If you have to put your garbage out in garbage bags, ask your local collection authority if they provide protective outer bags to prevent seagulls from tearing open your regular trash bags. Put your trash out as close to collection time as possible to limit the time it’s exposed to wildlife.
For example, if you’re eating on a seaside boardwalk, look at nearby railings and posts for gulls that seem like they’re waiting to scavenge food. Have a backup plan of where to move to if seagulls start coming towards you aggressively.
For example, if you’re dining at an outdoor cafe, pick a seat close to the wall of the cafe that faces outwards from the building.
If this doesn’t work, try covering your food or moving it closer to you, or move to a different area to eat to get away from the aggressive gulls.
For example, don’t walk around carrying an open box of fries. Cover them until you reach a place where you can sit down to eat them safely. If you have to carry something uncovered like an ice cream cone or a pastry, keep it close to your body instead of holding it outstretched in front of you.
If you work in a cafe or restaurant with outdoor seating, clear leftovers and dishes from tables as soon as the guests leave to discourage gulls from coming to scavenge.
Since you’re probably not familiar with this specific sound, you might not notice it the first time. If you don’t notice the warning sound, the next step is for the gull to start swooping towards you without actually touching you. If you want to familiarize yourself with the warning sound, you might be able to find audio clips of it online. The breeding season for gulls is typically from March to September, so be especially cautious during this time.
If you ignore the warnings, a gull may begin attacking you by swooping closer and scraping your head with its feet.
Waving your arms around to try and fend off the seagull may just aggravate it more and make the attack worse. It’s best to just defend yourself and get out of there.
Seagull chicks take about 5-6 weeks to leave the nest, then the parents won’t be so aggressive. So, don’t worry, you won’t have to protect yourself this way forever.
Other ideas are to hang up old CDs using string or to rub a shiny gel called optical fire gel on surfaces.
Other examples of things that can scare gulls off are kites shaped like hawks and decoy coyotes.
For example, get a long strip of spikes and run it across the whole peak of your roof to prevent gulls from sitting there.
Note that the hawk or falcon might kill a seagull if they don’t scram fast enough. Keep in mind that the falconer will have to keep coming back to prevent gulls from returning, so it’s an ongoing service that you’ll have to pay for. The cost of this service might be somewhere around $55 an hour.
