A travel mishap, some unexpected science, and a trick that might actually keep birds away from your food.
If you’ve ever eaten outdoors while traveling, you might already know where this is going.
Years ago, my husband Joe and I visited Japan (my third time, his second). We had just gone to temple #6,827 (#IYKYK. There are a whole lot of temples in Japan) and decided to get some cream puffs from the nearby Beard Papa bakery (OMG, they are SO good!).
We sat at one of the picnic tables nearby. It was a touristy area, so there were a lot of seagulls and pigeons around, looking for a handout. Signs, in both Japanese and English, specifically said to watch out for seagulls. We’re enjoying our snack, being as aware of the birds as we could, when, out of nowhere, a seagull dive-bombed Joe and took his cream puff—paper and all.
A group of about four or six middle aged Japanese men were nearby and they saw what happened. They all said, in unison, “OOOOHHHHhhhh….!!!!” I couldn’t help but notice they all had a look of mild mental anguish combined with a little bit of mirth, all at the same time. It was the universal look of, “Oh man… they got you GOOD.”
We didn’t get a photo when it happened (and trust me, we’ve SEARCHED. It all happened too fast) but it looked something like this (thank-you, AI):
Anyway, we’ve been telling this story for YEARS. So when I read that research had been done to figure out a way to deter seagulls from taking your food, you can bet I was all over it!
So what’s the big deterrent?
You’re going to laugh at this.
According to the paper the researches had published, “gulls were slower to approach and less likely to peck a takeaway food box with eye-like stimuli compared to a box without eyes.”
The researchers measured how often herring gulls (frequently found in the northern and western coasts of Europe) approached boxes with eyes painted on them with their approach to plain boxes that had no eyes. They were found to be slower to approach the containers that seemed to be “watching” them. They also pecked at the “boxes with eyes” less often.
Overall, the eyes on the boxes reduced thefts by as much as 50%. And that overall decrease continued, even after the seagulls had been exposed to takeaway eye boxes multiple times.
The study added that lots of animals are put off by the presence of eye-like markings. Which is probably why so many butterflies and moths, as well as a handful of fish, geckos, crabs, etc. have “false eyes” as part of their defensive tools.
The researchers also wrote that a similar approach has proven successful in stopping predators from attacking cattle, preventing birds from gathering at airports, and keeping seabirds from foraging near fishing nets.
The paper did caution that responses to the eyes were “highly individual.” Not all species of gull may react the same way, and even among herring gulls, about half didn’t seem to care at all.
What else could work?
Meanwhile, The University of Exeter wrote last year that shouting at seagulls could keep them away from your food.
And staring at them might work, too. They really don’t seem to like eyes.
If you’re trying to eat somewhere with a lot of seagulls nearby, it might be worth a shot.
Although you might look a little ridiculous yelling at seagulls or staring them down while eating your Beard Papa cream puff.
Then again… probably still better than losing it.
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