Lately I have been walking near my apartment in North Dublin and have come under attack on 3 occasions from seagulls, I now only go out by car for fear of a reoccurrence, also it is gotten to the stage I can't get a full night's sleep as they are nesting on the roof, the amount of seagulls overhead are frightening and the attacks on people seem more often recently
Seagulls - attacking people and marking cars - how to deal with them?
- Thread starter Don007
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newirishman
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You can't really do much until the young ones have fled the nest. Protected and all that.
Had same buggers nesting on my chimney for three seasons, this year we put some deterrent on the chimney (plastic spike mats).
This discouraged nesting behaviour on my chimney. They moved a couple of chimneys to a neighbour.
From those three seasons, the parent seagulls where aggressive alright but never really came close enough for real danger.
Also if I ignored them they usually chose to ignore me. YMMV of course.
Had same buggers nesting on my chimney for three seasons, this year we put some deterrent on the chimney (plastic spike mats).
This discouraged nesting behaviour on my chimney. They moved a couple of chimneys to a neighbour.
From those three seasons, the parent seagulls where aggressive alright but never really came close enough for real danger.
Also if I ignored them they usually chose to ignore me. YMMV of course.
The Irish bit of the London Times had an article recently about a similar issue:-
Help! My neighbour’s seagulls are destroying my windows
Seagulls on my neighbour’s roof are spoiling my windows A family of seagulls has built a nest in my neighbour’s chimney. They don’t seem bothered but the no
www.thetimes.co.uk
it's behind a paywall, but here are some bullets:-
there’s very little you can do about this now. March 1 to the end of September is the nesting season and it’s illegal to disturb the birds.
After the nesting season ends, they leave, but they will be back next year. They like to nest on the same spot each year.
You can put spikes on the ridge of the roof to stop them landing there. They don’t like to land on angled tiles or slates.
Never put spikes on a chimney as they will probably just build a nest in between them!
Wax finishes will add some protection, but the acidity of their droppings means that a cover is the only real protection.
I've seen those long poles with a big bird type thingy on top that floats with the wind. It's supposed to mimic a bird of prey and frighten the pests away. Lots of car dealerships use them to stop birds from pooing on the show cars, etc. I have no idea if it works or not, but I'm seeing more and more of them being used.
It'd need to be a big bird of prey. I've seen seagulls mob \ swoop down on herons (both in flight and on rooftop) and a kestrel (in the air).
I know, some of them are huge yokes. You'd want to see some of the streets in Galway city early in the morning with rubbish bags ripped open and stuff all over the place. Not afraid of humans either. Deffo a huge menace in cities and needs action because of it. Drastic action I'd say, maybe even a massive cull at this stage.
In Dingle the tourists regularly throw food to them which just encourages the problem! There are several food vans opposite a car park/toilet block for anyone that knows Dingle, people buy the fish/chips etc and sit around to eat them and throw bits to the birds thinking it's cutesy! It's far from it and encourages them to hang around the street and basically whipping food out of your hand if you're not careful.
If it's too easy for them to get the food whether from being fed or bins etc then why should they go to the bother of trying to catch some themselves. I have seen many posts on various pages where people throw scraps out for small birds but unfortunately attracting seagulls then with resulting problems.
If it's too easy for them to get the food whether from being fed or bins etc then why should they go to the bother of trying to catch some themselves. I have seen many posts on various pages where people throw scraps out for small birds but unfortunately attracting seagulls then with resulting problems.
Brendan Burgess
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The OP is asking a practical question.
While people are discussing practical solutions, can you hold off letting off steam on the issue.
Brendan
While people are discussing practical solutions, can you hold off letting off steam on the issue.
Brendan
blanketyblank
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There was something on the radio today, on Newstalk radio, around 3 ish , I think moncrief ( spelling) and they were testing out this music that is a deterrant to seagulls but not to other birds. Developed by scientists. They were testing by sending their reporter somewhere with lots of seagulls and he had food. It seemed to work.the birds cleared, but I didnt hear the end
Perhaps you could check it out and blast it. Worth a try.
Perhaps you could check it out and blast it. Worth a try.
You mean “ bye gulls bye”
youtu.be
Deliveroo Presents... 'Bye Gull Bye' (Chipwatch)
Deliveroo presents... ‘Bye Gull Bye’ (Chipwatch) - a new audio track in collaboration with bird expert and ornithologist Dr Madeleine Goumas, expertly create...
youtu.be
Sitting in my uncle's house today by the sea and he has bird feeders outside for small birds, telephone pole near house and the seagulls perch on it waiting their opportunity to get at some of the bread he puts out for the smaller birds, he puts it under upturned hanging baskets so bigger birds can't get at it. Anyway his weapon of choice is a laser pointer, he manages to point it at them and they fly off! Had to laugh but it's inventive! He's sitting there though retired watching the birds so has plenty of time for it.