Re seagulls (ok, twitchers, I know there is no such thing as a seagull, they are all gulls), 20 years ago I spent a long weekend on Flat Holm island in the Bristol Channel (brilliant place, go if you ever have a chance). We got it cheap because it was the gull nesting season, and when we got off the boat we were all handed old umbrellas by the wardens āto fend off the gullsā. No way was I going to attack some poor defenceless gull with such a weapon, Iām not like thatā¦
Itās only a 5 minute walk from the landing stage to the farmhouse, but my good intentions didnāt last the first 2 minutes, and by the time weād got there I was laying into the bastards with the best of them. You can hit them quite hard, theyāre tough things. Iād never seen them so mob-handed and aggressive.
The island is covered, I mean completely carpeted in chicken bones, which the many thousands of gulls that roost there pick up from the streets of Cardiff or Bristol, and the resorts of Barry, Weston-Super-Mare, Clevedon or Penarth, to feed the chicks. There are chooks on the island for fresh eggs, and these seemed a bit nervous, not surprising being surrounded by the mortal remains of their cousings!
The whole thing is the fault of human activity, and could be sorted if the councils were more diligent in emptying city centre or seaside bins, and if a certain element of revellers didnāt insist on dumping trays of chips half-eaten anywhere they likedā¦
I donāt think gulls live 20 years, but I canāt help wondering if the loss of my Mini 2SE back in August to a mob of them was repayment for beating them up with the brolly!
Getting back to the OPās problem, it looks as if drones are not going to be much help, and unless the conditions for air rifle culling are met there is not much he can do about if. Donāt park you car under a tree, and get a cat!