DEAR Editor – I have read with some amusement about Andy Stafford’s cunning plan to counter the herring gull menace by employing a falconry expert to try to scare the maritime avians away.
On a previous occasion Chris Jaeger, (formerly of Worcester Live) had hired the chief falconer of Warwick Castle to bring his prize birds to dazzle us all outside Worcester Cathedral for his summer festival spectacle.
The superlative bird of this collection was an American Bald eagle – a massive creature with beak and talons one would think more than a match for any of our urbanised KFC gulls.
This was not the case.
Herring gulls are an intelligent and aggressive species that can react en masse in a co-ordinated way to any perceived threat to their chicks.
Things did not improve for the poor American Eagle who left the scene a bit more bald than he started.
As Uncle Sam picked a delicate path down the Severn, not only did he confront assaults from left, right and below , there was an unexpected assault from high above.
St Andrew’s tower at the time housed a nesting pair of peregrine falcons who were similarly defensive of their progeny (I should remind readers that peregrines are the fastest creatures in nature with a diving speed over 180mph).
When the poor beggar landed he couldn’t wait to stick his hood back on, get back in the van and go back to Warwick Castle.
Now addressing directly whoever is offering this gull-clearing service, do you really want to bring your hawks to Worcester?
Come and have a go, but are they hard enough?
JOHN RICHARDS
Worcester
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