Seagulls

[Desperatetime]

They appear to be in the news alot lately giving them a bad press are they really as bad as they are made out to be I've been to the seaside but ever witnessed any of what the press says.

I love them. They're just gangsters, they don't give a fuck. We had them nesting every year in an office I used to work at. When the babies were wandering around, the parents would dive-bomb anyone they thought was a threat so we'd get emails warning us. My mate and I never got dive-bombed, I think the gulls knew we were on their side.
Just before I left, there was a baby gull with a wonky wing. We fed him for a few weeks, hoping he'd be ok, but he never managed to fly properly. He'd do a few little hops but never be able to properly take off...or so we thought. I was going outside for a cigarette and someone coming in told me that Gulliver (the baby) had flown off. I thought he was winding me up so ignored him,only to see Gulliver flying back into the car park. I swear he saw me and quickly landed, letting his wing fall awkwardly like it was still hurt. Little bugger, he'd obviously worked out if he acted hurt then he'd be fed and spoilt, so he'd put it on. My buddy still works in that office and she's convinced Gulliver comes back each year.

It's so bad where I live. You cannot eat outside without fear of them attacking. Even supermarket car parks are full of them. And the local high street is just covered in bird poo and there's the constant noise of them! I also feel sorry for food vans that have tried to get business down the shore as people are scared to buy from them as the seagulls are just waiting to swoop down and steal their food. Can't believe they are protected and nothing can be done when they actually attack people!

I was killed at least three times by one of the bastards. I'm not exaggerating (well maybe a little)

The one good thing about lockdown was that they had no ice creams to steal

I once had a pasty literally snatched out of my mouth by one of the bastards. You don’t half know about it when a seagull dive bombs you. Although I am not a fan I do admire how they work together as a gang. They are literally the thugs of the bird world.

I live a half hour from the coast and when it's nesting season they nest here, which means they start shouting at 3am and when the young ones are about it sounds like someone is inflating a dingy. I've seen them attacking a live pigeon too. It's even worse when the weather is shit on the coast.
Although, I was amused the other day when I saw a juvenile gull sitting comfortably on the top if a car. I can't decide whether it thought it was water (glass roof), or whether it was warm.

Nah, they're all covering Conwy, Llandudno and Rhyl in shifts. It's great entertainment to sit in the Costa in Rhyl and watch teenagers be mugged for their chips

I live by the sea. I came out of Lidl and put my prawn salad on the car roof while I got my keys . A huge seagull swooped down and attacked my salad . I had salad all over the car roof ! He must have spotted the prawns . When my daughter had a baby seagull stranded in the garden the parents attacked every time they or the dog went out. The RSPCA said they would have to wait until the baby could fly . They had to go out to the bin with an umbrella for self defence 😂

Op you should read Daphne Du Maurier 'the Birds' the book is much better than the film.

I am petrified of them!
Can never enjoy fish and chips at the beach and now I can't even eat in the car without them trying to get me...

They're hilarious, I love the sheer brass neck of them 😂 we live by the coast and have had been divebombed for sausage rolls and ice creams in the past.

The local gulls saunter up to the local shop, wait for the automatic doors to open and help themselves to crisps on display near the entrance. I had one recently sit atop the car while I reversed out of a space by this shop and only jumped off as I changed gear! (I could see the reflection in a shop window)

Awesome birds, just don't mess with them 😆

I was on holiday and went to see this famous castle. It was across the road from the seafront so I didn’t expect to have seagulls ciricling directly. I assumed they’d stay Over Their side as there were plenty of tourists by the seafront tbh.

I had bought a small tart and was about to eat it when a horrible seagull swooped down with a dreadful cry and took it right out of my hand . Miraculously it didn’t touch me but its wings did get my jacket so I had to go and wipe it down in the nearest toilets and then wash when I got home. I was really shaken up for the rest of the day.

If you're basing that on a recent visit, Anglesey has been really badly affected by bird flu in recent months and the gull population has been decimated along with that of terns, puffins, gannets and guillemots. You were lucky not to have seen any dead ones while you were there.

They're an integral part of going to the beach and it wouldn't be the same without hearing them, but when they start getting cheeky they're pretty damn, annoying tbh.

That's because tourists 'like to feed them' and so they've become entitled. I don't mind our Dorset gulls generally but I won't eat outside where I know they are prevalent in numbers and I'm also getting slightly grumpy with the 4am raves they seem to be having at the moment on our roof/chimney stack ;-P

This thread has made me laugh so much!
Thanks op for cheering me up on a shitty. day! 😉

The baby gulls are pretty cute but adult seagulls can do one.

My sister recently had her pizza slice swiped from her hand just as she was about to take a mouthful.

They are a pest - it doesn’t help that people feed them (usually tourists) they think it’s a nice thing to do, meanwhile us locals are glaring, secretly shaking out fists at them.

I did wonder if that was the case. 😥 Was quite spooky to be sitting on the beach and not seeing them.

I think different species of gull have different characteristics. There is quite a large colony of black-headed gulls, close to where we live (we don't live by the coast), and these birds seem to be somewhat cautious around humans. They do scavenge and they are noisy, but they seem to just do their own thing.

However, herring gulls are a different matter. They are larger and much bolder. I have quite a bit of respect for the gulls, but their size, tenacity and ability to work in a mob can be a bit unnerving. These are the gulls that strut into the chip shop, mob tourists, steal everything (even inedible items, unfortunately for the gulls). They are also very good parents (apart from the tendency to eat other herring gull eggs).

Gulls have a long partnership with humans. They follow the boats and follow the plough. Now they follow us to where we eat and where we dump our rubbish. If we want gulls to alter their habits, we need to alter ours.

The most annoying thing they do here on the coast, apart from terrify unsuspecting tourists when the nick their chips, is go into the bins. If you accidentally fill a wheelie bin too much and they can get a beak in you can wake up to rubbish strewn all over the drive or pavement and then have the horrible task of cleaning it all up.

I live on the coast and they can be a nuisance. I was walking along the seafront recently eating a bag of chips and one swooped down repeatedly pecked me in the ear and I dropped my chips.. seagull got his lunch.
I remember there being a thing a couple of years ago about getting rid of the seagulls. But lost chips aside I like them and they were here first.

I was wondering why the big change in seagulls behaviour. This makes sense.

Shitehawks are fucking bastards.

However, they are fulfilling their evolutionary niche in being fucking bastards, so I don't hold it against them; at least something is still managing to exist despite us. Well, other than the bird flu that's killing them and other birds. And the loss of natural habitat. And climate change. And pollution. And deliberate killing.

I was rather pissed off about the broken hand I got when one bodyslammed me thinking I was another stupid prick tourist with chips when I didn't have anything in it at all, but I must have moved my hand in a way that made them think I had something in it, so it was partly my fault.

They're fine. The world is a better place with them. The planet needs them.

My next door neighbour feeds the horrible beasts 😫

😩

A lady next to me used to feed the pigeons. It was gross. There'd be literally hundreds of them and they'd all sit on the houses around the food garden so you couldn't even see the roofs.

The neighbours were besides themselves with anger as their houses/gardens/cars were constantly coated in pigeon shit.