Gull ranger takes to the streets of Eyemouth with brief to educate and engage

Patrick Safford, 24, has taken to the streets as the country's first gull ranger in the Scottish Borders town of Eyemouth.

After a number of attacks from seagulls in the area, charity Berwickshire Marine Reserve decided to create the unique position.

The brief is to ‘re-establish a balanced relationship between humans and gulls through education and engagement’.

Patrick’s responsibility will be to ‘engage with people and visitors about gulls - the importance of not feeding them, how to behave to avoid conflict and conservation issues’.

Patrick, a former ecological consultant and keen birdwatcher, now has the job of educating the public on how to avoid gull attacks and tracking the seagull population.

He believes seagulls get an unfairly negative reputation, stating: “They're really interesting, because they're really intelligent and adaptable.

“I've been interested in gulls for a long time and it's always frustrated me that the minority of them that get into conflict with people can get them a lot of hate.

“I wanted to get involved and see what I could do about it.”

So far, Patrick has worked on opening a marine education centre and surveyed locals to find out where gulls nest, where gull attacks are a problem, and how people react.

He has criticised deterrents like fake predators, netting and spikes, believing them to be ineffective due to seagulls' adaptable natures.

“Deterrents are often ineffective,” he said.

“Gulls adapt to them. You'll often see around Eyemouth a deterrent, with gull chicks nesting next to it anyway.

“The fake predators, it takes them a short amount of time to realise they’re not a threat to them, and spikes are a bit more effective but they're very expensive.

“It might work at a really small scale, but using deterrents at a large scale is so difficult.

“The educational side of how to co-exist with the gulls is more the direction that it's going, and encouraging against culling.”

The job is funded funded by Flora and Fauna International and running until August.

To co-exist peacefully with gulls, Patrick believes it is a matter of education - and says it is only a minority of gulls that are brave enough to swoop.

“I think only around 25% of gulls are bold enough to steal food,” he said.

“The same with adults swooping to protect chicks, again, it seems to be a minority, and they're the ones that make the headlines.

“Then people who haven't lived with them think they're all like that and get nervous and scared of them, and the word spreads the wrong way.

“We're trying to spread the message that most of them are pretty harmless.

“A few of them can cause conflict, but there are steps we can take to minimise that conflict."

Patrick says to avoid gulls stealing food, locals should sit next to walls or awning to break their flight paths.

He also urges residents to avoid littering, and not to put rubbish in overfilled bins.

“It's all these little things which, when put together, are going to make a difference,” he said. “Have patience, and see them as wildlife, rather than pests.”