Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
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Gull takes pet Chihuahua (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Andy Adcock
- Start date
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Sounds like a load of complete bullsh*t - no way a gull could carry off a 2 kg dog. The sort of ridiculous lies you'd expect from the Mail or the Express, not the BBC!
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
Shame that the Ornithologist from Bristol Uni and an RSPB spokesman both suggested it’s credible then. Could even a GBbG lift a 2kg load?
DMW
Well-known member
It's exactly the sort of ridiculous lies I would expect from the BBC.
At least it's not an article about netball being the biggest sport in the world.
rollingthunder
Well-known member
The weight they give is for a Chiwawa ‘type’ - this would appear to be a ‘teacup’ Chiwawa which is much smaller and obviously a pup would only weigh half a pound at most - they are tiny and would easily be liftable. A neighbour has one and an adult would fit into a large mug.
Laurie:t:
Laurie:t:
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
And now they preface every sport they report on by emphasising gender e.g the 'Mens' Cricket World Cup..........................
If I'm talking about a World Cup in any sport, unless I specify 'womens', it will be the mens sport I'm talking about as it will be with most people but there is no need to drill in to people that women play sport too.
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Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
jmepler
It's just a flesh wound.
Not a "teacup" Chihuahua, and not a puppy. From the article, "Gizmo, four, was described as a small, brown dog, weighing 4.4lb (2kg)."
No way a gull, even Great Black Backed Gull, picked up that dog.
My guess is that the partner that was supposed to be watching the dog, wasn't watching, and the dog ran off, or was hit by a car. They saw a large gull flying around and concocted the cover story, not realizing how utterly preposterous it was.
Groovy Grackle
Active member
Wow! I hope it didn't happen!
I can understand if it's a good sized Eagle or Falcon. I've seen a video of a Falcon taking a good sized cat and the bird that the cat caught...the Falcon got double the meal!
I can understand if it's a good sized Eagle or Falcon. I've seen a video of a Falcon taking a good sized cat and the bird that the cat caught...the Falcon got double the meal!
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
The proof that genetic engineering has made it possible to cross-breed a dog with a rat 3
Sangahyando
Well-known member
Well theoretically it could be possible, if it happened on a clifftop walk and the gull "bore" the dog downwards over the cliff and onto the ground/water below.
Any raptor taking an adult cat would most likely be an eagle or owl of some description, or one of the largest hawk species.
I doubt that was a falcon, tbh. Even the largest falcon species aren't very well equipped to handle a cat-sized (let alone dog-sized) terrestrial predator.
Any raptor taking an adult cat would most likely be an eagle or owl of some description, or one of the largest hawk species.
rollingthunder
Well-known member
The interview with the female owner of the pup, whose husband was hanging out washing at the time, did not give those size details. She described it as a ‘miniature’ and a tiny puppy - unlike the 2 adult ‘normal’ ones they also have. Somewhere in-between i would think that the size and weight has been sexed up - the BBC interviewed an ‘urban Gull expert’, obviously somebody i have never heard of which makes me one too! and the conversation rapidly moved on to the possibility of carrying off tiny babies:-O
In the World of MSM and the BBC bigger is always better.....
Laurie:t:
In the World of MSM and the BBC bigger is always better.....
Laurie:t:
Ha ha :t:
rollingthunder
Well-known member
Tell Higgo that Laurie says hello from the grotty West Midlands:t:
Steve Lister
Senior Birder, ex County Recorder, Garden Moths.
If the urban gull expert was the person mentioned in another discussion of this event then yes, he certainly is an urban gull expert. But I am very surprised he would agree that this was possible - unless the dog in question was indeed a puppy.
Steve
Steve
Yep. :t:
jmepler
It's just a flesh wound.
The "ornithologist" from the University of Bristol is Peter Rock. He is from their department of aerospace engineering. I could find no mention of any ornithology related degrees.
He does seem to do a lot of research on urban gulls. The ultimate goal of this research seems to be reducing the population of urban gulls. What better to increase interest in (and funding for) your project than to whip the general public into a frenzy over a "gull attack". I found this article about him and his research (and more "vicious" attacks).
Looking at this chihuahua growth chart, it appears that a young puppy could be small enough for a gull to carry off.
