Trying to get rid of noisy, food-stealing gulls is missing the point – it’s humans who are the pests | Sophie Pavelle

Hawks, spikes and sonic repellants are among the measures used to deter these birds. Perhaps we should try sharing our planetAt this year’s Cannes film festival, some unexpected hires joined the security detail at luxury hotel the Majestic. They were clad not in kevlar but in deep chestnut plumage, with wingspans up to four feet, talons for toes and meat-ripping ebony beaks. The new recruits were Harris hawks and their mission was clear: guard stars from the aerial menace of gulls daring to photobomb or snatch vol-au-vents.This might sound like an extreme solution to a benign problem – after all, haven’t most of us lost sandwiches to swooping beaks and come out relatively unscathed? But as these notorious food pirates come ashore in growing numbers, cities around the world are increasingly grappling with how to manage them. Hiring hawks from local falconer Christophe Puzin was the Majestic’s answer to curbing gull-related incidents (such as Sophie Marceau’s 2011 wine-on-dress situation). But in metropolises such as New York, Rome, Amsterdam and London gulls are widely considered a menace, too, as they take up permanent residence on urban stoops.Sophie Pavelle is a writer and science communicator Continue reading...

Comments

Opinions

If Trump has taught us one thing, it is that Scotland needs more mega-wealthy people

The Herald

I could forgive my 51-year-old husband for having a secret OnlyFans. But when I saw who he was subscribed to, I had a panic attack: SAUCY SECRETS

about 21 hours ago

Newyork Post

Lawmakers’ victim apathy and more: Letters to the Editor — June 8, 2025

about 23 hours ago

Newyork Post

Why there’s no shame in corporate America boycotting LGBT Pride Month

about 23 hours ago

Dailymail

Why Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou split was right, even if it feels awfully wrong to most and borderline obscene - his sacking is the modern-day epitome of the industry's callousness, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

1 day ago

Damp and mouldy housing means too many people are left in the cold

The Herald

MAUREEN CALLAHAN: An insider has revealed the Royal verdict on THAT Meghan twerking video. It's so devastatingly cutting, she may never recover

1 day ago

Steven Camley on the Hamilton by-election

The Herald

Daniel Levy's ridiculous decision to sack Ange Postecoglou is Tottenham's loss, writes CHRIS SUTTON - he will go and win silverware elsewhere

1 day ago

Don’t let the Trump-Musk breakup harm ‘kids’ NASA and SpaceX

Newyork Post

Comments

Similar News

Here are the people Trump is trying to delete

Please, Democrats, just try to be normal

This chippie owner took a battering trying to learn how to make sushi... CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews last night's TV

Casinos? Marijuana? Why NY should stop trying to legalize vices

Trump has proved he can work with Congress. He should try it again.

Make No Mistake, Republicans Are Trying to Cut Medicaid

Bragg: New discovery law removes judges’ handcuffs — so my prosecutors will try more cases

He designed the H-bomb. Then he tried to stop anyone from using it.

I tried the wild new celeb-approved beauty tools and treatments set to replace anti-wrinkle injections for good: POLISHED with Elise Wilson

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: The Prime Minister really has no right to try to reset Brexit

Miranda Devine: The left tries to claim white South Africans aren’t worthy of refugee status

SARAH VINE: I have tried all the weight loss jabs from Ozempic to Wegovy to Mounjaro... and THIS is the one that's easily the best

Are Trump’s Tariffs Trying to Solve a Problem That Doesn’t Exist?

Miranda Devine: Old Joe Biden haunts Demented Dems as they desperately try to flip the script claiming Trump is ‘losing his mind’

I tried the risky sex fantasy all the middle-class mothers talk about. Now I'm the harlot of the school gate and I'll never live it down: SAUCY SECRETS

Opinions

If Trump has taught us one thing, it is that Scotland needs more mega-wealthy people

Corporation did its best for Glasgow and does not deserve this flak

Democrats incite insurrection over lawful ICE raids

America's unhealthy obsession with New Age spiritualism

Don’t underestimate Donald Trump — he and his goals will survive without Elon Musk

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: An unexpected audience with my late, great father

FLOURISHING AFTER 50: My parents made terrible money decisions and now I'm the one paying the price

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: A serious outbreak of old-fashioned class war hits the NHS

TONY HETHERINGTON: John Lewis binned my carpet - but refuses to give me a refund

From creating the NHS to investing in people, Labour are innovators – next week we’ll do it again… with £86b for hi-tech

JEFF PRESTRIDGE: NatWest leaves tourist hotspot without a single bank branch

Love Island is about many things – but love certainly isn’t one of them

Forget paying France to stop migrants – spend it destroying UK black market that lures them here

Trump’s toxic feud with Musk is the greatest show on Earth – & I have a hunch about President’s ‘terrifying’ next move

Why both the Left and the Right are failing American workers

Why the Democratic NYC mayoral candidates have housing all wrong

NYC needs a mayoral race centered on the city’s needs, NOT Democrats’ anti-Trump obsessions

Trump can leverage Ukraine’s ‘badass’ strike to finally make Putin blink

Rogue Labor MP reveals why Albo is 'seriously an idiot' after a stunning move that benefits absolutely nobody: PVO

I could forgive my 51-year-old husband for having a secret OnlyFans. But when I saw who he was subscribed to, I had a panic attack: SAUCY SECRETS

Lawmakers’ victim apathy and more: Letters to the Editor — June 8, 2025

Why there’s no shame in corporate America boycotting LGBT Pride Month

Why Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou split was right, even if it feels awfully wrong to most and borderline obscene - his sacking is the modern-day epitome of the industry's callousness, writes RIATH AL-SAMARRAI

Damp and mouldy housing means too many people are left in the cold

'My grandmother grew up brushing her teeth with radioactive toothpaste'

Edinburgh is held back by its can’t do attitude. It should be more like Glasgow

MAUREEN CALLAHAN: An insider has revealed the Royal verdict on THAT Meghan twerking video. It's so devastatingly cutting, she may never recover

Steven Camley on the Hamilton by-election

All change after Hamilton by-election but not perhaps in the way that anyone expects

So now you know, SNP: indy is not what people care about

Britain is Scottish: a truth from history that’s still true today

Cheers – of a kind – when Susan Calman went to the Glasgow pub

Major flights win is huge boost for Scottish airport

A rogues’ gallery of speed-demon city politicians

Prez-pardon problems go far beyond Joe Biden’s fishy signatures

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Why the death of the Tory Party has been greatly exaggerated

Daniel Levy's ridiculous decision to sack Ange Postecoglou is Tottenham's loss, writes CHRIS SUTTON - he will go and win silverware elsewhere

Don’t let the Trump-Musk breakup harm ‘kids’ NASA and SpaceX

The Chinese fungus-smuggling couple: Letters to the Editor — June 7, 2025

Letters to the Editor: Amid tree house standoff, 'what options do the unhoused have left?'

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Cancelled 'Dreaded Meghan' professor returns to arts role

Why Pres. Trump will win his battle against elite higher education

AI requires an explosion in power, both parties are losing ground and other commentary

ALEX BRUMMER: 'Wise old hen' Chancellor dances on a pinhead

Beware: The Human Rights Campaign is just a scam to push lefty issues

Keir Starmer is about as frightening as a stick of celery… but I’m more scared of him than Putin – here’s why

£4million a DAY migrant hotel bill will continue to spiral unless Labour does three things

Letter to the editor: Hey, those were my tax credits

Senate Judiciary Committee declassifies FBI's files outlining plot to undermine Trump

Our Operation Spider Web drone attack proves no one should count Ukraine out

How NYC is stepping up to stop attacks on Jews BEFORE they happen

How Scottish Labour’s ground war delivered victory in key by-election

Letter to the editor: Stop giving Iran more time

Letter to the editor: Five reasons U.S. should reengage with NATO

It’s not a shot that’s been fired across the SNP’s bows, it’s a cruise missile

Letters to the Editor: After Tom Girardi scandal, it's clear the State Bar of California needs reform

Jeremy Hunt: A Conservative-Reform coalition is “not going to happen”

It's time to stop the scaremongering over heat pumps

A vital debate for tertiary education sector

This is a set-back and an opportunity for the SNP - which one will they embrace?