The Hooligans of St. Ives

There's something about St. Ives that we didn't experience in Torquay or Padstow or any other coastal town we stopped at this trip. Hooligans! The most aggressive seagulls I have ever encountered. Anywhere. Ever. (Those badly behaved gulls in Clacton that were ripping open trash bags before the sun came up would be considered well-behaved when compared to the gulls in St. Ives.)

They were like an unruly gang. They worked in pairs or small groups, carefully choosing their targets. Mostly they targeted children and young women. It's probably been their experience that these are most likely to drop their food and run.

They also fought with each other. I have never in my life seen anything like it (and I'm getting old!) but one of them had food and another one was trying to pull it out of his mouth and then out of his throat. (I say "his" because I can't imagine females of any species behaving this way!) Seriously two big gulls, one with his beak down the other one's throat trying to take his food.

A pair of them even mounted an attack on me. (Clearly they misjudged my age and my determination to hold on to my food.) Mark and I had bought a couple Cornish pasties and were taking them to a bench to enjoy them in the bright sunshine. The next thing I knew one of those gulls flew straight into my head. But I didn't drop or throw my food and run. (I rarely run. Something's got to be chasing me for me to run and this was a full frontal attack.) I was a bit startled, but I still had my food and I wasn't hurt - although I've heard that people have sustained injuries in food fights with sea gulls. By the way, they didn't even look at Mark.

It's been a long while since I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I can't remember much about it other than my general impression that he was a gentle and thoughtful bird. Clearly no relation to the seagulls in St. Ives.