Gullible gulls put to flight by council’s bird scarers

DIVE-BOMBING families and swooping for food, the seagull can be a terrifying bird.

But council officials are getting their own back – by using electronic bird scarers to frighten the gulls away.

The electronic devices, used by Western Isles Council, emit a recorded bird distress call and disrupt gulls’ roosting patterns, so they stop annoying rural communities.

The scarers are the latest weapon used by local authorities, who have spent more than £500,000 in the past five years to get rid of the birds.

Officials are putting spikes on buildings, removing nests and oiling seagulls’ eggs to stop their chicks hatching in the ongoing battle against the aggressive pest.

Following complaints across the country, which saw one woman try to sue her company’s landlord after injuring herself as a result of a seagull attack, Inverclyde Council has ‘employed’ a bird of prey to keep the gulls away.

Angus Council offers an egg removal service and has spent more than £1,000 on signs and promotional material urging people not to feed the birds.

East Ayrshire Council has even culled 34 gulls because of their aggressive behaviour – a move the RSPB in Scotland says should only be used as a last resort.

Councillor Ewan Smith, of Angus Council, which spent £1,300 a month on battling gulls in 2014-15, said: ‘They are problematic across the country and the council does try to put measures in place to remove them, but it feels like a losing battle at times.’

The bill for tackling seagulls hit £548,322 between 2010-11 and 2014-15, councils revealed following a Freedom of Information request.