would make it up. Plenty of possible motives.

LonelyTiredandLow · 26/07/2019 19:10

No way it could have picked it up by the neck with it's beak.
I always now suspect foul play. It's like the guys that go up to the victims parents wanting all of the media attention are usually in there somewhere with the crime.

BarbaraofSeville · 26/07/2019 19:18

I just can't get my head round a dog being a third of the size of my cat

I've seen some tiny tiny chihuahuas in parks etc while out walking, definitely smaller than my current 4 month old foster kittens, younger puppies must be teeny tiny.

We've had a lot of cats over the years and foster rescue cats too and the biggest one I remember was a big bruiser of a tom cat that weighed close to 6 kg when he came into the rescue, despite living wild as far as we know. Perhaps he feasted on inadequately supervised chihuahuas.

zwellers · 26/07/2019 19:32

Could a greater black backed gull kill a chiuhuahua -possibly but the dog would have to be completley oblivious and that seems unlikely. Any gull couldn't carry a dog in its feet as thier feet can't grasp in that way. Can't see even the largest greater black back flying with a live struggling dog in its beak. I call bullshit.

YesItsMeIDontCare · 26/07/2019 19:35

bruiser of a tom cat that weighed close to 6 kg when he came into the rescue,

Yeah, mines 6kg+ of big belligerent bruiser. He'd have a chihuahua no problem, he smacked the crap out of a Jack Russell once 😂.

Strawberrycreamsundae · 26/07/2019 19:45

All the chihuahuas around here are so blinking fat that I can't imagine how a seagull could even lift one off the ground 😳

TomHagenMakesMyBosomTremble · 26/07/2019 20:08

Wasn't it a miniature chihuahua? They're pretty diddy. A big enough gull could take one of those off, I reckon!

GreenwoodLane · 26/07/2019 20:10

All I know is one stole my bloody pasty!!!! And I was pregnant and starving!!

MaybeitsMaybelline · 26/07/2019 20:26

No, the partner has either sold or hurt the dog or they’re both in it for the money.

Papergirl1968 · 26/07/2019 20:37

We always take dcat on holiday to Wales with us. He sits on the balcony with me. He’s a big boy, over 18lbs, so he will be safe from seagulls, won’t he?

SouthWestmom · 26/07/2019 20:44

There was another horrifying story about a man losing a testicle to a sea gull 😲

SuzieBishop · 26/07/2019 20:52

Oh my goodness I read this story in the paper but it’s just registered.....how the hell could a webbed feeted bird pick up a dog?!!!!!

Branleuse · 26/07/2019 21:56

i dont believe it either. They are scavengers, not birds of prey. How are they going to grab the chihuhua in their bloody webbed feet?
an eagle or a large owl might do it, but not a gull, even a massive herring gull

princessTiasmum · 26/07/2019 22:04

Walesonline says the owner of the dog has taken her post down on facebook due to cruel taunts and someone even said they had barbequed it
Her neighbours say a very large gull is hanging around and maybe the one that took the dog,
They say the gulls around there are very large and there have been reports of rabbits being taken as well

Maneandfeathers · 26/07/2019 22:16

Gulls are evil.
I watched one drown a duck by repeatedly diving on it, pecking on it and sitting on it in the water not so long ago in our local park (we are very close to the sea but not on the beach)

I did wonder where all of the missing ducks had gone and now I know Hmm

Saying that, chihuahuas are probably on par in terms of angriness Blush

PancakeAndKeith · 26/07/2019 22:17

There was another horrifying story about a man losing a testicle to a sea gull

That’s was a piss take.

SouthWestmom · 26/07/2019 22:32

Thank god! Caught my eye as I scrolled past.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 26/07/2019 22:35

Gulls aren't specialists. They both scavenge and hunt. I have seen herring gull catch live fish plenty of times.
I honestly don't know what people are finding implausible about this. Gulls are well known to take rabbits and this was a teeny dog. If a gull grabbed it by the neck it couldn't have done much other than thrash around and if you have ever watched a gull with a big fish that is what the fish does so it wouldn't be much different from what the bird was used to.
They also have unhinging jaws so they can get quite big things down.

Fallofrain · 26/07/2019 22:37

No way could it fly off holding it in beak or feet. When they pick up large things they tend to struggle, drop it and eat it. No way could it take off holding a dog.

1stmonkey · 26/07/2019 22:38

Live on the south coast and i understand it's fairly common for kittens to be taken by seagulls, especially when it's baby season. Not a huge stretch to imagine a chihuahua looking tempting, i guess.
They can be vicious little, and not so little, buggers!

Fallofrain · 26/07/2019 22:39

Id say yes to attack but not to be able to fly whilst holding it. They wouldnt be able to manage the weight or scruff it to carry it.

The pictures of gulls in the garden are regular herring gulls rather than the larger black backs

Tigger001 · 26/07/2019 22:44

A chihuahua is about the size of a kebab isn’t it?

I can guarantee the kebabs my DH have weigh more than a chihuahua. Whilst having a short break in st Ives, I seen a seagull steal an ice cream (cone and all) and swallow it in one.
In Wales they are massive, but not sure if it would want to fly off with a chihuahua even if it could, much more likely to steal easier meals.

LegallyBronde · 26/07/2019 22:44

There was a chap on radio 4 who was a gull expert who had a collection of photographs of gulls carrying off injured pigeons Shock

A chihuahua pup would have been no problem he said...

PoppingOneOutIn2020 · 26/07/2019 22:47

I said exactly the same thing..

I have a chihuahua and hes a heavy little bastard no matter how small! I lifted him with one hand yesterday and realised there is absolutely no way on earth a seagull could have lifted a Chi with its beak.

When reading was its beak and not its claws I immediately thought HmmHmmHmm

My first thought was something horrible has happened to the poor dog and as a cover up they've made this weirdly elaborate story.

Monsterdogs · 26/07/2019 22:47

A seagull stole my dogs bone. Poor dog spent ages looking for it. Think bone weight about a kilo. So maybe possible...