Bird attack on boats: reality or urban myth?

[Tomahawk]

We can thank the RSPB for legislation that forbids us from shooting the things.

They say they are protecting the vironment.. but in the overall scheme of things an interest in birds is no more than a hobby.
My hobby is sailing and I would expect to have to pay for any damage I cause to someone else's property arising from my hobby.. (Given sailing is a pretty benign activity that is a very remote possibility).
However seeing as an interest in all things bird is a hobby but one which now has clear negative side effects on on innocent people and their property... I think we should invoice the RSPB for cleaning up the mess their hobby causes.

 

[Kukri]

An old school burgee flown from the masthead does a fine job keeping the crows away. The only known defence against starlings is to moor next door to a boat with a taller mast than yours.

I wonder if one might leave a burgee stick, with a streamer of ribbon or tape in place of the burgee, at the mast head? Think I am going to try it, anyway.

 

[mjcoon]

We can thank the RSPB for legislation that forbids us from shooting the things.

They say they are protecting the vironment.. but in the overall scheme of things an interest in birds is no more than a hobby.
My hobby is sailing and I would expect to have to pay for any damage I cause to someone else's property arising from my hobby.. (Given sailing is a pretty benign activity that is a very remote possibility).
However seeing as an interest in all things bird is a hobby but one which now has clear negative side effects on on innocent people and their property... I think we should invoice the RSPB for cleaning up the mess their hobby causes.

Got any more examples of your weird logic? (Just say "yes"; I don't want to know what they are!)

Mike.

 

[johnalison]

Seagulls may have little obvious use but we ignore the interconnectedness of nature at our peril. It always surprises me when fellow sailors express indifference to wildlife when our pastime would be scarcely more interesting than playing with a bath toy without it. Some years ago the Chinese got fed up with some bird or other, maybe sparrows, and managed to exterminate them, resulting in a plague of insects including locusts, and resulting in famine.

 

[Kukri]

I remember walking in the Chinese countryside near Beijing and thinking that something was missing. After a few walks I realised what was missing - birdsong. There were no birds. Mao had exterminated them.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Remember that birds are really dinosaurs, descended from things like Velociraptor! So maybe they have the attitude that they aren't going to take any nonsense from these johnny-come-lately mammals...