Gulls

[miles from the sea]

An army Gulls lining up to use my decks as a latrine as soon a I head to the shore from my mooring in Ipswich. I’ve tried all sorts to dissuade them to no avail.

 

[johnalison]

Don’t you dare do anything to move them on. We don’t need any more in Titchmarsh.

 

[Black Diamond]

One of my sailing mates uses rubber snakes spread about the coachroof and foredeck. Seem very effective, although it amazes me that seabirds come hard wired to avoid a species they presumably never see. The things are about two feet long and brightly coloured, and are kept in place beneath deck lines.

I use Gull Sweeps on my dory, which is close to the hammerhead jetty in Mersea, and used by bacon-addicted gulls as a launchpad to harvest the windfall from the trippers' crabbing lines. They're pretty effective, but birds soon learn to perch and defecate beyond the radius.

 

[Daverw]

One of my sailing mates uses rubber snakes spread about the coachroof and foredeck. Seem very effective, although it amazes me that seabirds come hard wired to avoid a species they presumably never see. The things are about two feet long and brightly coloured, and are kept in place beneath deck lines.

I use Gull Sweeps on my dory, which is close to the hammerhead jetty in Mersea, and used by bacon-addicted gulls as a launchpad to harvest the windfall from the trippers' crabbing lines. They're pretty effective, but birds soon learn to perch and defecate beyond the radius.

I’ve seen rubber snakes used on a few boats if I recall in Bridlington harbour so does seem to be a thing

 

[Gustywinds]

If Titanic had been filmed in Scotland

 

[Irish Rover]

It's a long way from the east coast of Sasana to Türkiye but I wonder why gulls behave so differently in in the Med to the way they do in western Europe. There are plenty of gulls around here but I've never seen one land on a boat in the marina. My house is on an elevated position close to the sea and, as far as I'm can tell, the only time the gulls venture inland is in the hour or so before it starts to rain in the autumn or winter. People eat outdoors on the beaches and in the parks but I've never seen gulls scavenging for discarded food or attacking people for it as I saw in Howth in Dublin last year.

 

[oldgit]

Neither of them appear to be covered in bites.... the wee bitey beasties, where those ?

 

[ex-Gladys]

Gull behaviour is very localised. For example, Aldeburgh is a disaster as mentioned elsewhere in this thread. Down the road a few miles in Felixstowe or Harwich, they take no notice of people eating, because they haven't been trained by idiots throwing food for them!