Monday, May 14, 2012

Seagull Catching: The Next Big Thing?


One day while walking down Mission Beach with my friend, we noticed a small group of high school aged young adults quietly staring at an empty beach towel.  Being a strange behavior for these normally rambunctious aged students, I knew something was about to happen. Just moments later, a seagull landed on the beach towel, and was swiftly captured by the boy hiding underneath it. Proudly holding the captured bird in the air, the boy proceeded to pose for a couple pictures and eventually let the frazzled bird free.  Let’s just say this caused quite a bit of ruckus on the beach. So was it a good idea to catch the bird? Definitely not. But why?
1.     These birds can be violent when threatened, and they like to bite. Although people think they are tough, human skin cannot beat a fight against a seagull’s beak.
2.     Seagulls can carry some germs that no one wants to get their hands on. This includes dried feces, a variety of bacteria, and some forms of fungus as well. (Mixing point one and point two would result in a pretty gross infection!)
3.     Finally, it is mean to the bird. Not only can it injure you, it can also injure the bird.
I hate to be a party pooper but it does not sound like seagull catching is a very good beach activity. If I were you, I’d stick to volleyball and body surfing! 

Because I'm sure you are all curious though, I thought I'd include a video of the phenomenon.... 


References 
http://www.parrot-link.co.uk/index.php?topic=42141.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORARWFIt5Vc

1 comment:

  1. HAHha I love this post. It was actually very informative. I have two younger brothers who always try to capture sea gulls whenever they come visit. I need to have them read this post to understand there is negative consequences to threatening them! I had no idea they react violent in threatening situations!

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