Press Releases

March 27, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Angela Speed
Phone:  (414) 431-6104
E-mail:  aspeed@wihumane.org

Urban Ecology Center Helps WHS Save Birds

MILWAUKEE — You drive into the parking lot only to find hundreds of gulls parked in the spaces. Out of nowhere, a ring-billed gull swoops over your car in an effort to protect her nest. To top things off, you hear a big SPLAT on your rooftop and you’re certain you received a “present” of gull droppings. Sound familiar? We’ve all seen the hundreds of gulls hanging out in empty parking lots or open fields. Now is the time to start humanely managing gulls who are checking out locations they may use for nesting later this spring, especially if you had problems last year with nesting gulls. The Wisconsin Humane Society suggests these gull-related tips:

• If you discover gulls on your business’ rooftop or other property, you can “haze” the birds by chasing them or making noise to frighten them away. This can legally and humanely be done before the birds begin nesting. Do not strike the birds with anything and don’t physically harm them in any way. Also, it is not legal or humane to harass the birds after they have started nesting.

• Depending on where a past gull colony was located, you may be able to install a preventative gull-grid, which is a network of fishing line or wire installed over a rooftop or a field to prevent gulls from nesting there again. These grids must be erected before the start of the gull nesting season.

• Gull populations are growing partly due to the garbage and food scraps they find while scavenging at dumps, landfills, parking lots and on city streets. Please dispose of food waste in covered cans or dumpsters.

• The Wisconsin Humane Society has a new humane gull management resource, too.
“Getting Along With Gulls” is a helpful brochure available on our web site
(http://www.wihumane.org/wildlife/gulls.aspx) or at the WHS Wildlife Rehabilitation
Center at 4500 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee.

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INTERVIEW/CONTACT: To speak with a Wildlife Representative about this topic, please contact Angela Speed, Public Relations Specialist, at (414) 431-6104 or aspeed@wihumane.