Quote:
Originally Posted by dynalow
I saw that in the news... so much for "Peace in Our Time" 
Here's an ironic story:
My nephew got a summons last summer for accidentally swatting away ...and killing in the process..  . a baby seagull that was dive-bombing his young daughter's hot dog while they were seated at an outdoor restaurant table near the beach.
So, after getting heaped with verbal abuse from the "birders" ( ) in front of his kids, the owner calls the local US F&WL agent. Seagulls are a Federally protected species, don'tcha know. He gets a summons to appear in court which will be in Feb. He hired a lawyer to defend him as he is worried about any conviction in his line of work. I happen to know the municipal judge & maybe I'll go as a character witness when he has to appear. His fine can be from $300 to a $2,000, if you can believe it.
Seagulls are nuthin but flying trash cans, imo, as one who has been "bombed" by them more times than I can remember. 
I sent him an email this morning with a link to an article about it and gave him this suggestion.
"Make sure you tell the judge seagulls are not friendly. You were only protecting your children from a vicious, murdering fowl!  " |
My mother came to visit me in the Bay Area a few years back. We went to Alcatraz among other spots. While waiting for the ferry we got some fish and chips and a stand and as we walked away, a seagull dive bombed her meal and snatched a piece of fish out of her basket. It happened to quick to swat at it.
The story you tell is incredible. In many urban spots, seagulls aren't much different from pigeons, which have no protection - they can be killed like rats. Up in Washington state (many other spots as well no doubt), the large landfill dump sites have huge colonies of seagulls living seemingly year round.