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Seagulls: Has anything ever been done?

derekshelvin

Our family home is getting a terrible time from the seagulls in the city. Has anything ever been done about them from a City Council point of view? Surely with all the droppings (diseases), noise (sleep deprivation) and increasingly aggressive behaviour (dangerous to humans) they are a hazard to the city? I know they had hawk kites flying by the river years ago but apparently the seagulls cop on to these after a while. Spikes on roofs seem to be the best deterrents, or mesh netting, both of which prevent them from landing.

Some people might tell me to just move away from the city but I am not sure my mortgage provider would understand that to be a solution!

Is anyone else find this to be an issue, or does anyone know what is being done in other cities?

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Mrs OBumble

Protected species AFAIK, so very little can be done.

Noise has been especially bad lately because the pandemic vastly reduced their food supply ( takeaways all closed, less rubbish on the streets).

Even if all premises had bird proof rubbish disposal bins ( which isn't possible), some would survive of what citizens discard.

Storm 10

As stated they are a protected species and we have only ourselves to blame for this, their normal seafood diet in the sea has been totally overfished so now they have to come ashore to try to find food to survive, they build their nest now in Cities when years ago the would build them on Cliffs and near the sea so we are going to have to live with them they have no choice if they want to live. Doing anything to them that could kill them will find you in Court.

inisboffin

Pesky squalkers and definitely getting bigger. The spikes and mesh is very cruel and they can get caught on it and suffer though. People are always rescuing them. A kinder deterrent is needed but yep, humans are to blame for this not them.

?Cee?view

Around town as well, there's that lady that leaves food out for birds. For a good while, I thought it was vomit I was seeing until I realised she throws large amounts of what looks like porridge oats, which gets wet. I believe the poor woman has mental health issues and doesn't take kindly to being asked to stop the feeding.

_Whimsical_

I've gone off seagulls massively since I saw one attack a small bird and eat it in the road on my estate. Someone tried to scare it away with a stick but it wasn't budging.
They've definitely got braver and scarier. I really wouldn't them around my house now at all.
There must be some less cruel method than spikes to deter them though.

Kondo69

What about those ultrasonic sounds to keep them away? It's definitely got worse with them in the last couple of years, long before a lockdown lack of Supermacs food scraps for them.

Interesting read: https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0730/1065972-seagulls-dublin/

monty_python

Kondo69 wrote: »

I think it will only be a matter of time before they seriously hurt someone.

Dude, it's a seagull. Relax your cax

LuasSimon

derekshelvin wrote: »

Our family home is getting a terrible time from the seagulls in the city. Has anything ever been done about them from a City Council point of view? Surely with all the droppings (diseases), noise (sleep deprivation) and increasingly aggressive behaviour (dangerous to humans) they are a hazard to the city? I know they had hawk kites flying by the river years ago but apparently the seagulls cop on to these after a while. Spikes on roofs seem to be the best deterrents, or mesh netting, both of which prevent them from landing.

Some people might tell me to just move away from the city but I am not sure my mortgage provider would understand that to be a solution!

Is anyone else find this to be an issue, or does anyone know what is being done in other cities?

You better be careful or there will be a seagullslivesmatter protest outside your house , stay quite about this matter is your best bet in Modern Ireland !

John_Rambo

They're most likely Herring gulls, they're protected and in decline (I know, hard to believe!!).

The only ways to stop them is to stop harvesting their food (fish) and get people to stop littering, fly tipping, dropping their chips & ice creams, stop leaving food around and get the CC to empty the bins more often. So, it's basically out of your hands.

To answer your question, I think Balbriggan is the only town in the country that had plans to make nest removals legal, not sure if it went ahead, have a google.

[Deleted User]

monty_python wrote: »

Dude, it's a seagull. Relax your cax

Two people in howth were attacked leaving them with blood dripping from their mouths.

Here's one link but far from an isolated incident.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/sisters-shock-after-vicious-seagull-attacks-on-family-walk-left-them-with-bloodied-mouths-36359476.html

John_Rambo

Deleted User wrote: »

Two people in howth were attacked leaving them with blood dripping from their mouths.

Here's one link but far from an isolated incident.

https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/sisters-shock-after-vicious-seagull-attacks-on-family-walk-left-them-with-bloodied-mouths-36359476.html

They're not serious injuries, my kids have had more painful weaver fish, jellyfish and a wasp stings, we can't and shouldn't eradicate wildlife because of a bloody lip. It's not like wildlife management in Africa, America or Borneo.

derekshelvin

Someone rightly identified that humans are the issue leaving food around. Some small measures that could be brought in are hefty fines for dumping food on the street (No harm given that Rentokil reported in November that Galway had the 3rd highest level of rodent callouts) and also the introduction of reusable vermin proof bin bags - There's lots on Google.

When people leave a bin bag out overnight that is a meal for several seagulls and whatever else picks up the remains.

Galway has always been, in my eyes, the most clean and attractive city in Ireland. We need to manage growing populations of rats and seagulls if we want it to remain that way, or things will get too out of hand like in other cities (worldwide).

Notch000

Try WD40 its good for deterring pidgens

Doctors room ghost

There was a seagull living on the leftovers in the skip at the back of the huntsman for years.
Big as a fcukin ostrich he was.

zell12

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

There was a seagull living on the leftovers in the skip at the back of the huntsman for years.

Huntsman do do good food

mouldybiscuits

Kondo69 wrote: »

Does this mean bird spikes and mesh netting are illegal? I know some people complain about the pigeons but these seagulls are so much bigger and menacing, I think it will only be a matter of time before they seriously hurt someone.

I agree, it's about time we started taking this threat seriously. I know the ASU are already very busy but if we armed all Gardaí with tazers and pepper spray they might be able to take in a seagull alive for interrogation. Only then can we find out who's in charge and why they're running this campaign of intimidation.

skinny90

Could introduce a bigger bird of prey? :cool:

Doctors room ghost

skinny90 wrote: »

Could introduce a bigger bird of prey? :cool:

Release a lock of buzzards in town and May the strongest survive.
It’s a wonder they don’t have some sort of ultrasonic sound machine that drives them off and is inaudible to humans like the similar ones for rats

what_traffic

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Release a lock of buzzards in town and May the strongest survive.
It’s a wonder they don’t have some sort of ultrasonic sound machine that drives them off and is inaudible to humans like the similar ones for rats

They did - they were like those US Drones that would follow the gulls up in the skys, but the seagulls shat all over them rendering them useless.
They de-faoileánid them!!

Storm 10

I was flying a Drone at the harbour last year , I heard this loud squawking noise next minute a big Seagull chased the Drone all around the place trying to catch it, I decided to give up and land, they really do defend their nests and will go after you if you are close to their nest especially if the young have hatched. Its hard to blame them because when they used to have nests on Cliffs the chicks would be targets for other birds so its only natural for them to defend the young.

Mrs OBumble

skinny90 wrote: »

Could introduce a bigger bird of prey? :cool:

There is occasionally a hawk around, which does attack them.

[Deleted User]

They are a total vermin and should have what ever stupid protected status they have removed so they can be dealt with.

Storm 10

Lillianna Obedient Spareribs wrote: »

They are a total vermin and should have what ever stupid protected status they have removed so they can be dealt with.

They are only a vermin because that's what they have been turned into by overfishing, years ago you would not say that when they would only be seen at the seaside. They would be part and parcel of it, now they are in Cities trying to survive its not their fault .

skinny90

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

There is occasionally a hawk around, which does attack them.

More hawks would be the most humane way to deal with this I think.

Mrs OBumble

skinny90 wrote: »

More hawks would be the most humane way to deal with this I think.

Have you ever seen a hawk attach a gull? I've heard it happening (couldn't see it from my window) - sounded harrowing.

Somebody above mentioned gull-proof rubbish bags: would be interesting to hear more about these. In a city like Galway where many properties don't have any floor-level outdoor space for storing rubbish bins, hygienic, feasible rubbish disposal is quite a challenge.

Someone above mentioned the woman who feeds the birds: she does indeed use porridge oats. But only the pigeons (and rats) eat her offerings. Seagulls don't do porridge. At one time there were three women doing it, but I think we're down to one now.

Storm 10

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Have you ever seen a hawk attach a gull? I've heard it happening (couldn't see it from my window) - sounded harrowing.

Somebody above mentioned gull-proof rubbish bags: would be interesting to hear more about these. In a city like Galway where many properties don't have any floor-level outdoor space for storing rubbish bins, hygienic, feasible rubbish disposal is quite a challenge.

Someone above mentioned the woman who feeds the birds: she does indeed use porridge oats. But only the pigeons (and rats) eat her offerings. Seagulls don't do porridge. At one time there were three women doing it, but I think we're down to one now.

Saw her this evening with I would say her daughter dropping food at O Neachtains and near the Dail Bar

zell12

letter to editor in Indo
1yuHBST.jpg?1

Ficheall

For some reason, they have a tremendous fear of stamps.

Discodog

Lillianna Obedient Spareribs wrote: »

They are a total vermin and should have what ever stupid protected status they have removed so they can be dealt with.

The good old V word. Excuses any manner of cruelty.

derekshelvin

I'm not calling for a cull, I'm just pointing out that we need to come up with some measures to scale back on their growing population in the city. Humans co-exist with plenty of other species without the risk of disease and noise pollution brought by seagulls. My neighbours have told me the back of their house is like a zoo with nests on roofs and constant noise all day and night. Their clothesline regularly gets poured with bird droppings. Take a look at the amount of bird droppings next time you are in the city centre. Bird deposits contain a high amount of uric acid with a pH level somewhere between 3 and 4.5, which is quite acidic. (Yes I Googled this!) My car paint is ruined with it. Many people are not aware of the amount of diseases brought by bird droppings, it's worth a quick Google search. If as someone mentioned and a lady is going around feeding birds she should be fined. That's not helping our growing rat problem.