Downriver police department using lethal force on seagulls...

**mtburb** · June-28-12, 09:17 PM

...literally!

This happened in Southgate. Many seagulls decided to hang out in the parking lot of a former Great Scott store on Fort Street and it felt like a scene from a horror movie. They could be heard for miles, in fact, one person said that he went to a White Castle across Fort Street one midnight and he could hear them!

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/18...t-200-seagulls

Any DYers outraged by this?

**Johnnny5** · June-28-12, 09:30 PM

Originally Posted by mtburb

Any DYers outraged by this?

The same thing is done for problem Cormorants, Mute Swans and Canada Geese in Michigan. As long as it's done safely and they have proper permission from the Fed's I don't see any problem with it.

**gazhekwe** · June-28-12, 09:40 PM

Seems people create the perfect environment for a bird, then they complain when the birds move in and appreciate it. What is up with people anyway?

**wolverine** · June-28-12, 11:35 PM

Shooting them is rather extreme, but there's forms of hazing that are successful. As far as I'm aware, there's no animal activist organizations out there that are against seagull and geese hazing just as long as the methods don't kill them.

**DetroitPlanner** · June-29-12, 04:03 AM

City Chicken!

**Detroitnerd** · June-29-12, 10:17 AM

Maybe it's the seagull Occupy movement?

Obviously the police thought so.

**Danny** · June-29-12, 10:36 AM

That is why DON'T FEED THE AMINALS!!! Seagulls are begining to leave their marine life for mainland life just because humans have left their 'Hansel and Gretel' bread crumbs in the streets. Feeding the Seagulls will cause them to reproduce their offspring faster. Same concept happens to bunnies, insects, pigeons, mice and rats too. Now the City of Southgate has a seagull infestation in their hands and have to kill most of them before they infest any human habitats. Seagulls are away from any natural predators except man. So don't feed them, they will come to your doorstep and leave their stuff so they can use that area as a mating hangouts.

**Detroitnerd** · June-29-12, 10:46 AM

Originally Posted by Danny

DON'T FEED THE AMINALS!!!

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Is that you, Popeye?

**jackie5275** · June-29-12, 01:57 PM

Danny raises a number of good points. Seagulls should be by the water, not as far inland as Southgate or Melvindale where I've seen them. I've seen them too in Hamtramck where there's no body of water around. When I've been near the water, like at Elizabeth Park, I've seen them get aggressive with people for more food that fools were throwing them. These birds coming farther inland are a nuisance.

**Meddle** · June-29-12, 02:26 PM

Why do 'we' get to decide which other creatures are a nuisance?

As plentiful as 'we' are, there are any number of other species that vastly outnumber us and yet 'we' are the single most destructive species in the history of the planet.

Perhaps 'we' are the nuisance?

**Detroitnerd** · June-29-12, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by jackie5275

Danny raises a number of good points. Seagulls should be by the water, not as far inland as Southgate or Melvindale where I've seen them. I've seen them too in Hamtramck where there's no body of water around. When I've been near the water, like at Elizabeth Park, I've seen them get aggressive with people for more food that fools were throwing them. These birds coming farther inland are a nuisance.

I tend to doubt that anybody feeding the birds is at the root of this. Herring gulls do love to eat, and will go inland a bit to eat. Is there open garbage nearby?

Maybe they're there because they're avoiding the Zug Island hum?

**1953** · June-29-12, 03:26 PM

We may be the nuisance, but we are better armed.

**Jimaz** · June-29-12, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

I tend to doubt that anybody feeding the birds is at the root of this....

Yes, in the OP they say they're not being attracted by food or anything else that makes sense for that matter.

What harm are they doing? Just noise? They're bound to be messy too but it doesn't seem worth the effort of shooting them.

**313WX** · June-29-12, 05:00 PM

There are far more important things to worry about than birds being shot.

**poobert** · June-29-12, 05:39 PM

Keep in mind that downriver is a weird place.

**Johnnny5** · June-29-12, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

Yes, in the OP they say they're not being attracted by food or anything else that makes sense for that matter.

What harm are they doing? Just noise? They're bound to be messy too but it doesn't seem worth the effort of shooting them.

My guess is that they are using the lots as a safe lounging area between feeding areas. This years young are still easily susceptible to predators and a wide open parking lot allows the birds to see any potential predators from a long way off [[That's the same reason you typically see geese and other birds in the middle of open fields as opposed to the edges).

Anyone that keeps a boat docked knows the damage that gulls can do. Their excrement can literally eat paint and canvas on a boat, and will do the same thing to the paint on a car if it's not quickly removed. Just look in the background on the video and you can see the mess that the gulls have left on nearby cars. I'm sure they were having some significant problems with these birds if they resorted to using lethal force.

**Detroitnerd** · June-29-12, 06:15 PM

Good points about herring gull habits and their young, Johnny. You learn something new every day.

Perhaps the one point we're not talking about here is that if this parking lot were in use during the day, the gulls would be discouraged from using it as a lounging area. But, given all the disinvestment and economic calamity, maybe we're just now seeing the sort of stuff that happens when the money dries up, when the stores close, when the sunbaked parking lot is so deserted that it begins to serve nature's purpose instead of that of car culture and easy profits.

Maybe this is what the future looks like.

**Meddle** · June-29-12, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Maybe this is what the future looks like.

Life after people.

Many other species will survive the human infestation of the planet.

**mikefmich** · June-29-12, 09:15 PM

Seagulls=rats-with-wings

I dunno....

**Lostlegumes** · June-30-12, 03:03 AM

From my wildlife connections:

Technically, they are ring-billed gulls, not seagulls.

They are likely camped there because they are feeding at the Riverview
landfill.

If the lot were in use [[and it will be in a few months), the birds probably wouldn't be there. Johnnny5 is correct.

Think of those shiny classic cars at the cruise today--and the car washes that will be needed afterward.

**Fulcanelli** · June-30-12, 04:14 AM

I suppose it's just a matter of time before this method is used against the homeless.

**Wheels** · June-30-12, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by Lostlegumes

If the lot were in use [[and it will be in a few months), the birds probably wouldn't be there. Johnnny5 is correct.

That is not true at all. The parking lot at Chrysler Trenton has had a Seagull problem as long as I can remember going there. It was jam packed with cars.

They put a ban on eating lunch in the lots and started a daily clean up crew for garbage and it did help.

At one time it was so bad a large tour including Lee Iococca were coming so they sent out for several buckets of KFC to lure them out back near the RR tracks wile the group came through.

**wolverine** · June-30-12, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Meddle

Life after people.

Many other species will survive the human infestation of the planet.

So I guess it isn't a problem then if other species outnumber us? I mean if seagull and geese populations are growing rapidly because of human environments, then aren't these birds expendable? What about rats and mice?

**thecarl** · June-30-12, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by Wheels

That is not true at all. The parking lot at Chrysler Trenton has had a Seagull problem as long as I can remember going there. It was jam packed with cars.

They put a ban on eating lunch in the lots and started a daily clean up crew for garbage and it did help.

At one time it was so bad a large tour including Lee Iococca were coming so they sent out for several buckets of KFC to lure them out back near the RR tracks wile the group came through.

I'd love to see a photo of Iacocca eating KFC by the rail road tracks!

**SaintMe** · June-30-12, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by poobert

Keep in mind that downriver is a weird place.

Yes and the rest of SE Michigan is so conventional.

If any of you have ever driven by and seen the absolute sea of of birds that have taken over this parking lot, you would agree that something needs to be done. They are scavengers and carry diseases just like rats and mice. You would not want this near your home.