Marauding seagull patrols have now stepped up their terror campaign, killing two mature ewes in Co. Kerry, and knocking a motorcyclist off his bike in the Waterville area of the county in cleverly crafted hit-and-run attacks.
The ewe slaughter was witnessed first hand by part-time sheep farmer and rural development officer John McCrohan. According to him, a flock of seagulls zeroed in a herd of sheep and took out two of them before the man fought them off with a stick. Mr. McCrohan confessed that, had it not been for the stick, he felt the birds would have gone after him as well. He said that the seagulls waited menacingly around even as he tried to scare them off.
Mr. McCrohan has now joined Senator Denis O’Donovan in demanding a massive cull of the species, as the birds’ battle lines are inching ever closer inland towards the town.
In a related incident, a biker was knocked off his speeding vehicle by a seagull attack. Though he escaped any major injury, he was visibly shaken by the unprovoked assault. He compared it to a Stuka dive-bomber attack. According to him, the seagull “knew what he was doing. He turned at the last minute so his wings wouldn’t hit.”
If you are out and about in Kerry, watch the skies and keep your valuables secured.