Brits are fighting them on the beaches - for their lunch

Seagulls around England's coastal towns are reported to be mob-mugging holidaymakers for their fish and chips (fries) lunches. The problem's getting particularly bad in the boho seaside town of Brighton, where the owner of a shellfish and oyster bar has even posted a sign warning that seagulls will steal customers' food and he won't be held responsible.

The technique is for a single bird to swoop and startle an unsuspecting person into dropping their food, then a waiting mob descends and grabs it. In the southwest - where pasties are the chosen fare - three small dogs have even been attacked and killed. Prime Minister David Cameron has said 'a big conversation needs to happen', though it's not certain if he meant with the seagulls or the beachgoers.

Crowded Brighton Beach can often look like a trash can at the end of a sunny summer day, sadly, so maybe it's not surprising the birds are flocking in to feast on the waste people have left behind.

http://news.yahoo.com/seagulls-terr...0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

Brighton Beach, the morning after. Ugh.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...astic-bags-left-strewn-Brighton-seafront.html

wow, that's appalling (the garbage, not the birds)

seagulls attack here too (in Canada)

the other day I was at a beach just before sunset & I saw two water bottles in the sand & I was annoyed

zwiebel said:

Brighton Beach, the morning after. Ugh.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...astic-bags-left-strewn-Brighton-seafront.html

Click to expand...

This happened to us a couple of weeks ago on Brighton beach. I stupidly thought it might be a nice idea to have lunch on the beach. We sat down, enjoying the view and all and suddenly a seagull swept down and ripped the sandwich right out of the hand of my four year old. Then another one went for my seven year old who threw the sandwich into my lap and stood up. Two seagulls harassed the seven year old in a manner that can only be described as bullying, swooping around him so closely that the wings were touching his face. We then retreated and ate the rest of our sandwiches elsewhere (and we didn't leave any rubbish behind ).
I knew the seagulls were bad but I didn't realize they were that bad.

Tip: Through a lifetime of giving up my own lunches to anything that moves because I'm such a soft-touch where critters are concerned, I've learnt this:

Seagulls are terrified of spaghetti. They will circle squawking in alarm when they see it, but no way will they land. A family member was so disbelieving of my theory, they placed a bet with me. I won.

I'm very clever to have discovered this, but not clever enough to figure a way to carry cooked spaghetti around without looking really, really strange.

I'll try that out! I wonder what it is that makes seagulls scared of spaghetti.