Question: I HATE! SEAGULLS! they are so annoying they steal food and are pests when you are sitting outside in say costa and they will swarm around you!¬ Sometimes they swoop dow and steal food from your hand!!!! What can you do to prevent it????
Asked by dilldog101 to Alastair, Elaine, Sandra, Ted on 29 Sep 2010 in Categories: General. This question was also asked by chloe.
Comments
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Sandra McDowall answered on 29 Sep 2010:
I totally agree with you, dilldog101 and chloe. The Council has tried many things to reduce the menace such as removing the eggs, the nests or scaring them off with birds of prey but the recent attempt to bring in a by-law to ban the feeding of gulls in Dumfries Town centre did not win the support of the Planning, Housing and Environment Committee. I don’t sit on that committee but I understand that the issue is to be brought to full Council for further consideration and it may well get more support there. I think that many people feed the seagulls without realising that they are simply making the situation worse. I do know that they can steal food and frighten people and know of an incident when a gull swooped on a small child and knocked her over.
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Elaine Murray answered on 29 Sep 2010:
Seagulls are a real nuisance – the Council can get a general license to control seagulls and has done so to remove nests etc. Legisaltion which is currently going through the Scottish Parliament could make it easier for councils to get licenses as they would be able to issue licenses to themselves. The Council could apply to kill gulls but the last time they tried that there was an outcry from people who didn’t want them shot, The reason the gulls like the town is because they can find food and places to roost and nest. We should do more to control their food supply – a byelaw could be introduced for example to prohibit the feeding of gulls and I think that anti littering laws could be used to fine people who put drop or throw food that gulls could eat. Also if it were possible to stop using plastic bags for rubbish collections and use closed bins instead gulls would not be able to rip them open to find food. Glad to see your favourite public figure is Russell Brown, dilldog101!
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Alastair Witts answered on 29 Sep 2010:
Yes, but they’re great parents, are loyal to the same partner, and know how to take care of themselves. But you’re right, they’re real pests in town. It’s going to be a long haul to get rid of them. Naturally they come into town to get easy access to food, so we have to make it more difficult for them to do this-stop dropping litter, especially unfinished chip papers. The council should consider continuing the programme of egg collection, or even better, egg sterilisation, so that they sit on the egg for ages before they realise it isn’t going to hatch. In the meantime, patience, and keep a good look out when you’re eating on the street!
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