Neighbour constantly throwing food out to birds and now one shit on my baby

[Saausage]

A bird, not a neighbour for the last part.

AIBU here? My neighbour constantly throws food out to the birds, anything goes. I’m fed up with it,

You're probably right , the OP is a seagull .

You are absolutely being unreasonable. Maybe you should lock your baby inside till they reach 18.
Also there's no such bird as a seagull

Wonderful story and lovely photo.

Maybe she’s luring the birds in for her cat to play with?

Haha the title made me LOL and then again at the shitty faux grass...thanks!

Garden parasol?

But humans are destroying their natural habitat and destroying all their natural food sources @supercalafragalistico so what would you have then do? They have nothing to eat and no where to go. Because of US. Their numbers are struggling. Would you rather they just rolled over and died out? Another species lost to the selfishness of humanity? I think they’re doing what they need to - fighting to survive. Shitting on your washing and winding up your dog does not mean they deserve a death sentence.

And slugs are a vital part of the food chain eaten by a great many other species, as are mosquitoes and rats. So yes, I welcome all of them. My gardens has rats and mice that get into the compost and I have slugs and worms and all number of insects. I also have nesting swallows, hedgehogs and a badger. I hate this rhetoric of ‘I like x and y because it’s cute but z can just die because I don’t like it because it mildly inconveniences me and I think I’m more important than any other species.’ You don’t get robins without gulls, rats and mosquitoes. All these species matter, it’s a delicate balance. You start wiping them out and the whole thing collapses as we are currently seeing. We’re in a biodiversity crisis. But that’s okay, because at least your washing won’t be bothered by herring gulls once they’ve all died off eh? So if you don’t want them to live in urban spaces but they can’t live in their natural wild environment any more, what’s your magical solution?

I'm not advocating wiping out seagulls, @Sashytomps , or any other species I just think it would be better for them and us if we didn't deliberately encourage them to have close contact with humans. It is much safer for most wild animals to retain their natural wariness of humans.

Oh, and plenty of natural environment here for herring gulls, miles of undisturbed coastline minutes from our road. But guess what, these ones would rather have the high calorie low nutrition rubbish that the neighbour is feeding them. And it is having a negative impact on the biodiversity of the garden, we see a lot less different species of birds, since the neighbour started encouraging them, and they eat small mammals and birds that have lived there long before they came along.

The only trolling going on here is my neighbour and their need to assemble the gulls each morning and evening.

Thanks to those have taken my dilemma seriously. To the others I’d love to know how you’d react to the seagulls on steroids defecating on your child.

YABU

@Saausage do you apply this level
of outrage to other aspects of your life? It must be absolutely exhausting.

I think you're deluded OP. I'd hate to be your neighbour you sound completely entitled and self absorbed.
I'm sorry your child was shit on but seriously that could've happened if your neighbour didn't feed the birds.
As for the cat sitting on your plastic grass, I highly doubt its a cat as cats like to dig.
I say move.....for your neighbours sake.

*Shitting

I know it’s the cat. I’ve watched it sunbath in its own garden then come into mine to shit. It knows what it’s doing.

Well actually, you very much interred that some species are more important than others. You literally said you don’t mind some and then listed others you didn’t want. And you whinged about herring gulls because of your washing, dog and cat. Those miles of coastline you’re talking about will be struggling, competition for food will be high, nesting spots will be few and black backed gulls will be there ready to chase herring gulls away. Some herring gulls will live there. Others will live in urban spaces because they have been born there and that is all they know. They will have been born there because their parents will have moved into urban spaces because suitable wild spaces were not available and they need to find a way to survive. It is happening everywhere, and not just to herring gulls but to other multiple species. Foxes and forbids are increasingly moving into urban spaces because food availability is getting scarcer. These are the species you will get because they are bolder and more tenacious. Others just die out but you don’t notice because they’re aren’t interfering with your washing. Look up the published research papers from Luke Edwin, a herring gull expert and bits from Mark Grantham who has been studying the families of herring gulls in St Ives and their behaviour. The suggestion these creatures come into urban spaces to get on your nerves and for human food is ignorant and incorrect, the research is all available if you take the time to look for it. The suggestion that these creatures are the lowest on the list because you don’t understand biodiversity and the importance of certain species is depressing. I bet you complain about wasps too, and are ignorant about just how vital they are.
Anyway, I can’t get worked up trying to convince people like you to change your minds, I’m sick of it. Have a nice evening.

This is hilarious That the OP thinks a bit of birdpoop is a major issue or that she has the right to stop the neighbours feeding the bird is ridiculous but I expect the neighbours would be glad to have her move

Lol it's a wild animal they will shit wherever they want. YABU to that part

And their cat shits on my freshly laid faux grass.

Cats are discerning like that.

Are you in North Wales, by any chance, OP? If so, you might have the council on your side...
www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/you-feed-seagulls-your-garden-16532555

They're not too keen on it in Swansea either
democracy.swansea.gov.uk/documents/s61366/05Aii%20-%20Gull%20Poster%20-%20Do%20N

Please let your neighbour enjoy feeding the birds! Even if they didn't, birds will poop! It's been a long family tradition for us to do this, once or twice a day, it's not constant surely? Not the end of the world, a bit precious actually, the world doesn't live around our dc.

I sympathise OP. I didn't until you said it was gulls but I would hate that too.

In some coastal places I have seen signs up asking people not to feed them because they can be such a nuisance. As someone who is slightly bird phobic, and more than slightly herring gull phobic, I would find it difficult to enjoy being in my garden at all with that going on.

That's just dreadful. It must be the devil to clean cat poo off faux grass.

their cat shits on my freshly laid faux grass

The cat has taste

I’m all shited out with you though OP. Bird shite, cat shite, typed shite, shite grass. Will it never end?

But love Cadwallader.

Faux sho’ 🐦