It is difficult to completely get rid of seagulls, but we will teach you some strategies you can implement to at least deter and prevent seagulls in your yard, on your boat, on your roof, or around your home. Some seagull deterrents can be made at home and some seagull repellents are manufactured. We will discuss both.
The beach is a beautiful place to relax and spend the day or even a long vacation, but not when seagulls are bombarding you. If you have a beach home or resort that you are trying to rid seagulls of because they have become an annoyance, there are methods you can use to help keep seagulls away.
Even if you do not live at the beach and are dealing with a seagull problem these methods can help you, but first, you must understand what seagulls are and what attracts them in order to solve the problem.
What are seagulls?
Seagulls got their name because these birds love being at the beach near open bodies of water such as oceans, lakes, and even ponds. This is especially true for public beaches and parks where trash cans are everywhere and boardwalks with food stands and carts. You may even run into seagulls at amusement park built on beaches dining at concession stands and stealing people’s hot dogs right from their hands as they are walking to a place to sit down and enjoy their food.
You can find these birds in most areas of the world, but they mainly hang out in North America. The birds are roughly sixteen inches long with a wingspan of forty inches wide. You can spot them with ease because they are typically bright white in color with black-tipped wings, but some are gray or even three-toned with white, gray, and a bit of black. Seagulls love munching on marine invertebrates, plankton, and fish, but most of all enjoy an easy meal, preferring to dine on foods that are easy to obtain, which is why they love dumpster diving and hanging out wherever water and food sources are abundant.
Solve your seagulls problem here.
However, these birds also love living in areas where there is plenty of moss and seaweed for building nests for laying eggs during their breeding season which is usually during the months of July and August. If your one looking for methods to keep these seagulls away, destroying seagull nests and keeping moss and seaweed cleaned up around your living space are one way that will work well for deterring and keeping seagulls away naturally.
What are some of the different breeds of seagulls you can find around open bodies of water?
- Black-legged Kittiwakes
- Bonaparte Gulls
- California Gulls
- Common Black Headed Gulls
- Franklin Gulls
- Glaucous Gulls
- Mew Gulls
- Great Black-Backed Gulls
- Heermann Gulls
- Herring Gulls
- Iceland Gulls
- Ivory Gulls
- Laughing Gulls
- Lesser Black-Backed Gulls
- Little Gulls
- Red-legged Kittiwake Gulls
- Ring-Billed Gulls
- Ross Gulls
- Sabine Gulls
- Thayer Gulls
- Western Gulls
- Glaucous Winged Gulls
What are other reasons for wanting to keep seagulls away (besides them being annoying)?
Besides seagulls annoying you at the beach by trying to steal your food, seagull droppings are another reason why people want to deter seagulls from their beach homes and resorts. Seagull droppings can carry diseases such as:
- Histoplasmosis: Respiratory Infection
- Candidiasis: Fungal Infection
- Cryptococcosis: Fungal Infection
- St. Louis Encephalitis: Yeast Infection
- Salmonellosis: Bacteria Poisoning
- E. coli: Bacteria Poisoning
- Bed Bugs: Parasite Problem
- Chicken Mites: Parasite Problem
- Yellow Mealworms: Parasite Infection
- West Nile: Viral Infection
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What are some effective methods for getting rid of seagulls?
There are many useful methods for getting rid of seagulls. One of the newest methods found useful is having sheepdogs patrol beach areas a few times per day and even going for long walks along beaches with their owners. Seagulls in general do not like dogs, but sheepdogs particularly will run any type of gull off the beach.
Another method that is helpful in attracting raptors, which are large falcon-like birds that can kill off a flock of seagulls with ease. However, this method is one that needs to be used with caution since raptors can go after small dogs and cats within your beach home yard as well.
Other Seagull Repellent methods that work well are:
- Placing large bright color flags or kites around your beach home or resort since seagulls hate bright colors.
- Place bird spikes, wires, or netting around your home or resort to keep the birds from landing there.
- Use mechanical spider devices or rotating blades as ways to repel seagulls.
- Install motion sensor water sprinklers or lights around your property or devices that make loud noises.
- Try shooting off squirt guns at the birds as a harmless way to repel the birds away.
- Use mild electrical zippers to shock the birds away.
- Chase the birds away yourself as a harmless method.
- Have a pet cat that loves being outdoors to repel the birds away for you.
Use professional bird control to scare seagulls away.
What are some end thoughts to keep in mind when getting rid of seagulls?
In general, seagulls are harmless peaceful happy creatures people love seeing at the beach because they are simply part of that particular climate’s atmosphere and without them, the beach wouldn’t feel like the beach.
Some people even love hearing them make their cawing noise because it means they have arrived at the beach and it’s time to relax and enjoy ocean life. That said, if you are not one of these people and seagulls are an annoyance to you, you can always try the methods above to repel them away or even get rid of them.
After all, the beach is supposed to be a place of comfort and relaxation while you are there visiting, or living.
More Seagull Control Resources:
- Behavioral Control of Seagulls at Langley Airforce Base – the University of Nebraska at Lincoln
- How to Keep Birds Away from Your House or Yard – NeverPest.com