“ Collecting ‘gourmet’ eggs from black-headed gulls should be banned, says RSPB” (2 Viewers)

[Jonno52]

The Guardian has an article here. I admit to having been unaware that BHG eggs are considered a “delicacy“ by anyone at all. Most (or at least many) of us eat chickens' eggs without giving it much thought, but collecting eggs from wild bird nests should stop, especially as BHGs are in decline.

 

[Ignatius]

The idle rich classes will eat anything as long as it gives their shallow personalities a perceived veneer of culture. Also they can afford to. Monkey brains and spoons spring to mind. Punishments for this kind of aberrant behaviour cannot be strong enough.

 

[Mono]

Punishments for this kind of aberrant behaviour cannot be strong enough.

This is legal, licenced egg collection. Just it should be stopped but the people doing it aren't breaking any laws.

 

[Ignatius]

Just because it is currently legal does not mean that that cannot, or indeed should not, change. And when it does, punishments should be jolly painful.

 

[PYRTLE]

Whilst I'm sure that Plovers eggs ( Green and Golden ) probably no longer fall into the licenced collection delicacy category I cannot see that losing a few hundred b.h. gull eggs will have much of an impact throughout the UK. Rather the legal slaughter of Woodcock and Snipe for the table be halted. What about transferring the licence to harvest Mediterranean Gulls, they're on the increase and bully other shorebirds species, even predating some.
I recall Slough Market having dozens of Gull and Plover eggs back in the early 60s for sale on the fishmongers stall and it was a thriving industrial town then.

 

[pdwinter]

My understanding for the Needs Ore (Hants) colony (and I haven't had a permit for a good number of years so that I may not be up to date) is that eggs are collected before the large spring tides which would normally wash out all the nests so the birds (would have to) re-lay in any case.

 

[Ignatius]

Apart from things always going awry once humans have meddled in ecosystems, for example by removing the apex predator for their own doubtful ends, things usually find some sort of natural balance. So, some gulls on the increase and predating shorebirds does not require human intervention. It is nature and natural and the normal consequence is that as shorebird numbers decrease due to this current predation, predator numbers will also decrease leading to offset sinewaves representing the numbers against time, if one wants to visualize this. I am fairly certain that there is no instance of any species being eradicated by its predator. The only animal retarded enough to do this is the human animal.
As the recent pandemic has shown, even dumb virii, which at first 'overshoot' the mark and kill their hosts (or at least some of them), will eventually 'learn' and sustain their hosts in order to utzilize them.

 

[James Lowther]

As the recent pandemic has shown, even dumb virii, which at first 'overshoot' the mark and kill their hosts (or at least some of them), will eventually 'learn' and sustain their hosts in order to utzilize them.

Just as an aside, the recent pandemic showed nothing of the sort, the current strains of COVID are essentially no less deadly to naive hosts than the original wuhan strain. Rather, high levels of immunity in the population, facilitated by mass vaccination, means that overall death rates are now far lower and socially “acceptable”, even in the absence of restrictive social distancing measures.
Cheers
James

 

[Mono]

Can we keep to topic and resist the Covid spiral?

 

[vergan]

The idle rich classes will eat anything as long as it gives their shallow personalities a perceived veneer of culture. Also they can afford to. Monkey brains and spoons spring to mind. Punishments for this kind of aberrant behaviour cannot be strong enough.

Not nearly rich, but I would give them a try if available and legal...

 

[Andy Lakin]

Surely once a species is amber listed it shouldnt be allowed to be taken wether eggs, shot etc. We all know the laws are very slow to react to serious declines. Also why doesn't the bird flu pandemic stop people being granted access to the breeding areas. Locally at least there appears to be many birds in many areas succumbing to the outbreak.

 

[jurek]

You learn most surprising things on this forum.

I find it weird that people dare to eat gull eggs. Everybody knows that gulls feed on worst rubbish and most polluted water imaginable and the chemicals go into eggs. A gull will eat a bar of soap together with the wrapping, I saw it myself.

The circle of life - a poor man spills sewage, a gull eats it, the gull lays an egg, a rich man eats the egg.

 

[vergan]

You learn most surprising things on this forum.

I find it weird that people dare to eat gull eggs. Everybody knows that gulls feed on worst rubbish and most polluted water imaginable and the chemicals go into eggs. A gull will eat a bar of soap together with the wrapping, I saw it myself.

The circle of life - a poor man spills sewage, a gull eats it, the gull lays an egg, a rich man eats the egg.

A funny thing I learn from the link above is that some chefs are coocking there also gray squirrels (which is nice as they are alien species). i may have to travel back to UK at some point xD

 

[Trinovid]

The idle rich classes will eat anything as long as it gives their shallow personalities a perceived veneer of culture.
Punishments for this kind of aberrant behaviour cannot be strong enough.

What should the punishment be for deliberate pot-stirring? Keyboard pontification and attacking others by their perceived class association is the pastime of those with overly inflated self views attempting to show a veneer of superiority.
Posts segregating society into attackable groups just because they aren't identifiable as forum members should be just as out of bounds as it it against other members.

 

[angusmcoatup]

What should the punishment be for deliberate pot-stirring? Keyboard pontification and attacking others by their perceived class association is the pastime of those with overly inflated self views attempting to show a veneer of superiority.
Posts segregating society into attackable groups just because they aren't identifiable as forum members should be just as out of bounds as it it

That’s a considerable proportion of the last few years of Ruffled Feathers content you’ve described. I’d be inclined to agree with you but the feelings of a tiny cohort of individuals that can afford to eat Gull eggs (£8.25 an egg btw) aren’t really high on the list of those hard done by.

 

[vergan]

That’s a considerable proportion of the last few years of Ruffled Feathers content you’ve described. I’d be inclined to agree with you but the feelings of a tiny cohort of individuals that can afford to eat Gull eggs (£8.25 an egg btw) aren’t really high on the list of those hard done by.

The availability just for a tiny cohort of individuals would make sense if they have BH gull benedick eggs for breakfast every day. Average smoker spend more than £8.25 a-week in cigarettes, year-round, and nobody thinks smoking is a privilege of the wealthiest tiny fraction of society.

 

[dantheman]

The availability for a tiny cohort of individuals would make sense if they have BH gull benedick eggs for breakfast every day. Average smoker spend more than £8.25 a-week in cigarettes, year-round, and nobody thinks smoking is a privilege of the wealthiest tiny fraction of society.

Yes, but idiots from every class of society will spend (I think it's c£14 a pack now?) x amount on cigarettes a day, but only wealthy idiots will spend £8.25 on a single egg for eating ...

;-)

 

[vergan]

Yes, but idiots from every class of society will spend (I think it's c£14 a pack now?) x amount on cigarettes a day, but only wealthy idiots will spend £8.25 on a single egg for eating ...

;-)

I would say only an idiot would call another person an idiot just for having different preferences/priorities. I spent over 200 $ a month just in cheese (probably, my expenses in non-necessary food may raise to around 4-500 $ a month), and I cannot see anything stupid in spending 8.5 pounds on an egg (or 40 in a bottle of wine, or 100 in an expensive concert ticket...). Of course, I don't give a rat-*ss to others opinions, and I would not dare to "classify" into any derogative group those who spend their money in stuff that I just don't care or dislike, It is call respect and education

 

[Trinovid]

…the feelings of a tiny cohort of individuals…aren’t really high on the list of those hard done by.

Class warfare sucks, every time.