Just desserts? Bird beaten for stealing ice cream

Grand Junction Sentinel ^ | 1/14/09

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

The estimated population of Heermann's gulls is 525,000.

524,999

[GSWarrior]

We have a winner!

[TheWasteLand]

I hate birds with attitude.

[The Electrician]

A rare gull that apparently tried to eat a couple's ice cream was euthanized after the man beat the bird with a stick.

Laguna Beach being Laguna Beach, it's a wonder that the man wasn't euthanized instead...

[Flycatcher]

In breeding plumage, the Heermann's gull is probably the prettiest gull in North America. I wouldn't call it rare, though.

Along the California coast, it's uncommon to common.

But who am I to argue with Audubon?

[heartwood]

I think that swearing thing works. I had gulls looking at my lunch, and told them to F off. They had this air of assumed nonchalance: “Just looking at this crab claw here, and this bit of seaweed over there, and oh, there’s a wave, bye.”

Who would have thought their sensibilities were so delicate?

[ElayneJ]

Apparently he preferred to throw a temper tantrum - showing his manhood and maturity, I guess. There’s never an excuse for abusing an animal!!

[Sacajaweau]

A RARE Gull?? Gimme a break!!

My buddy threw a piece of bread out the window while we were having lunch on Lake Ontario.

Thank God we were in the car...There were 100's of them in 10 seconds!!

He's an employee. Never took him to the lake for lunch again!!

[crazyhorse691]

I was attacked by a male Rufus Hummingbird, but, I didn't take it personally as he was attacking anything coming to close to it's nest...However,I did take it personal when a male Prairie Falcon attacked me while I was banding his chicks(he was not impressed with my BLM permit).

[Flycatcher]

A RARE Gull?? Gimme a break!! My buddy threw a piece of bread out the window while we were having lunch on Lake Ontario. Thank God we were in the car...There were 100's of them in 10 seconds!!

"Rare" is relative, of course.

Trust me: if a Heermann's gull showed up at Lake Ontario, you'd have 100,000+ birders stampede to Lake Ontario within 12 hours to see it.

Birders are weird that way.

(Yeah, I'm a birder...)

[GSWarrior]

[yazoo]

“One bird hit Djuric’s wife in the head and tried to take the ice cream. Djuric was defecated on.”

Don’t care what they do to my wife, but defecate on my head......he’s history.

[chaosagent]

“The bird was doing what nature taught it to do.”

What, eat ice cream?

[Sherman Logan]

The bird was doing what nature taught it to do.

Nature tells humans attacked by animals to fight back. We're at the top of the food chain, remember? I like it up here.