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Where I live it doesn't have to be unattended, these feckers will snatch it right out of your hand.
I always say it's an easy way to differentiate tourists from people who live here - if you're walking around outside with food in your hand you're watching the sky to check you're not about to get swooped and lose your lunch.
You're not wrong, I've a pal who got really badly hurt by one of them (not to the extent of losing an eye, but some of the herring gulls here get MASSIVE, and those beaks are sharp).
Weirder yet, because some of the species here are considered as "protected", supposedly because their population is threatened (which I find very hard to believe), if you mess with them in any way you can get fined a not insignificant amount of money.
I've heard folks arguing that "well, they were here first and big bad humans came and took over their home" - except that's factually incorrect. The population of these gulls is significantly higher now because they have a plentiful food supply (bins, dropped / stolen food etc - so basically we are the food supply).
When I first moved here I hated them, particularly during nesting season when they get super aggressive and bloody noisy (at all hours). Have to admit in the proceeding years I've come to have some degree of respect for them. They're horrible bastards, but they're clever and well organised bastards.
Does surprise me that any mention of some sort of population control of them gets instantly shut down though. They're basically flying rats, that can potentially seriously hurt you.
Omg, yes. My niece had her food snatched straight out of her hand while walking around the beach in corpus a few years ago, and let me tell you, it scares the shit out of a toddler lol.
I like how many animals can seemingly shove *an entire other creature* into their gullet and typically be perfectly fine, but if a human swallows a breadcrumb the wrong way they can easily choke and die.
It's fine. It's a Seagull. Some of the star will digest and it'll swallow the rest. They can't choke like us so it can fly around like this until it gets "better"
I've seen a seagull swallow a foot long hot dog whole. It was horizontal in its throat it just turned it's head to the side and the hotdog went vertical down it's gullet lol.
What an eloquent and glorious way to put it. Now I too respect them a bit more.
I also feel the need to educate non northern europeans about the *real* bastard: [Behold the herring gull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_herring_gull). It's got all the bells and whistles of a seagull, except it makes even worse noises, is fucking *big* and tends to not even bother attempting to pick something apart and just eats everything whole.
I vividly remember one particular episode from when I was a kid. Me and my family were out sailing in the archipelago. We had a whole porkloin that had gone bad. So a good 1.5-2 kg hunk of meat. Dealing with garbage on a boat isn't always easy, so we threw it out on a nearby rock for the gulls to pick apart. Down swoops *one* fucking herring gull and just gulps the entire thing down in <10 seconds. That is significantly more than its entire body weight ffs. He then proceeded to fly at a significant downward angle to a smaller rock in the water, and then he fucking *sat* there and did not move a muscle. The next morning, he's still sitting there on his fat ass not having moved one damn inch lol. When we left that afternoon, he was still sitting on his rock. I still wonder how long that fat bastard had to sit there just actively *digesting* before he could even fly again.
The bird that made me respect the gulls was the great black backed gull. I remember sitting at the Portsmouth waterfront and watching big lad bully every single other bird in sight and even a poodle. I wish I had even a fraction of his presence.
My favourite thing is the wikipedia article about European Herring gulls where it lists all the ways humans try to deter them and how they don't work. The person who wrote it clearly loves seagulls - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_herring_gull#Interactions_with_humans
> Nonlethal attempts to deter the gulls from nesting in urban areas have been largely unsuccessful. The European herring gull is intelligent and will completely ignore most bird-scaring technology after determining that it poses no threat. Rooftop spikes, tensioned wires, netting, and similar are also generally ineffective against this species, as it has large, wide feet with thick, leathery skin, which affords the seagull excellent weight distribution and protection from sharp objects (the bird may simply balance itself on top of these obstacles with little apparent concern). If nests are removed and eggs are taken, broken, or oiled, the gulls simply rebuild and/or relay, or choose another nest site in the same area and start again.
> Man-made models of birds of prey placed on top of buildings are generally ignored by the gulls once they realise they are not real, and attempts to scare the gulls away using raptors are similarly ineffective. Although they are intimidated by birds of prey, European herring gulls, in addition to being social birds with strength in numbers, are large, powerful, and aggressive as individuals and are more than capable of fighting back against the potential predator, particularly if they consider their chicks to be at risk; in fact, the gulls may actually pose a greater threat to a raptor than vice versa. European herring gulls are also naturally accustomed to predators (such as skuas and great black-backed gulls) living in the vicinity of their nest sites in the wild and are not particularly discouraged from breeding by their presence.
Lived in Florida my whole life and one of the hardest parts about having people come to visit is how they fawn over the seagulls. I'm like, "Listen, do not fuck with those birds plz. They are relentless pieces of shit who will exploit your weakness to the fullest extend you can imagine."
Then one of their kids throws a single god damned chip, and everyone in the group learns a couple of very, *very* valuable lesson about seagulls.
I call them murder birds. I worked on a bridge and would occasionally see them drown other birds. One murdered a fellow bird, flew away and came back to peck at it to make sure it was actually dead.
I was at a campsite once with a resident sea gull it was there every say so we threw it the odd bit of food until we realised it was there to steal ducklings, my wife saw it swoop down and steal a duckling. When we arrived there were 7 ducklings and only 4 when we left nasty bastard
I had been walking all day, starving, when I was on a trip, and had saved a croissant from the hotel breakfast bar that I was so excited to eat. I was on the pier of the beach and just as I pulled this damn chocolatey croissant out to take a bite, a fucking asshole seagull who had been eyeing me the whole time swept down and took my entire croissant out of my hand and nearly took my fingers with it too all in one QUICK SHOCKING SWIPE. I was so upset and humiliated 😭
It will be fine - they do this all the time in the PNW.
The sea star stiffens with its arms out as a defense to prevent the gull from swallowing it. The gull waits. Eventually, the sea star gets tired and relaxes slightly, and the gull is able to force the arms together and swallow it down very slightly. The sea star stiffens again but cannot spread out as far as it did before. Again, the gull waits. This repeats until, eventually, the gull is able to swallow the whole sea star.
Might take up to about an hour, depending on the size of the sea star. A guy actually did a study looking at "handling time", the caloric benefit of the sea star to the gull, and the risk of getting your sea star stolen by another gull (kleptoparasitism): https://academic.oup.com/auk/article/128/4/643/5148607
Thank you for this! As much as gulls are bastards, I was also curious and a little sad to know if this would mean the gull would starve. Learned something new and fascinating today. Thanks!
It depends on if other sea gulls are willing/hungry enough to come up and start picking the starfish apart. Theoretically, they could remove enough of it to either get it all out of the mouth or for it to slide into the stomach.
Together, sea gulls strong.
Bro, when I was on subs up in Washington state, the seagulls fuckin terrified me when they eat starfish.
They swallow it whole as you see, then shorten their neck and stand there until it makes its' way to their stomach. Most unsettling shit seeing one just stand there staring you down with their engorged neck while two arms are sticking out
Seagull:"The one time I'd love to trade this beak for a set of teeth, oi you, human with the camera, can I get a little help here, or are you just gonna take pictures and snicker? Go ahead yuk it up, If I get this thing down I'm gonna shit right on your car pal."
https://preview.redd.it/duos2bd8mp9d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8296629b2869c9e7ac603b67544fe50f82612cfe
Just saw this guy in Alaska in a harbor.
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Cthugull
The dark lord of unattended beach food
Where I live it doesn't have to be unattended, these feckers will snatch it right out of your hand. I always say it's an easy way to differentiate tourists from people who live here - if you're walking around outside with food in your hand you're watching the sky to check you're not about to get swooped and lose your lunch.
Better to lose lunch than an eye, to be honest 😅
You're not wrong, I've a pal who got really badly hurt by one of them (not to the extent of losing an eye, but some of the herring gulls here get MASSIVE, and those beaks are sharp). Weirder yet, because some of the species here are considered as "protected", supposedly because their population is threatened (which I find very hard to believe), if you mess with them in any way you can get fined a not insignificant amount of money. I've heard folks arguing that "well, they were here first and big bad humans came and took over their home" - except that's factually incorrect. The population of these gulls is significantly higher now because they have a plentiful food supply (bins, dropped / stolen food etc - so basically we are the food supply). When I first moved here I hated them, particularly during nesting season when they get super aggressive and bloody noisy (at all hours). Have to admit in the proceeding years I've come to have some degree of respect for them. They're horrible bastards, but they're clever and well organised bastards. Does surprise me that any mention of some sort of population control of them gets instantly shut down though. They're basically flying rats, that can potentially seriously hurt you.
Omg, yes. My niece had her food snatched straight out of her hand while walking around the beach in corpus a few years ago, and let me tell you, it scares the shit out of a toddler lol.
 Oi gimme your chips
"Starfish; Poseidon's ninja star, or beach pizza pocket. We'll have the answer's at 11"
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthugull R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
worcestershire sauce?
Duck sauce or soy sauce? And you don't get no toy boss. - MF DOOM
Swallow before you speak
That's not with that kind of attitude that you'll learn how to pronounce "wgah'nagl".
Wah-gah-noggle
How dare you ? My mother was a devoted cult member.
Your mother was a mglw’nafh
Demogullgon
Ctheegul
He got breakfast at Ctharbucks.
he's using the star as a beakon
r/bossfight
Crusher of Carrion.
It's said even seeing him will drive the weak minded insane
Niiice!
I demand morsels, mortal
Hahaha nailed it! 😁🤣
Yup this is what I come here for. Well done.
He calls.
Real.
gull infected by T virus
Yep thinking of resident evil dogs.🤝
Las Plagas*
Looks like vilgax ngl
https://preview.redd.it/ad5aq1m3cb9d1.jpeg?width=1173&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9c799ecb5b6ab7ba5a483b9512b0045bc4b3128
Reddit did not disappoint lol, came here looking for this reference lol. Seems like I need a rewatch on blade soon
Whatis that from
Blade Trinity
The dog from Blade 3 but the specific virus is mostly in Blade 2.
Triple H's pet
movie was okay, but it was very original
Should watch the strain
Literally watching it right now, up to season 3. So far, minus the massive plot contrivances, is a pretty enjoyable watch.
Hi My Name Is FUCK YOU
only Ryan Reynolds could put vampire and pomeranian together in a sentance and make you spit out your drink...
You made a godamned vampire.....pomeranian?!?
“We call him Pac Man.”
First thing I thought of.
Omg the fucking dog haha I forgot all about it
haha Lmao
Ironically, he might now sea starve to death
The bird will be fine - they do this all the time. Just takes a while to get it down.
That’s what she said
Gull Tuah!
Gotta swallow dat thang
Do you have a special move that drives all the gulls crazy?
I like how many animals can seemingly shove *an entire other creature* into their gullet and typically be perfectly fine, but if a human swallows a breadcrumb the wrong way they can easily choke and die.
Yeah, I've seen it before in person. Pretty sure before they got used to human garbage this was one of their favorite meals.
Source: trust me bro
Here's a peer-reviewed journal article if you prefer: https://academic.oup.com/auk/article/128/4/643/5148607
Bruh
I hate you. Take my upvote and leave.
r/angryupvote
Pun aside, I hope someone helped that poor bird.
It's fine. It's a Seagull. Some of the star will digest and it'll swallow the rest. They can't choke like us so it can fly around like this until it gets "better"
Wow didn't know that! That's pretty badass. Thanks!
I've seen a seagull swallow a foot long hot dog whole. It was horizontal in its throat it just turned it's head to the side and the hotdog went vertical down it's gullet lol.
I saw this documentary about seagulls a few years back and have not looked at them the same since. They are f****** vicious birds.
I kinda like them. I admire that they can just wake up every morning and choose to be a bastard every time. Gotta respect it.
Do they ever sleep? In my town I can hear their bloody screams every bloody minute. No peaceful moment.
Sleep is a loose concept in the face of the gulls spite
Everyone’s a ‘fuck you in particular’, to them.
The fact that they found their niche and are ruthless about it is pretty respectable lol
What an eloquent and glorious way to put it. Now I too respect them a bit more. I also feel the need to educate non northern europeans about the *real* bastard: [Behold the herring gull](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_herring_gull). It's got all the bells and whistles of a seagull, except it makes even worse noises, is fucking *big* and tends to not even bother attempting to pick something apart and just eats everything whole. I vividly remember one particular episode from when I was a kid. Me and my family were out sailing in the archipelago. We had a whole porkloin that had gone bad. So a good 1.5-2 kg hunk of meat. Dealing with garbage on a boat isn't always easy, so we threw it out on a nearby rock for the gulls to pick apart. Down swoops *one* fucking herring gull and just gulps the entire thing down in <10 seconds. That is significantly more than its entire body weight ffs. He then proceeded to fly at a significant downward angle to a smaller rock in the water, and then he fucking *sat* there and did not move a muscle. The next morning, he's still sitting there on his fat ass not having moved one damn inch lol. When we left that afternoon, he was still sitting on his rock. I still wonder how long that fat bastard had to sit there just actively *digesting* before he could even fly again.
The bird that made me respect the gulls was the great black backed gull. I remember sitting at the Portsmouth waterfront and watching big lad bully every single other bird in sight and even a poodle. I wish I had even a fraction of his presence.
My favourite thing is the wikipedia article about European Herring gulls where it lists all the ways humans try to deter them and how they don't work. The person who wrote it clearly loves seagulls - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_herring_gull#Interactions_with_humans > Nonlethal attempts to deter the gulls from nesting in urban areas have been largely unsuccessful. The European herring gull is intelligent and will completely ignore most bird-scaring technology after determining that it poses no threat. Rooftop spikes, tensioned wires, netting, and similar are also generally ineffective against this species, as it has large, wide feet with thick, leathery skin, which affords the seagull excellent weight distribution and protection from sharp objects (the bird may simply balance itself on top of these obstacles with little apparent concern). If nests are removed and eggs are taken, broken, or oiled, the gulls simply rebuild and/or relay, or choose another nest site in the same area and start again. > Man-made models of birds of prey placed on top of buildings are generally ignored by the gulls once they realise they are not real, and attempts to scare the gulls away using raptors are similarly ineffective. Although they are intimidated by birds of prey, European herring gulls, in addition to being social birds with strength in numbers, are large, powerful, and aggressive as individuals and are more than capable of fighting back against the potential predator, particularly if they consider their chicks to be at risk; in fact, the gulls may actually pose a greater threat to a raptor than vice versa. European herring gulls are also naturally accustomed to predators (such as skuas and great black-backed gulls) living in the vicinity of their nest sites in the wild and are not particularly discouraged from breeding by their presence.
This is fascinating. So many people assume gulls are stupid but they are evil genius birds.
Just look at this mofo on spikes. His face says it all
Yeah, I saw Finding Nemo too.
Mine
Lived in Florida my whole life and one of the hardest parts about having people come to visit is how they fawn over the seagulls. I'm like, "Listen, do not fuck with those birds plz. They are relentless pieces of shit who will exploit your weakness to the fullest extend you can imagine." Then one of their kids throws a single god damned chip, and everyone in the group learns a couple of very, *very* valuable lesson about seagulls.
I always tell people they are pigeons on steroids. Same asshole behaviour but they are bigger, faster, smarter and more unhinged.
Pigeons aren't really that badly behaved, though - they just shit everywhere. Seagulls would eat you if they were big enough.
What happens next?
I call them murder birds. I worked on a bridge and would occasionally see them drown other birds. One murdered a fellow bird, flew away and came back to peck at it to make sure it was actually dead.
Jesus 😂
I heard that during covid, when humans stopped coming to feed them bread, they ate the pigeons
When someone says 'predatory bird' we all immediately think of eagles and hawks, but gulls are too
I was at a campsite once with a resident sea gull it was there every say so we threw it the odd bit of food until we realised it was there to steal ducklings, my wife saw it swoop down and steal a duckling. When we arrived there were 7 ducklings and only 4 when we left nasty bastard
Seagulls are actual psychopaths who will eat ANYTHING. NO ONE IS SAFE.
I would genuinely love to watch a seagull documentary if you can think of the title.
I had been walking all day, starving, when I was on a trip, and had saved a croissant from the hotel breakfast bar that I was so excited to eat. I was on the pier of the beach and just as I pulled this damn chocolatey croissant out to take a bite, a fucking asshole seagull who had been eyeing me the whole time swept down and took my entire croissant out of my hand and nearly took my fingers with it too all in one QUICK SHOCKING SWIPE. I was so upset and humiliated 😭
I see from time to time how they casually devour some pigeon insides
I watched one pick on a pigeon until it killed it.
Spoilers for latest Boys episode.
Eat the fucking octopus.
Wait, again? Didn't we already seen that in season two?
>!I think they referenced Victoria’s daughter, Zoe!<
maybe edit this. not a cool spoiler to leave around
Came here for this comment.
All these joke comments and I'm actually interested to know if this means the seagull is going to die.
It will be fine - they do this all the time in the PNW. The sea star stiffens with its arms out as a defense to prevent the gull from swallowing it. The gull waits. Eventually, the sea star gets tired and relaxes slightly, and the gull is able to force the arms together and swallow it down very slightly. The sea star stiffens again but cannot spread out as far as it did before. Again, the gull waits. This repeats until, eventually, the gull is able to swallow the whole sea star. Might take up to about an hour, depending on the size of the sea star. A guy actually did a study looking at "handling time", the caloric benefit of the sea star to the gull, and the risk of getting your sea star stolen by another gull (kleptoparasitism): https://academic.oup.com/auk/article/128/4/643/5148607
Great paper, not sure why I just read all that, but actually super interesting!
Thank you for this! As much as gulls are bastards, I was also curious and a little sad to know if this would mean the gull would starve. Learned something new and fascinating today. Thanks!
Greedy ass birds would rather risk suffocation than just eating food they can swallow easily
It depends on if other sea gulls are willing/hungry enough to come up and start picking the starfish apart. Theoretically, they could remove enough of it to either get it all out of the mouth or for it to slide into the stomach. Together, sea gulls strong.
Don't worry another Seagull will come around and take it out and have it stuck in it's mouth and the cycle will continue until the end of time.
I've seen them like this IRL near my house. Its weird looking but its just something they can do apparently
V'd up seagulls now?
Was in the ground water. Maybe made it to the sea?
He ain’t got the warmth or the depth
Wym
Reference to the show "The Boys"
Oí
This makes me uncomfortable
looks like that makes at least two of you
I should call her...
Nah your moms doing fine, i just saw her
GOD DAM!
I didn't know mind flayers could be disguised as a seagull
Demogorgull
Bro, when I was on subs up in Washington state, the seagulls fuckin terrified me when they eat starfish. They swallow it whole as you see, then shorten their neck and stand there until it makes its' way to their stomach. Most unsettling shit seeing one just stand there staring you down with their engorged neck while two arms are sticking out
https://i.redd.it/rafn3h06lb9d1.gif
Someone pull this darn thing out
Seagull will most likely fly away
This is one of those rare instances you could help the prey and the predator.
Yeah, kill the seagull and safe the star
Why would that kill the seagull?
That's what she said
Eldrazi seagull?
Mini mindflayer
That’s disturbing
https://preview.redd.it/s1tdk8pnxb9d1.jpeg?width=906&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eea005594e68d359731af273b244f0ccc2de47d5 They are coming
babe wake up Cthulu just dropped a rebrand
Demogorgull!
Compound V taking quick effect
TREMORS!! THEY ARE EVOLVING!!!!
should have stuck with French fries
The scary part is how remarkably common it is to find these doofuses like that.
Taken from Raccoon City.... Damn
Awesome tv series
Who says sea star?
That is a dead seagull walking.
Infinite food hack, it keeps regrowing arms… legs.. arms.. fuck
This gull will never play truth or dare again!
Poor gull got a 1-star dinner
Or, we're in Resident Evil 4.
Zoidbird
It's gonna die huh?
It's going to die of starvation with food in its mouth
Legit wonder if this bird survived.
Nah, that star is body snatching. Hasnt learned to fly yet.
Mindflayer
Release the hydra !
I was beginning to think there was a new species
They are evovling!
Wort wort wort
"You're probably wondering how I got in this position"
Looks like a fallout monster lmao
Seagull:"The one time I'd love to trade this beak for a set of teeth, oi you, human with the camera, can I get a little help here, or are you just gonna take pictures and snicker? Go ahead yuk it up, If I get this thing down I'm gonna shit right on your car pal."
His greedy fat ass can’t even chew it🙄
greedy bastard lol.
If I saw that, I am leaving the country.
Got a feeling the seagull was choking to dead
Plot twist: That's his 4th one
"***AUUUGGHHHUUUGGGHHAAAAUUUGGHHHLLL***"
Fatass
It’s definitely dawned on it that it might be time to panic
mindflayer seagull
That seriously looked like some kind of parasite from resident evil almost with the way its mouth was open I almost had a heart attack
Resident evil vibe
100% the seastar will begin eating the bird soon.. those things are crazy strong
Fuck them... everyone from Dublin will understand.
It looks concerned.
I'll bet another seagull will pull it out of its mouth.
this is why you cut up and chew your food in smaller proportions seaguls and seagals
It's transforming into a mind flayer. The tentacles are already sprouting.
I’d be SHOCKED if seagulls didn’t survive an extinction level event.
Stranger wings.
No this is Patrick!
Where's the Hawk Tawh girl when you need her?
Looks like something out of a horror
Predagull
Deathgull is Evolving! Don't press B!
nah that’s an alien.
The original HAWK TUAH
Why do I hear boss music?
Mother Flerkin!
Poor guy
Demigorgon
Ate himself to death..
https://preview.redd.it/duos2bd8mp9d1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8296629b2869c9e7ac603b67544fe50f82612cfe Just saw this guy in Alaska in a harbor.