Ask just about anyone in St Andrews and they’ll tell you the gulls here are if not downright evil then a genuine pest.
A video circulating on student social media recently showed a gang of massive gulls dive-bombing a local by the Martyrs’ Monument.
The gulls appear to swarm (would it be hyperbole to mention Hitchcock?) around the pedestrian, who ducks and weaves as if attempting to avoid giant wasps.
The weather appears overcast and bleak, and the victim does not appear to be holding food.
Contrast this with the likely scene come summer, when more than 300,000 reported visitors will throng the St Andrews streets for the Open.
By this time the gulls will have hungry chicks to feed. And tourists’ lunches will look a lot like fair game.
These pests are large, single-minded, and dangerous.
And as the student population increases here year-on-year, so does the size and boldness of the gulls.
It is not uncommon now to see them pinching food from unsuspecting tourists and raiding any lidless bins they can find.
They have become a serious public nuisance.
Gulls will send the wrong signal to St Andrews’ visitors
Normally residents treat the problem as an occupational hazard of living in St Andrews.
Of course a happy mix of seaside resort, university town, and golfing mecca will result in a by-product of overzealous seabirds.
But with a huge influx of international tourists for the landmark Open, St Andrews cannot afford its streets to be stained with gull droppings and littered with pickings from its bins.
Maintaining an impeccable reputation among visitors is vital for the town.
A good reputation leads to investment, investment leads to employment, and employment leads to prosperity.
Thousands of gulls screeching outside hotel windows will impact the experiences of those the town needs to impress the most.
And that’s without the dangerous attacks orchestrated from the sky and carried out with ruthless precision.
Gulls are getting off lightly
NatureScot, Scotland’s nature agency, does allow the granting of a licence to control gull populations. But only as a last resort.
“Scaring devices” and “egg and nest removal” must be attempted before anyone can start talking about a cull.
Under a Scottish Government General Licence, the killing of birds on grounds of public safety is permitted. But it only applies to feral pigeons and Canada geese.
I’ve never feared for my safety from birds of this kind. Have you?
Gulls, on the other hand, are known to act aggressively towards both human and bird-populations.
In St Andrews at the moment and saw this sign. So much better and doesn't make the gulls out to be evil. pic.twitter.com/5nCYuTi5gT
— Madonna Livingstone (@MadonnaLiv) July 4, 2019
And with the Open falling at the end of their nesting period, guests here can expect volatile behaviour.
Meanwhile, and in contrast to general seabird population trends, urban gull numbers are holding up in many areas.
And no wonder, with no natural predator and a diet of bin pickings, takeaway remnants, and other birds’ chicks.
This year, unless a creative solution is devised, they will once again thrive. No doubt nursed on the tasty trappings of hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors.
And there’s a danger gulls will be the upset of the town’s crowning sporting event, unless measures are taken to restrict them.
Linden Grigg is a graduating student at St Andrews University, where he was the editor of the student newspaper. He’s on Twitter at @lgrigg23.
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