Seagulls a valet's nightmare

lozcb

lozcb

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12,565
Although I live a good few miles inland, here in Suffolk like many other coastal town we are blighted by an extraordinary amount of seagulls , obviously really annoying to say the least after one has spent the mandatory Sunday morning cleaning and fettling ones pride and joy. Its a regular daily annoyance here as we have several neighbours that have a habit of feeding them which exacerbates the situation culminating daily Dambuster raids ,
Apart from reporting to no effect said elderly neighbours to the local council, 3 years down the line the situation has seen the numbers increase and the noise at times is horrendous , anyone have a legal method of deterring them , we have the same with pigeons roosting in the trees but I could legally keep them at bay with the air rifle ..............solutions please folks
 
2b1ask1

2b1ask1

Special case
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20,273
lozcb said:
Although I live a good few miles inland, here in Suffolk like many other coastal town we are blighted by an extraordinary amount of seagulls , obviously really annoying to say the least after one has spent the mandatory Sunday morning cleaning and fettling ones pride and joy. Its a regular daily annoyance here as we have several neighbours that have a habit of feeding them which exacerbates the situation culminating daily Dambuster raids ,
Apart from reporting to no effect said elderly neighbours to the local council, 3 years down the line the situation has seen the numbers increase and the noise at times is horrendous , anyone have a legal method of deterring them , we have the same with pigeons roosting in the trees but I could legally keep them at bay with the air rifle ..............solutions please folks
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Leaving the dam busters aside, you can deal with the pigeons a vermin with said air rifle however you would need to be sure the exterminator slugs you used and the birds would fall within the boundary of your property. To this end, you could deploy some decoys on the lawn. The law is somewhat more wooly with regards to the other problem.

Should you action things yourself mate, keep it out of sight of the neighbours.
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

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48,789
lozcb said:
have a legal method of deterring them
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Ridiculously I understand they are protected!

2b1ask1 said:
keep it out of sight of the neighbours
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And hearing. We had a couple of rats move in when the ponds at the back were being dredged so I got a nice CO2 rig with red dot and supressor. Fortunately my neighbour is a jolly decent chap and a qualified marksman in the Sea Cadets (or something) so very comfortable with what I was doing, in fact even offered me his father's BSA for the job. But there is a bridle path that borders my garden and if you 'cause distress' to anyone passing by (my paraphrase) you can be in a whole world of trouble and the centre of a lot of attention I really didn't feel would benefit my life in anyway.

So I sat in the kitchen in a heated jacket with the door open. No way could I been seen and the noise was minimal.

Not something I enjoyed, but we've had no issues since.

C
 
safrane

safrane

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16,866
No you cant.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Chapter 69) states that it’s unlawful to injure or take the life of wild birds, like pigeons and seagulls.

You would need to apply for a licence and your 'grounds' as currents stated would not be suitable for said licence.
 
lozcb

lozcb

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12,565
Cheers for the replies thus far , the problem extends further than just the pride and joys, majority of the time they are protected in garage , but having recently last year spent the price per metre of a good 80% wool Wilton carpet on Porcelain patio slabs its additionally annoying to see it constantly covered in said pooo , I dont know what it is about Suffolk but the seagulls here are more the size of an albatross so it makes for some regular jet washing ............makes me wonder is this what retirement is all about, I think its become a bigger problem that what most people realise ...........getting desperate here , and may well end up resorting to unorthodox measures down the line ............... The protection law on seagulls from what i have read is from flawed data collected in the 70's it needs reviewing and updating in my view . Sod the Chris Packhams of this world
 
lozcb

lozcb

Member
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12,565
safrane said:
No you cant.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Chapter 69) states that it’s unlawful to injure or take the life of wild birds, like pigeons and seagulls.

You would need to apply for a licence and your 'grounds' as currents stated would not be suitable for said licence.
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Your correct Peter as things stand , but there is a reason our government have departments that arrange denial culpability ops .... :24186z4: for this exact type of situation, well maybe on a higher international level ..........but this is becoming serious here in Lowestoft ............besides dreading my water bill this year and the price of patio cleaner has gone through the roof
 
Devonboy

Devonboy

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1,291
Can’t you send the boys round to have a word with the elderly peeps feeding them? You know persuade them to…..feed hedgehogs instead?
 
E

Ebenezer

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4,501
Seagull guano is very gritty too, so be very careful removing it from your car. Ask me how I know..... :worried1:
Eb
 
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