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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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Ficheall

derekshelvin wrote: »

Humans co-exist with plenty of other species without the risk of disease and noise pollution brought by seagulls.

Which species did you survey for this opinion poll?

magicbastarder

derekshelvin wrote: »

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.

Write to your TD asking for tighter quotas and enforcement to be put on fishing, to allow their natural food stocks to rebound.

Rodney Bathgate

Storm 10 wrote: »

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 .

I blame the Spaniards.

[Deleted User]

John_Rambo wrote: »

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.

No one is suggesting eradication, but if you don't think they are out of control then you are either sitting in the middle of Meath and don't see any,

Or are a fool.

Storm 10

[Deleted User] wrote: »

No one is suggesting eradication, but if you don't think they are out of control then you are either sitting in the middle of Meath and don't see any,

Or are a fool.

I don't know how many times I have to say that we are the problem not the Sea Gulls there is no food for them in the sea what do you suggest they do starve. Of all wild life they are the most effected by overfishing there is no fish even trawlers are tied up not worth going out to sea.

derekshelvin

Storm 10 wrote: »

I don't know how many times I have to say that we are the problem not the Sea Gulls there is no food for them in the sea what do you suggest they do starve. Of all wild life they are the most effected by overfishing there is no fish even trawlers are tied up not worth going out to sea.

I genuinely didn't mean to upset anyone, I am just a bit frustrated that I am paying taxes to fund a council who gets up every morning to clean our streets and try to keep our nice city as beautiful as it is while someone then spends the day pouring porridge oats around at every corner feeding animals that are causing so much noise and potential diseases.

All I am suggesting are some local measures (e.g. fines for throwing food around or warning signs like other cities have) that might help. I just took a walk through town and the streets are destroyed with those oats and bird dropping all around them, I hadn't realised someone was doing this.

Those who are living near this issue will know what I am talking about.

GrumpyMe

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/dublin-s-night-workers-in-38-years-i-d-never-seen-an-owl-in-the-city-centre-1.4268886

Sean-Michael Larkin, an inspector on the night shift for Dublin City Council, has never seen the city so empty in more than three decades cleaning the city.... Instead of seeing people, he’s seeing wildlife. “The seagulls are gone because the fast food restaurants are closed . . . and because the seagulls are gone, the foxes have come back in.
Just another viewpoint.

Mrs OBumble

derekshelvin wrote: »

I genuinely didn't mean to upset anyone, I am just a bit frustrated that I am paying taxes to fund a council who gets up every morning to clean our streets and try to keep our nice city as beautiful as it is while someone then spends the day pouring porridge oats around at every corner feeding animals that are causing so much noise and potential diseases.

All I am suggesting are some local measures (e.g. fines for throwing food around or warning signs like other cities have) that might help. I just took a walk through town and the streets are destroyed with those oats and bird dropping all around them, I hadn't realised someone was doing this.

Those who are living near this issue will know what I am talking about.

I know perfectly well what you mean: I am living right in the middle of the city, with gulls nesting in buildings all around: When I want to use the table on my balcony I usually have to clean bird-**** off it first. (If I'm in charge of buying the next table, it will have some kind of umbrella.) I would support a cull - but it's not currently legal.

The bird-feeders and the gulls are two quite separate issues. Gulls don't seem to eat the porridge oats, and AFAIK they don't eat pigeons (which do eat the oats.

The people who systematically feed the pigeons usually have emotional / social issues: fining them likely wouldn't make a whit of difference, they wouldn't pay. They may feel less need to feed birds if society appointed support workers whose job it was to befriend them (the feeders, not the birds!) - or they may not.

Some of the bird-**** problem is also from starlings, who nest in various buildings and seem to make an incredible mess for their body size. I don't know if they're protected or not.

And for all the mess and noise that birds make, when the pubs and clubs are open, humans make a truckload more.

GrumpyMe wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/dublin-s-night-workers-in-38-years-i-d-never-seen-an-owl-in-the-city-centre-1.4268886

Sean-Michael Larkin, an inspector on the night shift for Dublin City Council, has never seen the city so empty in more than three decades cleaning the city.... Instead of seeing people, he’s seeing wildlife. “The seagulls are gone because the fast food restaurants are closed . . . and because the seagulls are gone, the foxes have come back in.

Not the case, so far anyway, in Galway city.

Back in mid-March, the gulls (and the street-beggars) became quite a lot more aggressive when their food (money) sources abruptly dried up. I was expecting some, at least, to go away, but they didn't. They must have found some food sources. And now with lots of places open for takeaways again, there is more food left lying around again.

Hairy Japanese BASTARDS!

Why the fuçk are seagulls protected ?

They're a pest and must be eradicated.

John_Rambo

Deleted User wrote: »

No one is suggesting eradication, but if you don't think they are out of control then you are either sitting in the middle of Meath and don't see any,

Or are a fool.

Hi denertha, I live coastal, we've a big population of Herring gulls with a good few Black Headed gulls some Lesser Black Backed gulls the odd Great black backed gull for impressiveness. I'm very familiar with them and I'm no fool! We don't have a big litter problem where I am, but Howth is very close to me and with a lot of tourism, overflowing bins in the summer (not this summer) and fish processing plants there's a percieved problem.

As long as there's rubbish there's going to be Herring gulls in populated areas of Ireland. Get to the source of the problem and you'll sort it out.

What are your suggestions?

Hairy Japanese BASTARDS! wrote: »

Why the fuçk are seagulls protected ?

They're a pest and must be eradicated.

Just as someone claims nobody wants eradication!! It's hard to believe, but the Herring gull is on the red list of birds of conservation concern in the country, however they're common enough in coastal towns with easy pickings for them like discarded chip bags, fish from processing plants, plastic bags of rubbish that can be pecked open.

gordongekko

Its nesting and hatching season at the moment. The chicks will soon be leaving their nests and the parents are very protective of them . They are best avoided as is the lady the feeds the pigeons.

Snow Garden

Storm 10 wrote: »

I don't know how many times I have to say that we are the problem not the Sea Gulls there is no food for them in the sea what do you suggest they do starve.

That is way too simplistic. It's a factor alright but there are other factors. 'Seagulls' have been migrating and adapting to urban living since way before overfishing was a problem. Black headed gulls arrived in inner London in the 1890s for example. In the last 3/4 decades they have been taking advantage of our wastefulness and the rubbish on our streets. Same for the foxes. They are under particular pressure this year because the restaurants and fast-food places are shut or doing a lot less business.

biko

Drop the discussion about the bird lady please. She is a private individual.

Andrew00

LuasSimon wrote: »

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 !

Ya the blue and pink haired teens will be out protesting with their nose rings and tattoos

Paddico

They are a delicacy in some Scottish Islands.
Lets shoot and eat them instead.

GrumpyMe

Paddico wrote: »

They are a delicacy in some Scottish Islands.
Lets shoot and eat them instead.

Should we remove the "nose rings and tattoos" before cooking or before eating?

TheBoyConor

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

That would also drive off all other wildlife and probably be a menace to people's pets.

The solution is to stop fishing.

PhilOssophy

If we didn't leave our parks in a state and our bins overflowing with sh1te lying around them, seagulls might go back to the sea to find food......but we are too stupid as a species to join the dots.

TheBoyConor

skinny90 wrote: »

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

Good luck with that except the farmers will lay poison to kill the hawks because they think that hawks and eagles fly off with fully grown cattle

Doctors room ghost

TheBoyConor wrote: »

That would also drive off all other wildlife and probably be a menace to people's pets.

The solution is to stop fishing.

The solution is to fish within quotas and have proper mesh size for targeted species.
Also to have a government that doesn’t sell off their fishing grounds and allow other nations in to pillage our seas.
Neither of which would happen

derekshelvin

Plenty of us don't eat fish and dispose of our waste properly. This is a very small minority of people who are causing this and should be dealt with properly by the law. Tossing food around and dumping bin bags (the ones that are not Barna Waste or Galway City bins, they are a lighter plastic and easier for the birds/rats to get at from what I have seen) illegally around the city is going to give us severe problems down the line and needs to be dealt with now. I'll send a letter as someone suggested about the over-fishing but I will also be raising the issue at a more local level, that is the first step. I'm reading appalling reports this week about growing rats numbers in other cities.

BinBags Solution:
Barna Waste/Galway City Bins provide bird/vermin proof re-usable bin bags.

Dumping bin bags solution:
There's cameras on every street to identify a car that drops a non-registered bin bag somewhere.
Step 1: ID the number plate
Step 2: Court + fine
Step 3: Name in newspaper.

That would soon stop that problem.

Food waste being thrown around town:
- Same solution as above except you can actually see the person's face.
- There could be more education / posters of the health issues involved when people throw food around. Some people do not know the health hazards involved with bird droppings, and don't get me started on rats. Is there any such signage around the city? Google 'Beware the gulls St. Ives'

One of the best things about Galway is the laid back atmosphere but unfortunately a small percentage take advantage of this and feel free to dump what they want where they want. Sure someone else will pick that up. The birds will eat that. That litter bin 4 metres away is too far.

I know someone mentioned that there are often mental health issues involved in the issues I have outlined but in my opinion it is more often blatant ignorance. This is still within our control and can be stopped.

TheBoyConor

Do you have any idea how much money it would cost to install, operate and maintain such a network of CCTV cameras?
It would be railed against as being draconian over-surveilance that even the East German stasi couldn't mobilise.

And it won't work. Cars with obscured/dirty number plates, not visible because of another car or street furninture in the way etc.

Nonsense proposal like most things proposed on this site.

As for enforcing fines against people who throw scraps of food around - how do you propose that to work? We haven't enough gardai to deal with domestic violence, buglaries, rural and elderly crime - they are hardly going to be going around dishing out fines and going to court with fellas who threw a chip or an apple core on the road.
As for litter wardens, they are useless. They are not Gardai. A person could simply refuse to talk to them, give their name as John Johnson of John's Street, Johnstown, or tell them to feck off and there would be literally nothing they could do.

Snow Garden

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Good luck with that except the farmers will lay poison to kill the hawks because they think that hawks and eagles fly off with fully grown cattle

I am pretty sure they are dragons.

Mrs OBumble

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Cars with obscured/dirty number plates, not visible because of another car or street furninture in the way etc.

And bicycles don't have number plates.

[Deleted User]

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Do you have any idea how much money it would cost to install, operate and maintain such a network of CCTV cameras?
It would be railed against as being draconian over-surveilance that even the East German stasi couldn't mobilise.

And it won't work. Cars with obscured/dirty number plates, not visible because of another car or street furninture in the way etc.

Nonsense proposal like most things proposed on this site.

As for enforcing fines against people who throw scraps of food around - how do you propose that to work? We haven't enough gardai to deal with domestic violence, buglaries, rural and elderly crime - they are hardly going to be going around dishing out fines and going to court with fellas who threw a chip or an apple core on the road.
As for litter wardens, they are useless. They are not Gardai. A person could simply refuse to talk to them, give their name as John Johnson of John's Street, Johnstown, or tell them to feck off and there would be literally nothing they could do.

So what is your suggestion?

Personally I'd have no issue with a cull but its not going to happen unfortunately, I'd happy give them lead myself to make up for all the times I've had to wash their sh*t off my car.

TheBoyConor

There is no one silver buller solution. but there are things which may help.
- improve litter bins throughout the city, more of them and a better design that the birds can't get into easily
- more council resources given to street cleaning to pick up any stray scraps and general rubbish around the place
- a ban on businesses just leaving out bags of rubbish - they must either get a proper covered vermin and bird proof bin to put out, or face fines for having rubbish in bags. Could be made a FSAI and Council enforced option.
- cut back the fishing industry which, among other evils, is systematically raping the oceans of the the sea birds proper food source. That is in the hands of the EU and the Irish Government though, not the Council.
That could only ever be brought about if the EU and Irish goverments put in place measures to provide alternative employment for those coming out of the fishing industry if it is to be brought down. You can't just kill and industry and then say best of luck to the thousands employed in it through no fault of their own.
- public education and media campaign to bring people along in not giving food to the gulls, either intentionally or unintentionally

Talk of culls and shooting is nonsense. They are a protected species. That is not going to change. Ever. I don't know has a species ever been de-protected but even if it has, it would be a very rare thing to happen. And de-proetecting a species is one thing, going on to declare a policy to cull said formerly protected species is an even greater flight of fancy, a leap into the ridicuous realm of fantasy for anyone in the know about such matters.
A cull of the birds in urban areas would probably decimate the species, as they are concentrated in urban areas nowadays.

my point is, while it may seem a simple issue, it is actually a very very complex one with deep, spreading and intertwining roots when you dig down into it a little.

derekshelvin

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Do you have any idea how much money it would cost to install, operate and maintain such a network of CCTV cameras?
It would be railed against as being draconian over-surveilance that even the East German stasi couldn't mobilise.

And it won't work. Cars with obscured/dirty number plates, not visible because of another car or street furninture in the way etc.

Nonsense proposal like most things proposed on this site.

As for enforcing fines against people who throw scraps of food around - how do you propose that to work? We haven't enough gardai to deal with domestic violence, buglaries, rural and elderly crime - they are hardly going to be going around dishing out fines and going to court with fellas who threw a chip or an apple core on the road.
As for litter wardens, they are useless. They are not Gardai. A person could simply refuse to talk to them, give their name as John Johnson of John's Street, Johnstown, or tell them to feck off and there would be literally nothing they could do.

What about the education angle I suggested; informing people / signs in public outlining the negatives of dumping food, how do you feel about that? I am trying to figure out whether or not you think this is a lost cause that will inevitably get worse without attempting some local measures.

Some excellent suggestions made above this post.

PhilOssophy

derekshelvin wrote: »

What about the education angle I suggested; informing people / signs in public outlining the negatives of dumping food, how do you feel about that? I am trying to figure out whether or not you think this is a lost cause that will inevitably get worse without attempting some local measures.

Some excellent suggestions made above this post.

If people don't have enough brain power to know you shouldn't litter, they are probably beyond education

newuser99999

?Cee?view wrote: »

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.

She’s here now in Eyre Square feeding them chips from Supermacs. It’s a miserable site and so irritating.

GalwayGaillimh

Well the Hawk Kite deterrent solution does not work saw one installed recently in city center and it did not bother the seagulls one bit at all supposedly meant to scare them off for a 2 Km radius.
Root cause is rubbish being left out...