Horrified: Proposed Cull of Seagulls in Lowestoft

LOL,

'...I would suggest that all humans caught abandoning waste should be culled. (tongue in cheek)'

Best suggestion I've heard all year....!

Feeding 'seagulls' and feeding garden birds are two completely different things. Gulls are scavengers and will eat pretty much anything, so there is no need to feed them up. As you said, they'll nest on your roof either way, as they have enough food, so why encourage them and make the problem worse? I don't think that it's a bad thing to have the gulls in a town, especially in a seaside town, as they are good for a clean up, they keep the streets free from food, litter etc. But I think that the problem is made a lot worse than it should be by people feeding the gulls, which then leads to them stealing food from people, as they would with many other animals. The fact is, they have enough to eat without people feeding them.

Last year I worked on a seabird colony and we had terrible problems with the gulls. People at the harbour would constantly be feeding them, as well as the gulls taking food from the bins, eating the by-catch from the fishing boats, stealing ood from the seabirds, eating the seabirds eggs and chicks and even eating the adult seabirds. Due to the massive amounts of food available to them, the population had become unnaturally high. We didn't cull the birds, but gained a licence to remove a certain number of eggs from the nests of some of the species to keep control of the numbers. That way, we could prevent further population crashes in the 10+ species of seabirds that breed there. I thought it was a brilliant way of keeping the population from exploding - no animals had to die! Could you suggest this to your local MP instead of a cull? If they do carry out the cull, they will take away the bodies. As you say, it would be a massive health and safety issue if they didn't, and no council wants that on their minds!!

Sarah - thank you very much for your comment, this would seem like the best solution, and  I will forward this suggestion to my mp.

Unknown said:

I just feel infuriated with people who have no interest or appreciation in the environment around them, be it birds, animals, insects or countryside

I love seagulls,if this is your point you are aiming your remarks at the wrong people,we are all on here because we love and appreciate wildlife.

Any cull will probably entail the destruction of eggs not a load of cowboys waving shotguns.If there is a health hazard with the gulls no doubt the council will keep pushing for a cull at a later date even if they fail now.

I Love Seagulls, I must respond to this post.

Firstly I will start by saying I am a massive fan of gulls and all seabirds in general. I grew up on the coast of South Devon, perhaps the worst place in the entire country for pest gulls. I studied Animal Management in college and was shocked at the amount of people in my class that wanted gulls to die. I used to spend hours drawing them and watching them.. I was fascinated with them because they were so easy to study.

I absolutely DO NOT back the cull anywhere and I think that with time and effort, other solutions could help.

However... your post about feeding them and aggression only in the breeding season made me raise an eyebrow. I have seen first hand what these birds are capable of and yes they do attack people (perhaps not where you live but certainly in South Devon and Cornwall). They do this to make people drop their food or turn their heads so they can steal it, the entire reason for this is because they are hand fed. If people didn't hand feed them, sure they'd still be around and still as numerous! But they wouldn't be so brave either and I think that is the main problem people have.

Not only is feeding them inconsiderate towards majority of those who live at the coast, but it also encourages aggression. I don't think it's right to force everyone around you to tolerate gulls in their presense if they do not like them.

Now the fact is.. if there wasn't so much bloody litter around, the gulls probably wouldn't hang around to begin with.

To SarahWest, I don't think the population of gulls is un-naturally high, rather all the gulls are concentrated into small areas where we can see them. Infact I'm pretty sure their numbers have declined over the years.

Anyway getting to the main point, urge your local MP to tackle littering instead of killing and do your part as well, don't irritate the public into backing a cull! Let gulls feed themselves.