Atlantic City Chooses More Aggressive, Possibly Cruel, Method of Keeping Gulls Away
Atlantic City gulls, those dirty flying rats prone to snatching pick-and-peel shrimp away from unsuspecting diners and blanketing the boardwalk with cascades of black-and white-poop, have gone too far.
This spring, the Atlantic City council plans to unveil a spider-web-type thing that would stretch 15 feet across, starting at the Bally’s Park Place & Wild Wild West Casino, to repel the avian demons and provide a more peaceful environment for tourists. The action will be a test run and, if successful, may lead the way to a larger web that would guard the entire four-mile stretch of the A.C. boardwalk.
Obviously, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is appalled and concerned for the safety of the birds, who may injure themselves or become ensnared in the webs, resulting in a giant umbrella of screeching, broken-winged gulls dying in front of horrified tourists.
Proponents say that won’t happen, and that beach-front restaurants in other areas have found it a very effective and humane way of keeping the birds away and preventing any Hitchcockian swarms when a stray Little Neck steamer falls off somebody’s plate.
It’s war against the seagulls [Inquirer]
PHOTO: Agirlnamedtor blog
January 3rd, 2008 at 8:41 am
I’m no fan of seagulls, but I can’t imagine that this is going to be popular. The folks in Ocean City went into an uproar about the possibility of electronic beach tags. It’s not easy changing people’s minds when it comes to the shore…
Jen A. Miller
downtheshorewithjen.blogspot.com