Luke Mammatt, owner of Wye Valley Falconry based in Hereford saw yesterday’s post about the seagull problem in Hereford.
Luke has been a falconer for 17 years and spent 2 years in Scotland offering Wildlife Management around the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
The areas they patrolled were urban and outside the city. Even though Hereford is small compared to these large cities, the way they flew out team of Hawks and Falcons in regimes it worked very efficiently.
Luke and the team were there to simply create an uncomfortable atmosphere so the gulls would realise the area is not safe.
Luke explains that Gulls are a protected species however they are controlled and there are legal ways to control numbers.
Luke explains that Gulls cause damage through their droppings. They dive bomb people snatching food which can cause safety issues. Plus there is a risk of spreading diseases, germs and bacteria through their droppings. All the factors are big issues for the residents of the city centre and surrounding area.
Luke explains that people say there’s no fish in oceans and yes gulls eat fish but their natural food is a mixture of birds, mammals and insects. They are opportunists so will eat sandwiches, crisps burgers etc.
Luke says that he was in negotiations with Herefordshire Council in January to create a regime where he would patrol areas of Hereford with his team of Hawks and Falcons as well as recommending other techniques that would also be a benefit.
Luke has seen the results for himself and he believes this would be a natural option.
Despite this, Luke says that Herefordshire Council came to the conclusion that they didn’t want to pursue the proposal any further as they believe it would not work despite all the evidence.
Luke has expressed his further after this decision with further discussions and recommended they tried it this year to see the results and feedback but the decision is final.
Therefore Luke says unfortunately the good people of Hereford have to endure another year of the Gull issue in the town.
