“Divebombing” gulls are stopping a Perth mum from training her dog to potentially save her son’s life.
Amanda Thomson, 52, is trying to teach her one-year-old Fox Red Labrador, Flash, to be a medical detection dog for Jamie, 15, who has type one diabetes.
Jamie’s condition has left him in comas and he has spent several nights in Ninewells Hospital having fallen unconscious.
But Amanda says intimidation from gulls nesting nearby is making it unsafe for her to work in her garden with Flash, for whom she paid £2,000 specifically for medical purposes.
She also recalls screaming during a recent targeted attack by a divebombing gull that forced her and Flash to dash inside to the sanctuary of their Holly Terrace home.
This article details the concerns about gulls shared by many in the local area, and explains Perth and Kinross Council’s response to a councillor’s query on the matter.
‘I lived by the seaside all of my life’
The great irony with Amanda Thomson being tormented by gulls in Perth is that when she grew up by the sea she had no issues whatsoever.
The name of the East Lothian town that she grew up in – Gullane – is also ironic. It is the home of the Muirfield golf course, which regularly hosts of The Open.
“I lived by the seaside all of my life but I have only experienced problems with gulls in the past two years,” she said.
‘They have some young ones and get defensive’
Since 2005 Amanda has lived in Oakbank, which is generally clean and tidy, and one of Perth’s furthest spots from the Tay.
So the problem is not that she lives close to the sea, or that food is left in the open to attract birds.
It is that, inexplicably, the gulls have decided to nest here. There are currently three chicks in the nest of a roof in nearby Muircroft Terrace West, and a suspected nest at Viewlands Primary School.
“They have some young ones and get defensive when they have fledglings,” said Amanda’s husband Neil, 52, who has lived in Holly Terrace for 20 years.
“There have always been seagulls around the place but not to the extent of it at the moment.”
‘It can be deadly’
Perth High School student Jamie has already suffered some terrifying moments in his young life.
After being diagnosed with type one diabetes at the age of eight every effort has been made to ensure his blood-sugar levels are stable.
He wears a Dexcom G6 sensor on his abdomen that provides a continuous glucose count and this communicates with his mobile phone, activating an alarm if necessary.
“You can put all the technology in place but when it fails and you are asleep it can be deadly,” Jamie said.
“I have been unconscious, in comas and in hospital too many times.”
‘Every day counts’
Jamie did some research and discovered that a medical detection dog could compensate for the limitations of modern technology.
Once fully trained, Flash will be able to detect unusual changes in Jamie’s body odour that may signify a glucose imbalance and raise the alarm.
“This is a working dog I have spent a lot of money on and every day counts,” Amanda said. “I want to be out doing heel work but knowing these gulls are going to swarm us, I don’t like that.
“I could put him in a car and somewhere else to train him but you need a safe space that is not open. That is why we try to do it in the garden.”
‘I screamed, I yelped’
Amanda believes she has good reason to be anxious after a terrifying incident last week.
She recalled: “I had been walking the dog and was just coming down the path to home, and out of nowhere a gull came, right from behind. The dog even got a fright.
“It then turned round and came back towards us again. So I thought I would better come back to the house.
“Some time elapsed before I decided to go out to the shed for something. It was just crazy – I got the fright of my life.
“I don’t know where it came from. It was straight down and it was like ‘whoosh’. I screamed, I yelped. Neil came running out to get us back in. It was relentless for a period of time.
“I, like others, have had enough of this. Taking the dog out isn’t much fun when you have seagulls circling overhead and swooping down from behind to catch you unawares – only to turn and divebomb you again.
“I should be out here doing dog training but I don’t want anything to happen to Flash.”
‘They seem to keep coming back’
It isn’t just Amanda who has been affected. Harrowing gull stories are recounted in detail on the Oakbank Community Facebook page.
Two years ago the then local ward councillor Willie Wilson met up with residents of the flats on Muircroft Terrace, who then paid for a professional company to remove nests – at an allowable time – and arranged for spikes to be inserted on the roofs.
“But they seem to keep coming back,” added Amanda.
‘It must be quite scary’
The council baton has now been passed to Cllr Liz Barrett, the Lib Dem member for Perth City South.
She has been advised by Perth and Kinross Council officers that under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is against the law to capture, injure or interfere with any wild bird, their nests or eggs.
“It’s especially difficult to tackle this during the nesting season,” said Cllr Barrett, who has been assured by the council that it is investigating whether there are nests on Viewlands Primary School, and how these could be addressed.
“I’m really sorry that the residents are having this problem – it must be quite scary,” she added.
The gull nesting season typically runs from April to July. Oakbank residents will hope they leave soon and don’t return next year.
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