Seagulls attacking.

My family of Seagulls live on my roof and come back every year They are so clever they find the same spot they were living on to arrive back from the Atlantic ….imagine that, flying all that distance and finding your same old home
They found my chimney 4 years ago The parents do shout at me but they don’t dive bomb me, I think they have worked out that I m not an enemy their chick has been with me 6 weeks and he’s a joy to watch growing up
I admire seagulls they are troopers they have adapted and perhaps they are teaching us a lesson …. ‘Stop leaving your crap lying around the countryside’

About the boy and the ham sandwich… no one ate in the street when I was growing up it was considered bad manners, and as my Nan would say ‘common’ a sweet or an ice cream occassionally but meals never they were all eaten at home, now for some reason people cannot be out for half an hour without grabbing food on the hoof then we either chuck the remnants down or try and stuff it in an over full bin, encouraging scavenging

That’s a bit harsh, BlueBelle. Eating fish and chips or a picnic at the beach is a long-standing tradition. Not even my very strict headmistress (at my very strict seaside grammar school) would have denied us that.

Seagulls have certainly become bolder over the years. They used to scavenge any leftover food from the floor or bins. Now they’ll grab it from your hands. I’ve never seen them attack an animal or person in a busy area but it looks from this thread as though that’s getting to be common practice now. I might just invest in a tin hat for my next visit home.

We've lived here for 7.5 years, less than half a mile from the sea and have never seen them attack but have witnessed them taking food out of people's hands. They're magnificent birds and when we move in a few weeks, they are what I will miss the most.

The biggest problem is people feeding them, we've even seen council workers feed them despite the number of signs telling people not do so.

Last week on 3 quiet residential roads, we saw 3 adolescents that had been deliberately run down . They're very vulnerable and slow when wandering around on roads so easily avoided

I heard loud squawking of gulls in the field behind my house. They were hovering and diving at a little animal in the middle of the field which I thought at first glance was a hare.

Just then 2 adult roe deer galloped out from the trees and quickly rescued their little fawn and ushered it back to safety. I’ve never seen such a tiny fawn. I was so relieved it didn’t come to harm.

I have had gulls nesting on my chimney. One of their fledglings has fallen out and spends its time stomping around on my conservatory roof. Its parents are there and it is quite frightening to go out in the garden. When the adults are on the roof, it sounds like someone tryng to break in, and they start at first light.

I live on the coast and love gulls.
The main problem is that, as SueDomin said, their main food source has changed, and now is mainly human leftovers. It is a natural adaptation to circumstances rather than viciousness.
There are so many signs put up to tell people not to feed them as this does result in them being more likely to grab food from people if they can; still too many people ignore them. Gulls entire purpose at this time of year is to feed themselves and their chicks and I think we humans have to accept and cope with this.

In the 80s I lived in Sydney, Australia, and I well remember the magpies; again birds protecting their young, but scary!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-66920781

I once, in Edinburgh, watched a positively vicious fight between a gull and a rat over some dropped food.

The rat finally, very injured, gave up and crawled into hiding

They are ingeniously clever if you watch them trying to get into wheelie bins, as I do waiting for buses..

we also have a seagull who waits outside a studio I use. They return each year with a baby who hangs around.. several generations have been there for years now..

We live 10 miles from the sea and the gulls are a menace and have attacked, among others, a young child having an ice cream in the street. Humans are entitled to eat in the street, in their gardens, in the park or wherever they like, they should not be afraid of gulls. They are also very dirty, think washing, windows, cars. I acknowledge that we have ruined their natural habitat but that doesn’t make me like them in urban areas or think they should be encouraged, my very elderly neighbours lives were a misery for several years because of their “attentions*. On the other hand we contacted the SSPCA when we found a young, injured gull by the coast. As for people deliberately running them over, how could anyone?
Sorry Bluebell.

There was a news item yesterday on TV reporting about a seagull that stole bags of crisps from a shop. The shopkeeper reckoned the bird must have taken 40 bags of crisps and has now put up a sign telling shoppers not to allow the gull into the shop.