http://www.boston.com/dailynews/187/region/At_N_H_beach_they_call_him_the:.shtml

At N.H. beach, they call him 'the General'

By Associated Press, 7/6/2001 15:15

RYE, N.H. (AP) Militant gulls along the Granite State's coast have a bossy, well-fed leader: The General.

The General has been hanging out on the roof of the concession stand at Wallis Sands State Beach for three or four years. He puffs out his chest and squawks at other gulls that approach his territory.

One afternoon, the General swiped eight hot dogs from customers.

''I can't even consume eight hot dogs,'' marvels park manager Ken Loughlin, who calls gulls ''beach chickens.''

The General likes to swoop down from the roof and brush customers' shoulders with his wings before grabbing the dogs.

''Then he lets out this funny kind of yelp, like a Tarzan noise,'' Loughlin said.

Workers have posted a photograph of the General at the concession stand with a warning to watch out for him. Other signs warn against feeding gulls.

Loughlin, who has worked at the park for 20 years, said gulls used to block out the sky around trash cans at the park. When the cans were removed, the gulls began focusing on swiping food directly from people.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Answers

"Gulls can live 14 to 15 years." Assuming, of course, that they lay off the fast food...

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/187/region/Facts_about_gulls_from_Judy _Wa:.shtml

Facts about gulls from Judy Walker of the Maine Audubon...

By Associated Press, 7/6/2001 15:15

Facts about gulls from Judy Walker of the Maine Audubon Society:

Technically, there is no such thing as a ''seagull''; various species are referred to that way.

There are 14 gull species in Maine. Most common are herring gulls and great black-backed gulls.

Gulls are big. The wingspan for herring gulls is 58 inches and the span for great black-backed gulls is 65 inches.

Gulls are opportunistic eaters. They'll eat just about anything, including fish, insects and trash.

Gulls can live 14 to 15 years.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/187/region/Daring_seagulls_take_advant age:.shtml

Daring seagulls take advantage of unsuspecting sunbathers

By David Sharp, Associated Press, 7/6/2001 15:14

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine (AP) There's a crime wave at Maine beaches, and it seems to be getting worse as the summer heats up.

People who leave their food-laden belongings unattended quickly find a gang rifling through their stuff. Other times, the thieves wait until someone's guard is down before snatching something right out of his hands.

The criminals are seagulls, and park rangers say it always gets worse as summer progresses.

''There's no doubt about it: They're brazen,'' said Dan Watson, a ranger at Crescent Beach State Park.

On a recent day at the park, a toddler was accosted by a dozen squawking gulls that knocked over drinks, scattered french fries and swiped a cheeseburger from the picnic table where the boy was sitting.

A gull recently dive-bombed another patron, hitting her on the arm and causing her to drop a hamburger, a snack bar worker said. The gull grabbed the burger and scampered away.

The scene plays out up and down the coast like a never-ending clip from Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Birds.''

Common culprits are herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, which are familiar to anyone who has visited the New England coast.

They frequent beaches, marinas, fish-processing plants, garbage dumps and just about any other place where there's a free meal. Though no postcard-perfect harbor scene would be complete without them, some Mainers derisively refer to them as ''rats on wings.''

During the late 1800s, the number of gulls dropped because people either broke their eggs or harvested them, said Bruce Connery, a biologist at Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island.

These days, gulls are flourishing to the point they're competing for nesting space with other sea birds, he said.

Meantime, the dumps that once provided a ready source of food have been closed for environmental reasons.

One easy new source of food is the scraps some beach-goers enjoy tossing at them. That has contributed to aggressiveness by teaching gulls to associate people with food, Connery said.

Down the road from Crescent Beach, the Two Lights Lobster Shack has signs warning people not to feed the gulls. Unfortunately, the gulls sometimes feed themselves, said owner Martha Porch.

''We've had seagulls take a whole lobster from a plate and one day we had a seagull take a wig off a woman's head. One of my employees chased the seagull down and it finally dropped the wig,'' Porch said.

The gulls have a keen sense for an opportune time to strike for example, when someone's attention is diverted during conversation. But the most daring gulls don't wait, as when a ranger's friend had her lunch stolen recently at Crescent Beach.

''The seagull landed on her friend's head, then proceeded to grab the sandwich,'' Watson said.

Getting mugged by a gull changes people's image of gulls as cute seabirds on postcards. So does their size: Great black-backed gulls can have wingspans of more than 5 feet.

For a person, taking someone's lunch could constitute theft, or even robbery when force is used. But seagulls are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, so no harm is allowed to come to them.

Options for getting rid of them are limited, said Ralph Blumenthal, operations manager for Atlantic Exterminating.

For starters, people can make their property less attractive to gulls with simple steps like closing trash bins or building enclosures around the places where they roost, he said.

Noise can repel the birds and a substance that irritates their feet can be placed in roosting areas, he said.

As a last resort, property owners can petition the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for permission to eliminate a nest. Owners first must demonstrate they've done everything else possible to shoo the birds away.

Judy Walker, staff naturalist for the Maine Audubon Society, knows gulls can be annoying. She also knows people contribute to their bad behavior by feeding them.

Since there's little to be done other than to stop feeding them, she suggests that people focus on the positive.

''They're very elegant. If they weren't so common, we'd appreciate them more,'' Walker said. ''They're pretty. They're beautiful fliers. They seem to fly just because they enjoy it.''

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

So these are the gulls you shouldn't take home to your mother?

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Anybody ever taken Alka-Seltzer tablets and tossed them up for the gulls to grab? I don't know if it's urban legend or not, but supposedly it makes their guts explode...

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Carl!!! Go to your room!!!

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Carl, I hear it happens in midair. Can be quite a site if they eat them in unison. Kinda like a fireworks display, I s'pose.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Barefoot!!! Join Carl!!!

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Lawsuit over Pop Rocks exploding in little girl's stomach

Old Git, I think you'd better not send me to the room where Carl and Barefoot are, you know what could happen when you leave a gull alone with two buoys ...

(can't you smell that zesty salt air, and feel the sailboat bobbing up and down on the waves?)

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Firemouse, I don't know about Barefoot, but if you try and shit on me, the friendship's over...

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2001

Firemouse, although playing captain to this ship is certainly not always smooth sailing, I don't harbor any grudges, even when things are all at sea over oceans of controversy and fishy subjects, so I guess Carl and Barefoot can come aweigh from their rooms now, providing all goes swimmingly.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2001

Long ago, there lived a seaman named Captain Bravo. He was a manly man's man, who showed no fear when facing his enemies.

One day, while sailing the seven seas, his lookout spotted a pirate ship, and the crew became frantic. Captain Bravo bellowed, "Bring me my red shirt". The first mate quickly retrieved the captain's red shirt, and while wearing the brightly colored frock, the captain led his crew into battle and defeated the pirates.

Later, the lookout again spotted not one, but two pirate ships. The captain again called for his red shirt and once again vanquished the enemy. That evening, all the men sat around on the deck recounting the day's triumphs. One of them asked the captain, Sir, why did you call for your red shirt before battle? The captain replied, "If I am wounded in the attack the shirt will not show my blood. Thus you men will continue to fight unafraid". All the men sat in silence and marveled at the wisdom and courage of such a manly man's man.

As dawn came the next morning, the lookout spotted not one, not two, but TEN pirate ships approaching. The crew stared in worshipful silence at the captain and waited his usual orders. Captain Bravo gazed with steely eyes upon the vast armada arrayed against his ship and without fear, turned and calmly shouted, "Get me my brown pants."

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2001

LOL! That joke made my day, Barefoot.

-- Anonymous, July 08, 2001