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The curious case of the sexist seagulls is disrupting the mail in a quiet Somerset village. Gulls are divebombing postmen but, to the bemusement of bird experts, appear to be content to let female posties past.
After one man was knocked off his bicycle and another left sprawled in the road, a women-only team was drafted in to ensure the mail got through in Highbridge, near Burnham-on-Sea.
The aerial onslaught began after the gulls' chicks were born. The gulls seemed to fear the postmen were endangering their young and began swooping from the rooftops.
Residents were warned to expect delays to deliveries as the postmen dodged the gulls.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: "It might sound funny but if you have a 2kg seagull divebombing you, it is a big problem. It is a real health and safety risk to our employees. We've had two guys who have been knocked off their feet, but when women go up there, we don't have any trouble."
The chicks hatch in late May and their parents tend to become increasingly aggressive towards late July and early August when they leave the nest for the first time.
But Peter Exley, of the RSPB, admits to being baffled by the sexist nature of the attacks.
He said: "We've heard of birds attacking people before but this is a new one on me - there is no reason why they would deem men more of a threat. Their sense of smell isn't good so it is difficult to imagine how they are telling the difference. Seagulls have attacked women in the past, so it must be a particular problem this group has with men."

Shades of Hitchcock...
"There was a wee cooper wha' lived in Fife..."

Those blasted sh*tehawks are becoming a pesky nuisance. The ones in the West Country are at least twice the size of our local ones. More like eagles. I imagine it could be terrifying.

What is it about posties that animals don't like? I remember a dog started attacking me every morning on my way to work for no reason at all. Fortunately it used to stop just before getting my steel toecaps in its gob & walk off disappointed. The young schoolgirl walking the dog was very embarrassed by it. I finally figured out that my coat made me look like a postman.

I think it's because mail carriers and other uniformed service folks are most likely to "invade" a dog's territory without permission. For some dogs, this reaction carries over into other situations.
Of course, there are exceptions, like good ol' Peg. She won't bark or bite any "intruder". I wonder what she'd do if somebody tried to hurt me when she was nearby? Nice thing about having a "vicious"- breed dog is that it's very unlikely to happen; many people will cross the street when they see us coming...LOL!!

Nice thing about having a "vicious"- breed dog is that it's very unlikely to happen; many people will cross the street when they see us coming...LOL!!

Right. Good thinking.

The above incident was before I overcame my childhood fear of dogs. That wouldn't have helped. I've never been attacked by any breed of dog since.

I was attacked by "divebombing" Peacocks a few times, not a very happy experience.  They'd fly over and then hover over your head and scratching you with their feet while following you.

I almost got hit by a night-hawk (bird. not F-117) once while it was swooping around in a parking lot. Came within inches of my head. It wouldn't have been so bad, but it let out an ear splitting screech at that moment.

Came within inches of my head. It wouldn't have been so bad, but it let out an ear splitting screech at that moment.

Just as long as it didn't drop ballast at the same time. Most birds do that when they encounter an unexpected obstruction.

If you really hate seagulls Doug (and who doesn't after they've just washed their car?) then get a bag of hot chips and throw them at them. A lot of seagulls can catch food on the wing, they gulp it down and then realise how hot it is and all you see is seagulls going for the sea like little Stukas but not pulling out in time

Sounds a good ploy to me Mark. Beautiful to watch but nasty hateful things. What most scares me is that these sh*tehawks have scouts out eyeing up my roof as a future residence. Once they're up there that's it & I can't do anything about it. My stoopid neighbour makes things worse by putting out food for 'em. Fortunately they're sensible enough not to try landing in my garden. They might get in there but the runway's too short for them get out again. I don't know how but they obviously figured that out.

PS. It's our fault for destroying their natural habitat. They found it's much easier living among us & pinching our grub, like those blasted urban foxes.

Get an airpistol before the new gun-laws come into effect Doug, they'll soon learn
Alternatively get a lump of carbide (I think, not sure I'll have to check my chemistry books) and put it in a fish head, they eat that, the carbide reacts with the stomach acid and bye-bye flying rat

Anyone here seen the movie "The Birds" or read the story by the same name? You'll see what I mean

Get an airpistol before the new gun-laws come into effect Doug, they'll soon learn
Alternatively get a lump of carbide (I think, not sure I'll have to check my chemistry books) and put it in a fish head, they eat that, the carbide reacts with the stomach acid and bye-bye flying rat

LOL Talking about rats. Did you hear about the plague of sex-mad, hooligan, hoodie-wearing adolescent squirrels on the rampage? I'm not joking, this is serious. We're in danger of being overrun by the little varmints.

Now, where can I get one of these guns?

;

Get an airpistol before the new gun-laws come into effect Doug, they'll soon learn
Alternatively get a lump of carbide (I think, not sure I'll have to check my chemistry books) and put it in a fish head, they eat that, the carbide reacts with the stomach acid and bye-bye flying rat

Bread caked in bicarbonate of soda does the trick
exploding sh*tehawks  ;D

That is the one, thanks Chris
My friend introduced that one to me, funny to watch a small cloud of feathers appear in mid-air and a pair of wings float down to the sea without any bodily attachment