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Early this morning we noticed a huge seagull sitting in our front/side garden... not strange as we live by the sea. About an hour later we noticed a lady standing at our front gate and looking at at the door, so OH looked out and the seagull was now on our front step.
He went outside (our dog followed him), expecting it to fly away and it didn't. It got up, semi-spread it's wings, shuffled away and then sat down again, beak-to-nose with our dog, who was a bit bemused by the whole thing. We assumed that for some reason it can't fly - normally when they hang around our garden, which is pretty much every day, the minute you open the door they fly off and sit on the garage roof... you can't get anywhere near them.
I looked up the RSPB number on the internet and it advises to ring the RSPCA, so we did that and they said they would get someone local to call us. Someone did call back pretty quickly, but they have said we have to monitor it for at least a day?! Apparently this is normal behaviour. I have never come across any bird, apart from domestic ones that don't fly off when you approach them.
OH asked what we should do about our dog going near it, and we also have a puppy who is still at the biting /chewing everything stage! - we don't want to stress out the bird or end up with injured pets - keep them inside she says... as if we are going to keep our pets inside for a whole day. Then she says, don't keep them inside then, but if it reacts and injures them it is your own fault. She asked if it was a baby bird and too young to fly, OH told her that it is actually bigger than our puppy so probably not!
They just don't seem interested at all... their website tells you about the dangers of handling wild animals; disease, being bitten, scratched etc, and that they may need veterinary treatment, but they won't come out to pick it up. OH is really annoyed and feels like it was a waste of time calling them.
It is now in the narrow path at the back of our house, between us and the neighbours (hopefuly their cat won't spot it), which is also where the foxes come in at night - so if they pay us a visit tonight, I doubt there will be a seagull in the morning. It's just a sitting target.
OH went out to give it some food and it freaked out a bit. It isn't eating it, but other birds are now flying down and taking the food.
He went outside (our dog followed him), expecting it to fly away and it didn't. It got up, semi-spread it's wings, shuffled away and then sat down again, beak-to-nose with our dog, who was a bit bemused by the whole thing. We assumed that for some reason it can't fly - normally when they hang around our garden, which is pretty much every day, the minute you open the door they fly off and sit on the garage roof... you can't get anywhere near them.
I looked up the RSPB number on the internet and it advises to ring the RSPCA, so we did that and they said they would get someone local to call us. Someone did call back pretty quickly, but they have said we have to monitor it for at least a day?! Apparently this is normal behaviour. I have never come across any bird, apart from domestic ones that don't fly off when you approach them.
OH asked what we should do about our dog going near it, and we also have a puppy who is still at the biting /chewing everything stage! - we don't want to stress out the bird or end up with injured pets - keep them inside she says... as if we are going to keep our pets inside for a whole day. Then she says, don't keep them inside then, but if it reacts and injures them it is your own fault. She asked if it was a baby bird and too young to fly, OH told her that it is actually bigger than our puppy so probably not!
They just don't seem interested at all... their website tells you about the dangers of handling wild animals; disease, being bitten, scratched etc, and that they may need veterinary treatment, but they won't come out to pick it up. OH is really annoyed and feels like it was a waste of time calling them.
It is now in the narrow path at the back of our house, between us and the neighbours (hopefuly their cat won't spot it), which is also where the foxes come in at night - so if they pay us a visit tonight, I doubt there will be a seagull in the morning. It's just a sitting target.
OH went out to give it some food and it freaked out a bit. It isn't eating it, but other birds are now flying down and taking the food.
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