World of the Bizarre

Menace of seagulls drunk on flying ants

By T.K. Randall
July 30, 2014

Image: Red Ant
Credit: William Cho / CC BY-SA 2.0 (adapted) Seagulls in Britain's towns and cities have always represented something of a problem at the best of times, waking people up in the early hours with their incessant squawking, rummaging around in the rubbish for food and leaving their infamous calling cards all over pavements, cars and sometimes even people's heads.

Lately however these large seabirds have managed to up their game a notch thanks to the prevalence of flying ants that have left their nests early this summer due to soaring temperatures. Seagulls gorging themselves on the insects have ended up experiencing an intoxicating effect similar to that of drinking alcohol due to the way formic acid inside the ants has interacted with their stomachs."It's the sheer number of gulls in built up areas now," said Gull expert Peter Rock. "They are right in our faces, and they are not scared."

"The pest control industry has been trying their best, but they can't outsmart seagulls. People are trying anything - spikes, tension wires – I even saw a plastic eagle owl once."

Source: Telegraph

Tags: Seagulls, Flying Ants, Drunk