How to deal with bloody gulls?!

[Seagullhell]

Posting in AIBU shamelessly for traffic, sorry, but getting rather desperate for some help!

We moved to our new house earlier this year. Our bedroom is in the extension with a flat roof, upon which, we quickly found out, are nesting seagulls. And OMG, the NOISE 😭

It annoys me a fair amount, but I'm generally capable of going back to sleep after being woken. But it's starting to make my DH ill. He's always been a light sleeper, so when they start up at 4/5am stomping around (it actually sounds like they're dropping rocks), he can't get back to sleep. He works in a high pressure job and has a long commute half the week. It's reached the point where he's called in sick - in nearly 20 years I've known him to do this once, maybe twice.

Since this all started we've discovered he has a B12 deficiency, and he's waiting for an appointment to delve into and hopes to get injections prescribed which we hope will help with the lightness of his sleep generally. But what else can we do?!

He tried sleeping on the sofa - can't sleep. The other rooms are occupied or face a busy main road. He's tried earplugs, but can't sleep in them. He's taking B12 tablets until his docs appointment along with magnesium to help, but they don't seem to do anything.

We've got to the point where we can't help but wonder about just kicking the bloody nest off the roof. We know this is illegal, so we won't, but it's hard watching him reach breaking point and not feeling a bit murderous.

We need tips to get him through the summer where the babies will have flown the nest and we can engage professionals to do something to hopefully prevent them from coming back.

Can anyone suggest any other supplements, aids, remedies etc to help him get better quality sleep until that point?

(Also any suggestions about things that will actually work to get rid of the bastard gulls highly appreciated too!)

90% of gulls are underweight.
We stole all their food from the ocean.
I like them.
Other people feed foxes and other birds.
I have left over cat food from fussy cats every day and it means the bins don’t stink.

Just because you find them annoying doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be protected. We moved in on the places they lived. What do you expect.

I hope someone comes and wrecks his home. Seagulls are brilliant parents, they love their babies just like we do. What an arsehole

Can you get a sofa bed for him to sleep on downstairs
unfortunately gulls are just gulls there’s really not much you can do about them as the breeding pair return every year.

We have this problem too and you’ve reminded me to order one of those fake hawks to put on the roof when they’ve gone this year.

I live at the top of cliffs and feed them as they nest there.

They are very intelligent and whilst some things deter them at first, they learn that it’s not a real owl and is a plastic decoy etc.

Remove the nests when they are empty and Install sturdy, weather-proof netting on building frontages and valleys to prevent gulls from landing and nesting in the future.

Surely you just clear the nest and then put a net up to stop them from returning.

I live in a small seaside town and we most properties have seagulls on the roofs and they can be heard all the time throughout the town.

Doesn't bother me at all.

I like them!

I feed them too.

I used a high powered laser pen - flash them with it and they dont come back.

It doesnt harm them, but does enough to frighten them off.

Try it - you'll be surprised.

Hope away, it isn’t going to happen though.

I would string fishing line or wire or netting across the roof if possible, to stop them landing, and spikes on the chimney and any other flat surfaces.

You’ll still hear them shrieking and screeching though as they fly about.

All wild birds, their chicks and their nests are protected under the Wildlife Act in the UK. Gull numbers, specifically Lesser Black Backed and Herring, are decreasing. Herring numbers are plummeting alarmingly and they are now a red listed species.
That is why.

I like seagulls. The cries remind me of being on holiday as a kid.

They are also pretty smart and can eat chips, ice cream, hot dogs, burgers, rats and rabbits (see Youtube), as well as go into shops and steal bags of crisps.

Not sure I would like a gang of them on my roof though.

But they're not living naturally by depending on takeaway scraps...that is not their natural environment.

Do you have them living in close proximity to you? They do not sleep and make excruciating noise. I am woken through the night by them and need sleep, I have to go to work.

No, that is untrue. They are definitely not in decreasing numbers in towns, far away from the coast. This is a myth, perpetuated by conservationists.

Lol. Do you have any living right close to you?

No. I have pigeons though.

They make a racket.

Hoo hoo hoo. Hoo hoo hoo. hoo hoo hoo. All the bloody time. And they eat all the fruit tree shoots.

I would swap the pigeons for gulls in a heartbeat.

But then I've never had gulls before so maybe I would hate them.

Blackbirds are nice to have. Star performers.

Have I found the culprit who have nicked my gooseberries? Would that be pigeons? Every year the gooseberries disappear, we never get a single one.

We have one pigeon who sits on the chimney and coos. Next door have loads as they have solar panels

Edited as I hadn't made any sense whatsoever!😂

Yep
20 years and they only took me seriously when I ended up with nerve damage up until then I was told’ what do u expect of course you’re tired you’ve got kids’. And ‘ oh yes my hairs falling out too haha’

I’ve resorted to private b12 tests too. Despite my GPs fault in my nerve damage they stopped testing after a few months of the tablets. I’ve never been given a follow up check on that irrespective of nhs standard procedure to do so

If he lived near me I’d report him - it’s illegal to disturb their nests. We have them on our roofs here, the noise is just part of living by the sea, and I agree, they are amazing parents. Better than a lot of human parents are imo.

Ah I love blackbirds and have no objection to pigeons.

It's just with the gulls who actually make a noise 24/7. Clever species but they must do shifts. It's through the night here with their absolutely excruciating calls. Yes I have tried earplugs and they even cut through them. I believe they're going beyond decibels.

I think if you had gulls you would actually be quite thankful of pigeons. We have both here. The gulls are way more problematic....way more.

You like the constant noise?

To answer your question @Seagullhellregarding helping to sleep, I recommend your DH ask for sleeping tablets to be prescribed, or he can buy them online, phenergan works for me. I’m a light sleeper, I take one a night, I occasionally still wake but turn over and go straight back to sleep again. They make me groggy so I allow an extra half hour in the morning to wake up properly.