Councillors give up biscuits - and spend the cash on fight against seagulls

August 30, 2006

Councillors in Bristol have become so fed-up with the growing noise and mess caused by their city's dive-bombing seagull population that they are giving up biscuits and spending the money tackling the problem. Bristol City Council is hoping to save £25,000 from its annual budget by sacrificing the snacks from all of its meetings and hearings. Instead, the money will be spent on dipping seagull eggs in oil so they do not hatch. The city is home to more than 2,000 pairs of the birds - and the population is rising by an estimated 17 per cent per year. The seagull population explosion, which has been blamed on fast food litter which the

birds feast on, has led to a flood of complaints from residents and irritated visitors who come to the city. The gulls are notoriously noisy - particularly during the mating season - and produce large quantities of excrement. There have also been reports of seagulls dive-bombing people after their chicks hatch to protect their territory. Steve Comer, deputy council leader of the Liberal Democrat-run council, looked into the problem and found that the authority's options were extremely limited. He was told that shooting the birds was considered too dangerous, while gulls simply laid more eggs if they were smashed. But last year a trial found that dipping the eggs in a mineral oil, which made them sterile, was highly effective. But faced with a £30,000 bill to roll out the programme across the city, Mr Comer had to find a way of saving money - and found one from an unlikely source. "I was looking into catering

costs and one of things that came up was the money we spent on biscuits, which was quite a considerable amount. "At the same time a colleague was looking into a trial involving dipping seagull eggs in oil, which appeared to be a medium-to-long-term solution to the problem. "The cost of the scheme was around £30,000 and I said 'I think I've found £25,000' - by axing the biscuits. "I sent out details of the cuts on the internal website and most of the responses have been positive, although a lot of people are on holiday. "It just seems like a luxury we can do without." The Liberal Democrat councillor said that his colleagues could still enjoy tucking into their current supply of Fairtrade cookies until the stock ran out - but warned that no more would be ordered. He said that the gull population could increase ten-fold over the next ten years if left unchecked.Peter H

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August 30, 2006

thats just sick and disgusting

couldn't look at the root of the issue..human garbage...nooooo...

ugh

peter VV Aug 30, 2006 10:20 AM Re: Councillors give up biscuits - and spend the cash on fight against seagulls Councillors in Bristol have become so fed-up with the growing noise and mess caused by their city's dive-bombing seagull population that they are giving up biscuits and spending the money tackling the problem.

NI_MPU('middle'); Bristol City Council is hoping to save £25,000 from its annual budget by sacrificing the snacks from all of its meetings and hearings.

Instead, the money will be spent on dipping seagull eggs in oil so they do not hatch.

The city is home to more than 2,000 pairs of the birds - and the population is rising by an estimated 17 per cent per year.

The seagull population explosion, which has been blamed on fast food litter which the birds feast on, has led to a flood of complaints from residents and irritated visitors who come to the city.

The gulls are notoriously noisy - particularly during the mating season - and produce large quantities of excrement. There have also been reports of seagulls dive-bombing people after their chicks hatch to protect their territory.

Steve Comer, deputy council leader of the Liberal Democrat-run council, looked into the problem and found that the authority's options were extremely limited.

He was told that shooting the birds was considered too dangerous, while gulls simply laid more eggs if they were smashed. But last year a trial found that dipping the eggs in a mineral oil, which made them sterile, was highly effective.

But faced with a £30,000 bill to roll out the programme across the city, Mr Comer had to find a way of saving money - and found one from an unlikely source.

"I was looking into catering costs and one of things that came up was the money we spent on biscuits, which was quite a considerable amount.

"At the same time a colleague was looking into a trial involving dipping seagull eggs in oil, which appeared to be a medium-to-long-term solution to the problem.

"The cost of the scheme was around £30,000 and I said 'I think I've found £25,000' - by axing the biscuits.

"I sent out details of the cuts on the internal website and most of the responses have been positive, although a lot of people are on holiday.

"It just seems like a luxury we can do without."

The Liberal Democrat councillor said that his colleagues could still enjoy tucking into their current supply of Fairtrade cookies until the stock ran out - but warned that no more would be ordered.

He said that the gull population could increase ten-fold over the next ten years if left unchecked.

Peter H

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If George Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headline would read, "Views Differ on Shape of the Earth"

August 30, 2006

This is what is happening at a lot of cities near the coast, sea birds find surrogate cliffs ( tall buildings ) and plenty of detrius from us hooman beans and become the new vermin. The problem is they are so happy and thrive so well that they become invasive, and are quite intimidating when they have eggs/young in their nest, they are not small birds.............what you gonna do? theres no way us hoomans are ever going to tidy up our act........ The Valley Vegan.................fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote: thats just sick and disgusting couldn't look at the root of the issue..human garbage...nooooo... ugh peter VV Aug 30, 2006 10:20 AM Re: Councillors give up biscuits - and spend the cash on fight against seagulls Councillors in Bristol have become so fed-up with the growing noise and mess caused by their city's dive-bombing seagull population that they are giving up biscuits and spending the money tackling the problem. NI_MPU('middle'); Bristol City Council is hoping to save £25,000 from its annual budget by sacrificing the snacks from all of its meetings and hearings. Instead, the money will be spent on dipping

seagull eggs in oil so they do not hatch. The city is home to more than 2,000 pairs of the birds - and the population is rising by an estimated 17 per cent per year. The seagull population explosion, which has been blamed on fast food litter which the birds feast on, has led to a flood of complaints from residents and irritated visitors who come to the city. The gulls are notoriously noisy - particularly during the mating season - and produce large quantities of excrement. There have also been reports of seagulls dive-bombing people after their chicks hatch to protect their territory. Steve Comer, deputy council leader of the Liberal Democrat-run council, looked into the problem and found that the authority's options were extremely limited. He was told that shooting the birds was considered too dangerous, while gulls simply laid more eggs if they were smashed. But last year a trial found that dipping the

eggs in a mineral oil, which made them sterile, was highly effective. But faced with a £30,000 bill to roll out the programme across the city, Mr Comer had to find a way of saving money - and found one from an unlikely source. "I was looking into catering costs and one of things that came up was the money we spent on biscuits, which was quite a considerable amount. "At the same time a colleague was looking into a trial involving dipping seagull eggs in oil, which appeared to be a medium-to-long-term solution to the problem. "The cost of the scheme was around £30,000 and I said 'I think I've found £25,000' - by axing the biscuits. "I sent out details of the cuts on the internal website and most of the responses have been positive, although a lot of people are on holiday. "It just seems like a luxury we can do without." The Liberal Democrat councillor said that his colleagues could

still enjoy tucking into their current supply of Fairtrade cookies until the stock ran out - but warned that no more would be ordered. He said that the gull population could increase ten-fold over the next ten years if left unchecked. Peter H Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger. If George Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headline would read, "Views Differ on Shape of the Earth"Peter H

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August 30, 2006

they have that problem here on the left coast inland a bit

with ravens

ravens live off landfill waste

breed like mad

and end up killing off other species..like desert tortoises...

peter VV Aug 30, 2006 11:01 AM Re: Councillors give up biscuits - and spend the cash on fight against seagulls

This is what is happening at a lot of cities near the coast, sea birds find surrogate cliffs ( tall buildings ) and plenty of detrius from us hooman beans and become the new vermin. The problem is they are so happy and thrive so well that they become invasive, and are quite intimidating when they have eggs/young in their nest, they are not small birds.............what you gonna do? theres no way us hoomans are ever going to tidy up our act........

The Valley Vegan.................fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote: