Seagulls

[Marts]

Does anyone know if we are allowed to shoot seagulls? Well - it doesn't have to be shooting, persuading them to bugger off would do.

One of the projects I manage in London has its windows cleaned every three months. This costs £1,500 a time. The guys started at 5am this morning and had to leave the top floor in the end because seagulls started attacking them from the rooftops. And when I say attacking I mean it. One of the crew had to go to casualty to get a wound cleaned out.

I am wondering if its because they are nesting at the moment, but the neighbouring car park attendants say it happens to them all the time if they wear white shirts. So much so that their company has supplied them with dark tops!

As I say I was thinking about the legality of shooting them, but I am open to suggestions, particularly if they are rearing young at the moment.

I just want the windows to be cleaned!

 

[beachlover]

Marts, It seems you are not alone in hating the b***ers, but have a look at this article and forget the notion of knocking them off just because they are a nuisance.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2185398,00.html

 

[Marts]

Cheers Kevin. I guess I'm going to have to find some non-lethal methods...

Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[dommyracer]

I dunno if this will work, but when I ran a pub we had a problem with pigeons.
I resorted to purchasing 3 lifelike plastic birds of prey and placing them in various high up spots, moving them around every couple of weeks.
That worked pretty well, but not sure what would scare Seagulls off.....

 

[Ed]

As I say I was thinking about the legality of shooting them, but I am open to suggestions,

As the birds are near / on buildings, you wont be able to shoot them (its a public place and discharging a weapon in a public place is a no-no)

Prevention is the best method.... the birds will scrounge for food.... thats why they are there I guess (unless you are right next to the coast).. Food litter is a big attraction to them. So cleaning up the town would be a help. Also many of the buildings here in my area are 'bird unfriendly' .... spikes on the windowsills and roof tops so they have no where to land or nest etc.

Pigeons are the big problem round here, and the local council has allowed the local falconry club to fly their birds of prey in town in the evenings and on sundays which has helped alot.... not solved it completely, but we get a lot less pigeons now.

Ed

 

[pothunter]

Up until last year we had a large resident population of gullies, summer was a nightmare as they would greet the dawn and persist in flying around and calling until gone midnight. They nested / roosted on factory roofs about 1/4 mile from my home.
Solution: the factories were demolished earlier this year, no more than a handfull left, gullies that is.
Bit drastic I know but worked.

An alternative that may work if you can gain access to roofs is VHS cassette tape strung out over the roosting area, a combination of the noise made when the wind blows thru it and making it dificult for them to land may well put them off. May be as well to avoid a certain Hitchcock film don't want them getting any ideas.
Problem with shooting them is that the habitat suits them and there is always another to take the place of those that are culled.

 

[james_falconry1]

Im afraid it is illegal to shoot gulls as far as i know. Or atleast most species. Scaring is not though so crow bombs and stuff like that but there two cleaver for their own good and learn quickely.


Jimmy

 

[Marts]

Man! I have just been out on an adjacent roof with the maintenance crew to have a look at some slipped roof tiles. As soon as we got out there the gulls began dive-bombing. Imagine the scene - 5 stories up on a narrow roof ledge, two guys swinging brooms to keep them away while I inspect the tiles. God alone knows how we're going to repair the problem.

Unfortunately they are nesting on roof-tops which are only accessible by spending £5k on temporary scaffolding

 

[Marts]

So cleaning up the town would be a help.

Cheers Ed. If I supply the rubbish bags could you just tidy up London

I wonder if Ken hates gulls as much as he hates Pigeons?

 

[Ed]

Cheers Ed. If I supply the rubbish bags could you just tidy up London

I tell you, If I had the manpower and resources and time I would....

I organise environmental cleanups here in the cynon valley.... gratis, for free, outside my already busy working commitments. I have petitioned the council, local government and the Welsh Assembly on these issues. We as businesses and individuals pay council tax, some of which goes towards keeping our area clean and free from pests (pigeons, gulls, rats)..... If the council dont do the work, then point this out to them, work with them, and try and come to an amicable arrangement. We managed to get some funding for local businesses to add pigeon spikes all over town so they had no where to nest ..... as as i said above, they now allow falconry in the town centre after hours to help curb the pest problem.

Good luck with trying to clean up the capital though..... thats a bigger project than I could do


Ed

 

[Seagull]

Its this.

Just let them know, by all possible means, that they are expected to do the decorating .

Works with me!

Seagull

 

[spamel]

Quick, a Seagull has landed in this thread. Get him!!

 

[Seagull]

Ceeg

 

[pierre girard]

Does anyone know if we are allowed to shoot seagulls? Well - it doesn't have to be shooting, persuading them to bugger off would do.

One of the projects I manage in London has its windows cleaned every three months. This costs £1,500 a time. The guys started at 5am this morning and had to leave the top floor in the end because seagulls started attacking them from the rooftops. And when I say attacking I mean it. One of the crew had to go to casualty to get a wound cleaned out.

I am wondering if its because they are nesting at the moment, but the neighbouring car park attendants say it happens to them all the time if they wear white shirts. So much so that their company has supplied them with dark tops!

As I say I was thinking about the legality of shooting them, but I am open to suggestions, particularly if they are rearing young at the moment.

I just want the windows to be cleaned!

They are illegal to shoot here (Minnesota - US). The locals refer to them as "Rats with Wings." I don't know what else you can do to deal with them - at least anything nice.

When we were kids we used to tie a string around two smelt or herring and freeze them. We'd throw out the smelt and two gulls would grab the smelt or herring (one each) and swallow it. It was fun to watch the two gulls try to fly in different directions while attached to one another by a string. We would also freeze smelt in an "L" shape. The gulls would swallow them and get them half way down their throat - where they would lodge - until the fish thawed. We were not very nice kids.

Kids I know tried putting firecrackers in frozen smelt and lighting it off before throwing it to gulls. I never saw this, but I understand the results were fairly spectacular.

Downright nasty, I know, but gulls were not highly thought of where I grew up.

 

[stinkymilo]

Marts,

One company I worked for used to have problems with the gulls nesting on the warehouse roof. So at certain times of the day they used to play a screeching sound through speakers mounted up there which was the sound of a seagull in distress or the sound of a predator, I can't remember which. It seemed to work though.

ATB

Stinky.

 

[Cormac]

would a few dead crows trown up on the roof work

 

[philaw]

Recordings of birds of prey, or plastic models would really be worth a try, though getting real birds of prey might be worthwhile with the sums of money your talking about.

I once made a hawk-like noise and held my hand up over my hamsters cage and it ran for cover under a ledge faster than it'd ever moved before. It'd never done anything similar before, but it just shows that the instinct to run from birds of prey never goes.

 

[rapidboy]

One of my customesr has just moved into a new building beside a hotel.
The hotel has a skipand some large bins out the back that'ss guarded by a real nasty gull that dive bombs anyone or anything that goes near the skip.
Right nasty bugger it is

 

[GreenManOfTheSouth]

Heres an idea, if you have an adjacent roof handy it might be worth getting permission to use a coupple of high preassure fire hoses (might need special permission if they are linked to the alarm system??)
Blast the little b******s with a few 1000 gallons of icy water a number of times and they might eventualy get the message - gulls are nothing if not relatively intelligent. :werd: but might be worth a go. good luck

 

[drat]

I've head alcaselzer or some thing that gives of gas will kill them.because they can't get ride of the gas.you just throw a piece of it to them. and when they swallow it will give the gas.
i have never tried this!!!