Town declares all-out war on menace of divebomber seagulls

Published on Friday 22 August 2008 22:17

TO SOME, they are graceful seabirds that swoop serenely over the waves.

To others, they are terrifying scavengers that tear apart rubbish, divebomb children and disturb sleep.

Now seagulls in one Scottish town are to be targeted by a new task force that will hunt out and destroy their nests. Deterrents being considered in Dumfries include putting spikes on buildings and covering nesting hot-spots with wires.

If successful, the pilot initiative could be rolled out to other towns and cities. It was announced yesterday by Mike Russell, the environment minister, who has promised to be "tough on seagulls and tough on the causes of seagulls".

Despite criticising the "over-the-top rhetoric" of the minister's announcement, RSPB Scotland has said it supports the scheme as long as it is long term and sustainable.

Mr Russell said: "Seagulls are a menace to Scottish towns and cities. They thrive on litter and their aggressive behaviour towards other birds, pets and even people is increasingly problematic. Dumfries has a particular problem with gulls, with regular reports of divebombing.

"I even read this week about a young paperboy who has had to abandon his deliveries due to constant attacks from the birds."

He said preventing gulls from nesting would discourage them from breeding in Dumfries and force them to look elsewhere.

Action will be taken next spring, in time for the breeding season, and will be led by local authority staff assisted by Scottish Natural Heritage. It is legal for building owners and members of local authorities to destroy the nests of herring gulls and lesser black backed gulls, or even to kill the birds, if it is done to protect public health.

Keith Morton, species policy officer at RSPB Scotland, agreed that gulls could be a nuisance in urban areas, especially during spring when they were guarding their chicks. He said he believed attacks on members of the public and excessive late night noise could be considered issues of public health.

"You find these gulls making territorial noises in the middle of the night," he said. "Some people are not concerned about it. Other people might be experiencing bad health effects from it. So I think there's a legitimate cause to control gulls in certain circumstances under the terms of the law."

However, he emphasised that a long-term approach must be taken that aims to encourage gulls back to a more natural environment, and takes into account the fact that herring gull numbers are in decline.

Tactics that failed to beat the gall of the gull

DESPERATE tactics have been tried in many of Scotland's coastal towns and cities in an attempt to tackle the seagull menace.

In Aberdeen, city officials considered oiling eggs to reduce the bird population.

In Fraserburgh, a recording of a seagull distress call was played in an attempt to frighten off the birds. It was switched off after concerns were raised by locals.

In Edinburgh's Bruntsfield, a bird of prey has even been used – but the seagulls remain.

In Inverness, wind globes, usually used by farmers to keep birds off their fields, were put on top of a charity building.

The globes startle the gulls when they spin with their garish colours and designs.

In Aberdeen, one cheeky seagull nicknamed Sam achieved popularity after it was regularly spotted wandering into a shop and helping itself to crisps – always cheese Doritos.

In Stirling, a terminally ill woman was threatened with an antisocial behaviour order for feeding the birds.