Shouting at seagulls may stop them from stealing your food

Yelling "GO AWAY" to a gull might be more effective than you think!

If you've ever had a snack stolen by a hungry gull then you might be happy to know that scientists have found the best way to deter them from pinching your dinner again... Yelling!

To test it out, a team of animal behaviour scientists from the University of Exeter carried out an experiment where they put a closed box of chips on the ground to attract herring gulls, and then watched what happened when they played different sound effects to them.

The scientists played three different sound effects, a man shouting "no, stay away, that's my food", a man saying those words normally, and the birdsong of a robin.

They found that the shouting was the most effective at stopping the bird from pinching the chips, with almost half of the gulls flying away.

The scientists tested out the experiment on 61 gulls in nine different seaside towns in Cornwall.

Although the shouting was the most effective, 15% of the gulls still flew away with just the talking voice.

The robin sound effect was the least effective, with 70% of gulls exposed to the robin song staying near the food for the duration of the experiment.

"When trying to scare off a gull that's trying to steal your food, talking might stop them in their tracks but shouting is more effective at making them fly away," said Dr Neeltje Boogert from the University of Exeter.

"Most gulls aren't bold enough to steal food from a person, I think they've become quite vilified.

"What we don't want is people injuring them. They are a species of conservation concern, and this experiment shows there are peaceful ways to deter them that don't involve physical contact," said Dr Boogert.

So, remember next time you're enjoying some food at the seaside, a little shouting might go a long way!