Police use guns to control seagulls swarming Southgate

SOUTHGATE, Mich. (WXYZ) - Hundreds and hundreds of seagulls have ruffled a lot of feathers in Southgate.

Local store owners are fed up and claim the birds are scaring off customers at Fort and Trenton.  Many residents and business owners have been complaining to the mayor’s office.

“If you get close enough to it, the odor that comes from there is foul.  Lots of birds there.  Lots of seagull droppings.  So it’s a dirty place,”  said Southgate Police’s Direct of Public Safety, Thomas Coombs.

Armed with shotguns and rifles animal control and police shot close to two hundred of them in hopes of trying to control the population.  They have been waiting until it is safe to do it and from safe angles.

Police tell 7 Action News they have already made several other attempts to get the birds to go away.

The mayor’s office obtained a permit from the Federal Fish and Wildlife Services to get rid of five hundred birds.

“I guess we can argue what’s humane, what’s not humane,” said Coombs.  “We came to the conclusion we would use lethal force to shoot them.”

It may seem to be an odd spot for the Southgate seagulls to have adopted as their home.  There are a few buildings not in use and they are surrounded by concrete.   Police say the porous ground has made it a hotbed for insects.

They are exploring other ways to shoo the birds away,  like bringing in a falcon to scare them off.

“What we found out is that there were people coming out here feeding the birds,” said Coombs.  “That doesn’t help the situation because if you have a stray animal coming to your house and you feed it, it will stay.”

The city has the permit until March 31, 2013.  They are also looking into different chemicals that would make the birds want to leave.