Horrified: Proposed Cull of Seagulls in Lowestoft

Hello everyone

I am new to this site, but have always loved feeding wild birds. I now live in Lowestoft - by the coast and have enjoyed over the last four years, watching and feeding seagulls. These are magnificent and intelligent creatures and the coastline and local area - in fact, any seaside town would not be the same without them.

I was horrified to learn a few days ago, that our local MP is proposing to ask parliament for a licence to cull seagulls in Lowestoft. I have emailed him (peter.aldous.mp@parliament.uk) to complain about this, but I am at a loss what to do to fight this.

I would therefore welcome any advice/support from members on what to do.

Alison

Alison,

I'm afraid therin lies the problem in your post. Feeding the Seagulls.

Whilst I'm open to a debate reagrding the pros and cons of a cull there is little doubt that feeding the gulls has led to the inevitable clashes between them and us. They are big powerful birds who can and do intimidate a lot of people. Try sitting on Ilfracombe Harbour with a plate of chips for one example of how almost agressive these birds have become in search of food.

This I'm sure will open a whole can of worms with widely differing opinions.

Andrew

This will be debated in Parliament later today, see the article here for more information.

The RSPB has provided a brief on this matter including information about the declines in gulls populations and ways to tackle conflicts in problem areas through non-lethal measures.

We will be very interested to see what direction this debate takes.

Andrew

Very disappointed by your response. Seagulls do make the most of humans littering with fast food - mainly due to diminishing stocks of fish around our coastline. I'm sure seagulls, given the choice, would not choose to feed on kebab and chips.

The only time seagulls do show an aggression is during the breeding season when they have chicks to feed. I have seagulls nesting on my roof ever summer and have built up an excellent relationship with them. They have never been aggressive with me - despite knowing that I am the source of their food supply.

I have welcomed the opportunity to observe these intelligent birds at close quarters. I did not move to the coast to have the native wildlife destroyed because it bothers a few inept people. I would question why these people want to live/go to the coast if they don't like and appreciate the natural habitat.

On this basis, why not kill all birds as they poo on people's cars and houses, and eat seed that people plant, as surely they are all just a nuisance? I for one, am interested in all wildlife and all species of bird.

The debate takes place today between 4.30 - 5.00. I have written to Peter Aldous about the matter, and it has already been agreed that the birds will not be culled in Aldborough.

Alison,

I dont recal saying I was in favour of a cull or not. My personal experience of some coastal gulls is that yes they have become a nuisance and try telling a small child not to be scared of a huge gull bashing into them in order to take thier ice cream.

No apologies I'm afraid if your dissapointed by my original response the fact remains that feeding the gulls has palyed no small part in the debate which will take place this afternoon.  

By the way I to also like wildlife.

It is our love of eeding birds such as gulls and "town"pigeons in public places that causes the problem.Not every person shares our love of birds and many find them intimidating in large numbers.Left to find their own food they would disperse and be less of a problem.

Hi I Love Seagulls

Totally with you on this one - I hope a peaceful solution will be found - but somehow I doubt it. 'Culling' - or rather - killing -  seems to be the answer to all ills these days and it is nearly always human activity which is the cause. Very sad - I love seagulls too.

CJU

I'm surprised that money can be found to have a cull. I would have thought that it would have been better spent giving it to our hard pressed Banks.

<tongue in cheek>

PS: My vote is for the Gulls - not Culls.

PPS: Andrew/Seaman make a good point.

Thank you for all your comments. Firstly, the only time I have ever seen seagulls stealing food from people is on 'You've Been Framed'. I have three young children and we have never experienced this issue, despite spending much of the time on the seafront during the summer.

If a cull takes place, does that mean that I will find dead or dying seagulls in my garden, and what about the environmental impact of rotting seagull corpses lining our coastal towns (a danger to children, other animals etc).

I agree that a lot of problems within towns come from human littering food stuff and agree that birds would go elsewhere for their source of food if there were none. I would suggest that all humans caught abandoning waste should be culled. (tongue in cheek)

As I live five minutes from the coast, the birds would still nest on my roof regardless if I were there or not. If I stop feeding seagulls, should I also remove my bird table and feeders to discourage other birds coming to my garden?

An excellent point made by GrahamC. There are many important local issues that my local mp could be discussing, but has chosen to use his time on this very minor point. On looking at opinions on local forums, it seems those complaining have no interest in the natural environment and I would question why they want to be in the countryside at all.

Thank you so much for your comment cjbeady. I was beginning to think I was weeing in the wind.

Alison

Firstly, I'm not in favour of a cull. Should a cull be sanctioned I'm certain it will be through the destruction of eggs. I have no doubt at all it will involve the destruction of adult birds.

You are not weeing in the wind and I appreciate your concerns.

I feed the birds, but there is a big difference between a few sparrows around the bird table and a large Great Black Gull that decides he wants your ice cream, especially when you're only 4 or 5 years old.

A

LOL,

'...I would suggest that all humans caught abandoning waste should be culled. (tongue in cheek)'

Best suggestion I've heard all year....!

Feeding 'seagulls' and feeding garden birds are two completely different things. Gulls are scavengers and will eat pretty much anything, so there is no need to feed them up. As you said, they'll nest on your roof either way, as they have enough food, so why encourage them and make the problem worse? I don't think that it's a bad thing to have the gulls in a town, especially in a seaside town, as they are good for a clean up, they keep the streets free from food, litter etc. But I think that the problem is made a lot worse than it should be by people feeding the gulls, which then leads to them stealing food from people, as they would with many other animals. The fact is, they have enough to eat without people feeding them.

Last year I worked on a seabird colony and we had terrible problems with the gulls. People at the harbour would constantly be feeding them, as well as the gulls taking food from the bins, eating the by-catch from the fishing boats, stealing ood from the seabirds, eating the seabirds eggs and chicks and even eating the adult seabirds. Due to the massive amounts of food available to them, the population had become unnaturally high. We didn't cull the birds, but gained a licence to remove a certain number of eggs from the nests of some of the species to keep control of the numbers. That way, we could prevent further population crashes in the 10+ species of seabirds that breed there. I thought it was a brilliant way of keeping the population from exploding - no animals had to die! Could you suggest this to your local MP instead of a cull? If they do carry out the cull, they will take away the bodies. As you say, it would be a massive health and safety issue if they didn't, and no council wants that on their minds!!

Andrew - I do get your points, I was feeling pretty passionate about the whole thing this morning and was probably venting my spleen on you!

I just feel infuriated with people who have no interest or appreciation in the environment around them, be it birds, animals, insects or countryside.

Sarah - thank you very much for your comment, this would seem like the best solution, and  I will forward this suggestion to my mp.