Sucky Seagulls

[ThirdGenRetail]

If they would round up all the seagulls in all the world and just shoot 'em, I would not miss them one bit.

They're flying dumpsters. In the warmer months they like to congregate in our parking lot and dine on various pieces of garbage they find around. You'll see a bunch of them fighting over a McDonalds french cry carton.

And they shit everywhere! I have to take my hat off the one who bombed my car at work the other day. It was so cold it froze rock-hard. I thought it was too cold for seagulls. Note to self: avoid parking under lampposts in parking lot.

Being on a lake I got way way too many seagulls around here.

As much as I don't like the little shithawks... I've heard tell they're a protected species(At least here) due to being scavenger/carrion birds(Along with, literally, vultures. We have VULTURES here. They take over your yard, say goodbye to it). So we must all suffer the vile things. We CAN shoot all the pigeons we want, though. Just not seagulls.

When I was a younger thing, back in... '96 or '97? My sister and I walked to the nearest grocery store to us(A Safeway. We lived up in the great and grand Pacific North West at the time) one day, I forget what we were going to get. What I DO remember is that we came out of the field right behind Payless (What it was back when, before they built a new building for the conversion to Aide of Rite), and as we crossed the parking lot... This HUGE flock of gulls came flying off the roof of the Aide of Rite We had to duck away to avoid a shower of white I think that's about the point I learned to hate them....

[Frantic Freddie]

A seagull snatched a sandwich from my 6 year old nephew's hand once & a few years ago we were at a beach party in Port Aransas,TX when somebody decided to feed the gulls.Everybody threatened to beat the snot out of that person.

[Pagan]

I hate seagulls. And I live near the coast, so they're everywhere. The portrayal of seagulls in "Finding Nemo" was too nice. Pigeons may be flying rats, but the crows will scare them away. Nothing seems to scare seagulls.

Tell that to the ding-dong pigeons here. There's a murder that hangs out around here and doesn't seem to phase the stupid pigeons (that's redundant) at all.

Come to think of it, their stupidity might be the problem. I was walking out today and one kept flapping just enough in front of me to keep from getting stepped on. I finally looked at it and told it it had better fly off or it was going to become dinner.

As much as I don't like the little shithawks... I've heard tell they're a protected species(At least here) due to being scavenger/carrion birds(Along with, literally, vultures. We have VULTURES here. They take over your yard, say goodbye to it). So we must all suffer the vile things. We CAN shoot all the pigeons we want, though. Just not seagulls.

Oh, hell, we can't do anything about grackles, either. They're federally protected as, get this, song birds! I don't know about anyone else, but I wouldn't call the hellacious racket they make as a song.

[XCashier]

If they would round up all the seagulls in all the world and just shoot 'em, I would not miss them one bit.

Well...they are useful at keeping the beaches clean. Though what the heck they're doing here as we're sixty miles from the beach, I have no idea...

Normally, I love birds of all kinds. And when they're few in number, yes, they're fun to watch. But when they're bold enough to divebomb you and grab your lunch, or in huge numbers, you start to think you're in a Hitchcock movie.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

As much as I don't like the little shithawks... I've heard tell they're a protected species(At least here) due to being scavenger/carrion birds

Must just be your area. My city used to shoot seagulls. We have a marina on the lake where a lot of hoity-toity FIBs keep their yachts, and they weren't too thrilled about the damn seagulls pooping on their boats all the time.

It took a little while to get the permits through though. The sticking point wasn't any protection of the seagulls, but rather another bird that hung around with the seagulls that was protected.

Well...they are useful at keeping the beaches clean.

Not here they ain't, unless they like to eat dead alewives, which die off in great numbers and wash up on and stink up the beaches. You couldn't stand to be on the beach with them around.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

See, you use the word "clean" the way I would use the phrase "covered with shit." I was in St. Petersburg, Florida on a shoot once, and we were all happy to have our hotel right there overlooking the beach. Until we discovered that the reason nobody was actually hanging out on the beach was because the beach was completely...and I do mean completely...covered with fish stinking sea bird shit and smelled so bad you couldn't stand to lay down and read a book.

Granted, seagull shit is still less offensive than garbage and rotting sea life, so there's that.

[MoonCat]

I like gulls.

And grackles.


And I think humans outdo any animal you can name in making a filthy mess.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I like gulls, too. I like their white feathers and their lonely sounding cries.

Not crazy about them pulling drive-bys on my mom, but even with that and the shit covered beach, I'd miss them if they were gone.

[XCashier]

And I think humans outdo any animal you can name in making a filthy mess.

A fair point. Bird messes will eventually biodegrade, no matter how piled up. Human messes, not so much...

[Kogarashi]

I was in St. Petersburg, Florida on a shoot once, and we were all happy to have our hotel right there overlooking the beach. Until we discovered that the reason nobody was actually hanging out on the beach was because the beach was completely...and I do mean completely...covered with fish stinking sea bird shit and smelled so bad you couldn't stand to lay down and read a book.

Our beachside hotel in Ft. Lauderdale was far better. Everyone was out and about on the beach, with very few gulls in sight.

[EricKei]

Being on a lake I got way way too many seagulls around here.

I have a similar issue. Lake to the north -- river to the south and west -- canals and swamps to the east.

Water-loving bird heaven >_< Just tell it to the ducks and geese who live on the banks of the canals ...

[chainedbarista]

They're flying dumpsters. shithouses.

fixed it for you.

i like them, but only at the beach; anywhere else, they're a nuisance.

[mikoyan29]

I'm probably in the minority here but I like them. I like the color of their plummage. Reminds me of Navy planes from the 60's and 70's...Or I should I bet Navy planes from the 60's and 70's used their color scheme as a reference. I don't see as many where I live now but when I visit my mom, I see a ton of them.

[PepperElf]

I remember having a seagull try to dive-bomb my head.... mainly because I was walking along the sidewalk on the Norfolk base - while eating a bagel. Ended up having to toss some of the bagel to it to get it to leave me alone.

And seagulls aren't the only ones... When I was in Japan we had "Sea Hawks" (osprey according to wiki). My ship had a picnic on a small field by the water. If your food wasn't close to you the birds *would* take it. Seriously there were a LOT of birds there, ready to scavenge the remains of our meals... or to just take them away from the unwary.

I got tired of eating one of my ribs and started to hold it out slowly... and BAM. Sea-hawk strike! I was expecting one to take it granted... but not so fast, or so close to my body. I mean seriously, my arm wasn't even fully extended.

Needless to say there were some kids and adults who were horrified to see the food get snatched up from their plates because they weren't paying attention.

[blas]

It wasn't a seagull, most likely a crow, but my car barely escaped being dropped upon with some nasty explosive bird diahrrea.

The parking spot next to mine, right on the line, there is a huge white and brown SPLAT. Seriously, it's like the damn bird was picking up scraps in the Taco Hell parking lot.