30 March 2010
Every year a number of rooftops in Jersey become home to nesting seagulls. These unwanted guests can make for an alarming experience and early preventative action can save both disruption and money and is considerably less traumatic for the gulls.
Spotting the problem early gives you time to get licensed pest controllers to remove nests and eggs and protect your roof. If nothing is done by May, the eggs will be hatching and removing the gulls will mean killing the chicks. This is not an acceptable long term solution and causes unnecessary distress.
What you can do now:
- check your roof in the coming weeks especially if seagulls have nested in your area previously. Gulls will have started start looking to nest in February
- advise your neighbours if you see gulls on their roof as a neighbour’s nest will affect you. Consider this a communal item
- remove all unintended food sources, protect your rubbish and do not feed seagulls
- early action provides less traumatic pest control options and works better. Take preventative action only through an authorised pest controller (see yellow pages)
- act safely and consider others
If we don’t feed or discard food, Herring Gulls will eventually turn to more natural sources of food. Not feeding them for a sustained period may even reduce the urban Herring Gull population to more acceptable numbers through a natural process.
Stay within the law
For nest removal and roof protection see ‘Pest Control’ in the yellow pages, for other seagull queries call the Planning and Environment Department, tel: 441600.
gov.je