Herring gulls - Hated or loved? (1 Viewer)

[The Raptor]

My take on it:

You go to the beach, and there are huge crowds, and other people's bad music blaring as if everyone wanted to listen to that crap, and children screaming, and large people in small bathing suits, and sea-doos tearing around in the swimming area and making the water stink, and wet dogs barking and messing on the beach, and garbage and cigarette butts everywhere, and what does everyone complain about? THE GULLS.

All the gulls ever did was clean up all that nasty refuse that accumulates wherever there are large numbers of people. And, sometimes, they'll crap on someone. And that's just funny.

jomo, your take on this subject is perfect, absolutely perfect, well said mate

Rod.

 

[Gentoo]

Sea World is Lame.

...but you didn't hear that from me.

 

[mothman]

Was over in St Ives a couple of weeks ago and discovered that you literaly can't eat outside anymore,the Gulls are totally brazen and if you cover your food they have got to the point where they stay and argue untill folk either run inside or give it up(it remindes me of skuas harrying Puffins )

Obviously it isn't the Gulls fault because it is a really successfull strategy but I cant help feeling that this can not carry on without the gulls losing the war in that area dreadfully, as all the business owners(that I chatted to) are lobbying for a cull.

Ps A herring gull honestly ate an eight inch by five inch Cornish pasty of mine whole in one swallow.

 

[mothman]

With reference to my above PS My wife upon witnessing this said(in total innocence)"Gosh I wish I could do that"

there was honestly only one fitting reply:"Yeah I wish you could as well love"

 

[Bob Pert]

They're birds, what's not to love?!

We certainly have our fair share of Herring Gulls here in Arbroath, most Arbrothians hate them with a vengeance. Me, I love them, every one of these birds is a character. My old auntie used to have one that would walk along the roof apex to her kitchen window and tap on it to be fed. One day my aunt wasn't in so "Jockie" just kept tapping the window, er, until it broke!

One day outside my workplace there was a terrible commotion, we all went out to see and here was two Herrings going at it hammer and tong, they were so busy fighting they didn't even notice all the cars slowing down and steering round their confrontation in the middle if the road. Needless to say it was during the breeding season.

We also have the mindless morons who run them over in the street, now these are something I hate.

 

[London Birder]

we have a good few rooftop colonies in London, mainly Herring but with smaller numbers of LBB and recently confirmed breeding GBB ... no real probs, though one pair of LBB set up home on a roof in a small quiet mews and ended up giving grief to the residents ... got a small colony on buildings viewable from my place, good value, love hearing them call during the night.

 

[deborah4]

Rooftop colonies in Brighton & Hove for years - symbol of the local football team, town would not be same without them in more ways than one!

Hated by:

1. Those who leave their household rubbish on the pavement in black bin liners instead of in dustbins contrary to local by-laws. (thus blaming resulting pampers, tv dinner packaging, and beer cans strewn over pavement in morning on gulls - rather than their own anti-social habits)

2. The same people who don't think twice about keeping everyone else awake with late night barbeques and parties til the early hours but occasionaly decide they need an early night

3. The same drivers who never slow down for cyclists, who use side roads as rat runs and resent any other road user, including juvenile seagulls (who are dispatched accordingly)

4. The Parents of young children who believe that humans alone have the right to protect their young from cruelty and abuse

Loved by

1. Generally most of those who have a problem with all the above

2. Those who admire the social cohesion, adaptive behaviour and flying skills skills of the Herring Gull and wonder perhaps who is more evolved

3. Those who regard the 'natural world' around them a blessing rather than an inconvenience

 

[Evanji Axu]

So basically they're hated by people who suck and loved by people who don't suck?

 

[Gentoo]

So basically they're hated by people who suck and loved by people who don't suck?

Yes I must co-sing with this statement. Only in my area, replace Herring with Western Gulls but things are much the same here. At my job, we warn people how aggresive the gulls are but they don't listen. Our Western Gulls will snatch food right from your hands. They especially love churros, swallowing them whole. They steal hamburgers, pizzas, ribs you name it. One odd thing they've learned is that mayonaise packets contain a tasty snack. They poke holes into it and peck the mayo out. Some birds will simply swallow that packet whole sually (but not always), after poking holes in it, coughing up a pellet later. A few individuals will grab Heermann's Gulls until they cough up something which they then eat. The southern Western's are slightly less aggresive than northen birds and are less predatory but I've seen them grap House sparrows on rare occasions, swallowing them whole.

They nest on some of the roof tops in the park. Just tonight I saw a fledgling that has jumped off of it's roof, walking around among the people. Sometimes they get caught by our Killer Whales which bate them with fish they either caugh up or saved somewhere. That's what happened to the Slaty-Backed Gull last winter.

 

[Evanji Axu]

Wow. The gulls where we live (Ring-billed, Laughing) never do that. They just take what people throw for them.

 

[Dawsy]

Seems the like time for an opposing view. Here in Bristol we have large populations of herring gulls and LBBGs in the city and I have to confess I always get quite attached to the chicks growing up on the roof I can see from my window at work. However a noisy flock of herring gulls outside the bedroom window at dawn is never appreciated. I know it's not their fault but it doesn't stop me being firmly in the hate category when they wake me up in the morning.

Michael

 

[Mike Richardson]

Living in Bridlington, Gulls are a part of every day life.

Last year our local paper even ran a very serious story with the headline: 'Man Mugged by Seagull!'

Thought the whole thing was way over the top, as did most other people. Herring Gulls are not shy when they have a chance of grabbing some left over chips, but I'm sure they don't go around mugging holiday makers.

A few weeks later I stopped laughing when I had my wallet and mobile phone stolen by a gang of Blue Tits! :C

 

[Evanji Axu]

But how did they manage to pick them up?

 

[Gentoo]

One thing Western gulls will do is walk around the strollers that are parked outside of the shows. They will search each one for food. Here's a situation I saw that I found funny; A family parked there stroller in the kids playgroud area and took the kid out. They took him to the sand box to take pictures. A Western Gull adult had been watching them. When they walked away from the stroller, he landed on top of it, picked up a brown bag and dropped it on the ground. He kept watching the people who were still clueless. The gull took a sandwich out and swallowed half of it. He looked over at the people again who were still clueless. Then swallowed the other half and took off. The people came back to their stroller and wondered who stole their food. They had no idea it was a resourceful gull.

 

[Bob Pert]

But how did they manage to pick them up?

OK I'm now trying to dry the tears of laughter! Try to imagine that yourself and you'll see what I mean! Oh, jeez, I'm off again, I can see them in masks and little black and white striped jerseys..............:clap:

 

[scuba0095]

hello

I was wondering if someone could help explain this to me

Recently I saw herring gulls feeding wqith feral pigeons

they would grab a pigeon by its neck and force it to drop a french fry whenever it got one before the gull did

I dont understand this??

If the gull could manage to get a pigeon in its beak why not just kill and eat the pigeon instead of just ringing its neck to drop the french fry? anyone that can explain this ?

 

[Gentoo]

hello

I was wondering if someone could help explain this to me

Recently I saw herring gulls feeding wqith feral pigeons

they would grab a pigeon by its neck and force it to drop a french fry whenever it got one before the gull did

I dont understand this??

If the gull could manage to get a pigeon in its beak why not just kill and eat the pigeon instead of just ringing its neck to drop the french fry? anyone that can explain this ?

It was probably taking the path of least resistance. Much easier for it to get the fry (chip) than to go through the hassle of dispatching a pigeon.

 

[Leif]

hello

I was wondering if someone could help explain this to me

Recently I saw herring gulls feeding wqith feral pigeons

they would grab a pigeon by its neck and force it to drop a french fry whenever it got one before the gull did

I dont understand this??

If the gull could manage to get a pigeon in its beak why not just kill and eat the pigeon instead of just ringing its neck to drop the french fry? anyone that can explain this ?

It probably could not swallow the pigeon. A pelican could, but it is larger than a herring gull.

There was a photo on the BBC site not so long ago, taken in a southern US state, of a greedy snake that had swallowed an alligator, and burst. All you could see was an alligator half sticking out from one half of the snake.

 

[Vectis Birder]

I like Herring Gulls a lot. I know they are disliked by a lot of people and are demonised as vermin which I believe is grossly unfair as they live - in an urban environment - on people's rubbish. We litter, they clear it up. Who's the bigger vermin I wonder, idiots who chuck McDonald's (yuck) wrappings in the gutter, or the creatures cashing in by living off the litter? Not the gulls.

 

[Leif]

I like Herring Gulls a lot. I know they are disliked by a lot of people and are demonised as vermin which I believe is grossly unfair as they live - in an urban environment - on people's rubbish. We litter, they clear it up. Who's the bigger vermin I wonder, idiots who chuck McDonald's (yuck) wrappings in the gutter, or the creatures cashing in by living off the litter? Not the gulls.

I would support culling MacDonalds' customers. When do we start?