Ridding Lowestoft Town Centre of Seagulls

[Mel]

I was pleased to hear that hawks are going to be used in the town centre to try and 'move on' London Rd North's resident gulls. They have become a pest and a shopping precinct is not the place for them.
Read more here


edit by admin 15:10 on 3rd April: This was originally posted in the local news topic but in view of the number of posts responding, they have all been moved into this new topic in the 'Debate Lowestoft Issues' board.

[Dpeanut]

I live by a school Mel that's full of them by 5am I'd love a hawk or two ....London done simular to traffalgar square. But I have seen shop keepers frowing out food and pedestrians moaning at the person to stop in town but they carry on . Maybe we are to blame also

[funkychick]

Of course we are to blame people chuck fast food containers down everywhere there are chips and bits of buns all over Seagulls don't naturally eat these things we have opened up the rubbish supermarket to the birds then blame them

[Mel]

.... we have opened up the rubbish supermarket to the birds then blame them

I certainly agree with you Funkychick it is litter louts and the ignorant people who think feeding these creatures in unnatural areas like our shopping precinct is the right thing to do. At least trying to scare the birds away and to stop them breeding in these areas is better than a culling exercise which none of us want to see.

[funkychick]

I agree Mel it just annoys me how we cause so many problems then blame the animals same goes for the beautiful fox and even rats, a highly intelligent rodent only around towns and not in the countryside because of our behaviour

[SNiBet]

Seagulls even scavenge in the community shared/wheelie bins, so making sure the lid is closed (if it's not over full), cause they make a mess if something takes their fancy, and not all the neighbours close the lids.

[Aussie K]

I was walking it the main St. and two ladies were passing by eating some burgers some thing similar when this gigantik seagull came and snatched the ladies meal all in a split second and the bird and the the meal were gone. It came from nowhere and was within inches from me, it's beak seamed huge & looked six inches long, it's wings huge but half folded as I saw it when throwing my head and shoulders down. The women who didn't look as if she needed that meal screamed as this great bird facing her took her meal in an instant. The bird well trained left no litter.

[frankiesays]

I was walking it the main St. and two ladies were passing by eating some burgers some thing similar when this gigantik seagull came and snatched the ladies meal all in a split second and the bird and the the meal were gone. It came from nowhere and was within inches from me, it's beak seamed huge & looked six inches long, it's wings huge but half folded as I saw it when throwing my head and shoulders down. The women who didn't look as if she needed that meal screamed as this great bird facing her took her meal in an instant. The bird well trained left no litter.

you'd need more than a hawk to take on a Herring Gull or Greater Black-backed Gull - they are more likely to scare the hawk away.

[boatbuilder]

They don't 'take them on' if this report from Plymouth back in 2010 is anything to go by, and it seemed to have started having the desired effect at the time of reporting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10618883

Posts split from the Local News topic into this topic of its own - see note in original post.

[Biffo]

Just don't send them to Carlton Colville! we have quite enough of them in Ashburnham Way.
the covered waste bins the Co-Op put in last year helped a lot, but people using the car park at night and scattering McDonalds wrappings don't help. I was dive-bombed twice last year, when walking the dog, which wasn't a pleasant experience.
ne member mentioned earlier that scaring them was a good idea, rather than a cull "which none of us wants to see.2 Are you sure/ I would welcome one!