ISLANDERS have shared their encounters with town seagulls, after the crafty creatures were spotted stealing from a local supermarket again.
The birds were seen by shoppers taking food from Morrison’s Daily at Castle Quay recently, while in 2020 a bird – who apparently went by the alias Roger because of his ability to dodge law enforcement – repeatedly targeted the same shop.
Responding to a JEP social-media post, one Islander sympathised with the gulls: ‘[It] doesn’t count as stealing if you are a seagull, they have no idea about our ridiculous economy, how capitalism works, or a need for money…’
Another commented that they had literally had the food taken out of their mouth by a seagull: ‘I got attacked at Liberation Square by two seagulls who took a sandwich out of my actual mouth… it was horrific, but then again my neighbour feeds them daily and throws food onto the street for them.’
Another Islander said one crafty gull took a bite out of their friend’s McChicken Sandwich as soon as they stepped out of McDonald’s, which bordered on cannibalism.
Staying with the topic of fast food, one person joked: ‘They don’t know how to catch fish any more but know exactly when McDonald’s open.’
Commenting on the spate of shop thefts, Mick Dryden, who is the chair of the ornithology section of the Société Jersiaise, said: ‘It’s a completely learned behaviour. This is something that has happened a lot in the last few years. They’re very intelligent creatures.’
He added: ‘Their population is declining – in the last 20 years our surveys show a vast drop. The population has at least halved in the last 20 years.
‘Most shops have a food rack that people can pick up food and throw it in the basket. The seagulls can see the food as long as the doors are open. They’ve worked out they can get in and get out again, as the sensors are at ground level.’
