Is Dublin city in a seasonal onslaught of seagull noise pollution?

Collie D

Was woken at about 5.30 one morning last week by a tapping at my window. There was a magpie outside who had obviously taken a fancy to something he saw on my windowsill. Got up to try scare him away and the shameless little sod just eyeballed me from within inches and went back to pecking at the glass

Benedict

If dozens of dogs were whizzing 'round waking everyone up at cock's crow the gardai would be called. But it seems that these disgusting loud-mouthed vile creatures can get away with creating mayhem.

TD's could help by ordering a cull.

Incidentally, bird dirt is one of the most dangerous types of dirt in terms of disease - so there's serious health issue too.

The situation in Dublin is completely out of control.

tricky D

Benedict wrote: »

TD's could help by ordering a cull.

Read my post above. A cull will only bring more rats in the short term and is unsustainable in the long term, they'll just keep coming back and in no time.

Frank Grimes

Benedict wrote: »

The situation in Dublin is completely out of control.

I was in the city centre on Monday, it was literally like a real life version of The Birds and Birdemic.

OneOfThem

They're losing the run of themselves I hear. Stealing lollipops out of the mouths of our children and the like. Hanging round street corners and playing their jazz music. Something must be done.

wyndham

Very interesting article about gull problem in Rome here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28583052

Worth a read.

Benedict

tricky D wrote: »

Read my post above. A cull will only bring more rats in the short term and is unsustainable in the long term, they'll just keep coming back and in no time.

Rats and gulls do not share the same space. Fewer gulls doesn't mean more rats. I've never seen rats dive-bombing while screeching like Celine Dior on steroids!

Culls do work - okay, you have to cull again after a time - but they do work.

The article submitted by Windham is really good - it shows that the problem is Euro wide.

Something must be done to stop these white devils from eroding our way of life.

tricky D

Benedict wrote: »

Rats and gulls do not share the same space. Fewer gulls doesn't mean more rats.

They are both invasive scavenging omnivores so they very much share the same space.

Benedict wrote: »

Culls do work - okay, you have to cull again after a time - but they do work.

They don't, other species invade the vacuum so the problem merely shifts.

Benedict wrote: »

Something must be done to stop these white devils from eroding our way of life.

Sounds like another referendum is needed on gull rights.

FloatingVoter

Bloody bird chirping woke me at 4 AM this morning. I spent the next three hours thinking about various things I could do the ****ing bird involving poison, airguns, shotguns before dozing off to the image of the thing burning alive.

Mine?

cherryghost

A gull stole my danish pasty from my hand.

kylith

tricky D wrote: »

What can your TD do? Not a lot. If you cull them other vermin scavengers, rats in particular, will take their place and/or they'll come back next year or from elsewhere. Nature abhors a vacuum and gulls are preferable to rats any day of the week. It's actually us humans who are the main problem as it is our litter that provides much of their food in urban settings.

I don't know about rats taking over if the gulls are culled, rats tend to be a lot more wary of people than gulls are. But you are right that it's a problem we've caused; they have gotten used to the food waste thrown in the streets and muscling in on bread fed to ducks and have now grown a lot bolder.

wyndham

cherryghost wrote: »

A gull stole my danish pasty from my hand.

Oh The Humanity! Is there no end to the pain they are causing?

odyssey06

The cats of Dublin need to step up to the mark here, they've been letting the side down for too long... Owners need to stop feeding them... cat food ain't cheap and there's a lot of cat food going a wasting in the wild... Release the moggies... No mercy.

FloatingVoter

odyssey06 wrote: »

The cats of Dublin need to step up to the mark here, they've been letting the side down for too long... Owners need to stop feeding them... cat food ain't cheap and there's a lot of cat food going a wasting in the wild... Release the moggies... No mercy.

According to the next door neighbour, their cat can now read the best before dates on her food and has gone off Lidl food.

Seriously, a cat would not take on a seagull and rightly so. They only hunt what they can play with and kill then walk away from in one piece.

seachto7

Benedict wrote: »

The birds are designed for life on the sea shore where they need to be heard over wind and surf - does anyone know why they have now decided that they prefer down-town living?

Food. They're scavangers. Easy pickings in the warm weather. They sit and stare in my window every day.

Dirty rotten vermin b*****s.:mad:

FloatingVoter

^ They're copying the pigeons. There were a couple of pigeons having a chat after a feed of Burdocks chips outside the Lord Edward the other afternoon. I'd swear they were daring one another to go in and order a pint. It will happen. Its in the book of Evolution or something.

Benedict

Land-fill sites have always had seagulls - but their domination of residential areas is relatively new.

They build nests on flat roofs and place sentries at strategic points on nearby chimneys to keep an eye on things. If anyone gets near the nest, the sentries squak out a warning and the SAS of the seagull world becomes airborne.

They're as big as medium sized dogs and pose a real threat - especially to children.

There'll be fatalities before anything is done.

Action needed now.

Imagine if dogs or foxes were whizzing around over our heads barking and yowling - there'd be a Dept. of the Environment meeting called straight away.

Gongoozler

Benedict wrote: »

There'll be fatalities before anything is done.

How do you imagine that gulls will kill anybody??

mikemac1

Gulls nest on the roofs of the buildings in the IFSC

Been in a top floor boardroom on North Wall Quay and mamas and young uns nest in flower boxes

Benedict

There is the obvious noise problem with seagulls - which would not be tolerated from even one dog in an area. It is also a fact that they can be violent when it comes to swooping - they can grab food from children's hands - and have done so - even on Dublin's Grafton Street.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the invasion is the risk of disease. Seagull droppings pose a significant risk to human health.
(see link below)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1313848/Seagulls-carrying-superbugs-resistant-antibiotics.html#ixzz3f0OD

Kalman

In Ireland all seagulls and their active nests are protected by National and European Wildlife Legislation/Directives.

Please also note, that once birds start nesting on your roof, this area in fact becomes protected, which means that the problem cannot be addressed until the birds and their chicks have vacated the nest.

Kalman

I always take my annual holidays in a coastal resort. On the morning walks along the esplanade, I love the company of the ever-hungry, large, yellow bill gulls.

Indeed, it is the most delightful part of the holiday. Somehow, it would not be the same without them!

To hear the roar of the sea, the mournful cries of the gulls as they swoop overhead defying the spray and a taste of brine on my lips is, [for me] unforgettable.
When I arrive back home>>>I really feel that I have had a holiday! {It's something I look forward to each year}:)

the dark phantom

Gongoozler wrote: »

How do you imagine that gulls will kill anybody??

Tis the drugs shure, The Gulls gonna be selling bad sthuff.:pac:

Kalman

the dark phantom wrote: »

Tis the drugs shure, The Gulls gonna be selling bad sthuff.:pac:

?

Gumbo

I thought I was seeing things last week in St. Stephens Green park. While looking at people feed the ducks, seagulls were landing in the water and paddling over to the same area just the ducks. It was as if they know to behave like them to get fed.

I couldn't get over the little feckers. Fair dues to them for that act

Lux23

I live on the top floor of a house just off Cork Street and these b%%%ards are nesting about 6 feet over my head. The noise is unreal.

FloatingVoter

Lux23 wrote: »

I live on the top floor of a house just off Cork Street and these b%%%ards are nesting about 6 feet over my head. The noise is unreal.

Yeah, I think there's a seagull embassy up Cork St. direction. I'm assuming their fish radar spotted the signs for Dolphins Barn and the rest is history.

HeidiHeidi

4am this morning the seagull wars started across the road from me : ( How long more until this torture ends?

power pants

who'd have thought a city built beside the sea would have some seagulls? :eek: