Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Looking for the best recommendations for sea gull control (outside of guns, etc). We had 2-6 gulls that liked to camp at the end of our dock and make a mess last summer, but now that I will have a pontoon I imagine it will be more of a problem. We plan on having a lift but not a canopy because we like to be able to use the boat at the dock. Do any of the products that you can find online such as the Repeller 360 or the Bird Spider actually work?

Any experiences with these products or other ideas welcome!!

Try here:

http://seagullcontrol.com/BIZyCart.ASP? ... CCOUNT=990

A long read, but you might get some ideas.

I have seen a fake owl/osprey/eagle mounted near where they like to roost/sit. If you don't change them out, or move it around a little, the seagulls will realize it and treat it just like any other inanimate object.

The broadcasting of taped predator calls, IMHO, doesn't work. We have a Credit Union in town that for some reason has a huge gull problem, they sit all over its roof all day and just make it a terrible mess. They spent big bucks to have a loudspeaker system put in with predator calls, and it worked for 2 days. Yup, 2 days. After that, the gulls were back and they don't budge now.

They are an incredibly smart bird, and you just need to make it as inhospitable for them as possible. Nose, lights, moving stuff, dogs, cats, etc.

When I'm looking to get rid of any critter or bug, I look for the incredible website BugSpray.com. He has long essays about how to get rid of 150 different pests.

And birds can be pests. See:

http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/birds.html

We have had major issues with gulls. The only thing that works are Gullsweeps. Available direct or through WestMarine. I mounted mine on an "L" made of conduit that attached to my dock posts. I can drive my pontoon under the sweeps and don't have to take them down each time.

Towdaddy wrote:We have had major issues with gulls. The only thing that works are Gullsweeps. Available direct or through WestMarine. I mounted mine on an "L" made of conduit that attached to my dock posts. I can drive my pontoon under the sweeps and don't have to take them down each time.

+1 for Gullsweeps.

12 guage helps too.

Our neighbor started feeding a couple of ducks.

At the Duck Club, those ducks passed the word around about where to be fed.

Look up, and she had 50 ducks in her yard at the same time every day.

Then we also had them in our front yard on our boat dock. They make a big, big mess.

I now understand how all my friends enjoy going to duck camp in Arkansas. They've got to be thinned out to avoid having 100 of those rascals in the yard.

No more feeding the ducks on our lakes. We leave that to the little kids in the city park.

Ron Burgundy wrote:

Towdaddy wrote:We have had major issues with gulls. The only thing that works are Gullsweeps. Available direct or through WestMarine. I mounted mine on an "L" made of conduit that attached to my dock posts. I can drive my pontoon under the sweeps and don't have to take them down each time.

+1 for Gullsweeps.
12 guage helps too.

Roger That! +2

Bamaman wrote:Our neighbor started feeding a couple of ducks.

At the Duck Club, those ducks passed the word around about where to be fed.

Look up, and she had 50 ducks in her yard at the same time every day.

Then we also had them in our front yard on our boat dock. They make a big, big mess.

I now understand how all my friends enjoy going to duck camp in Arkansas. They've got to be thinned out to avoid having 100 of those rascals in the yard.

No more feeding the ducks on our lakes. We leave that to the little kids in the city park.

My late friend John lived near Dallas in an apartment complex with ponds full of ducks. Lady lived there and fed them daily, everyone called her the duck lady. She was very protective of ducks and would scold kids and adults if the messed with ducks. John coming home from work ran over a duck and the lady screamed at him saying she was going to file cruelty charges aginst him. Week later he received a not from head office a complaint had been filed with the DA and charges were pending.
He couldn't believe it so called office and sure enough a complaint had been filed. He was told he may have to move as cruelty to animals would break his lease.
He thought he would head off any warrant so he called DA's office and ask if there was a warrant for his arrest pending. They ask for what? He said he ran over a duck. The Lady started laughing and said no charges had been or would be filed. She suggested he call the wildlife dept. He called and they ask a few questions and said they would come and get all the ducks because they can carry diseases. and spread to other flocks of wild ducks.
Next time he saw the duck lady he just waved and smiled.

I quack'ed up reading that story!