Apr 24, 2007 9:27 pm US/Central
Chicago Declares War On Pesky Seagulls
City Says Fewer Gulls Will Mean Fewer Beach Closings
by Mike Parker
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Chicago has declared war on seagulls.
As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, if the war goes as planned there might not be as many beach closings this summer as in previous summers.
The first battle in the war was fought Tuesday when the city began spraying 4,000 to 5,000 seagull eggs with corn oil.
"What happens with the corn oil is that it actually prevents the transfer of oxygen into the egg, and so the egg is not a viable egg once it's oiled and therefore it doesn't hatch," said Joyce Coffee of the city's Department of Environment.
The fewer new gulls that come in to the Chicago lakefront, the less chance there will be for avian e coli outbreaks at the beaches this summer.
"We will have fewer swim bans, number one, but also there is gull damage to private property and public property," Coffee said.
There may be fewer gulls flocking to places with snack bars, like the Lincoln Park Zoo. The gulls there are not part of the official cast of characters, and often go after kids, like 3-year-old Dylan, and their food.
"He was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it came just inches from his head," said Dylan's mother, Sarah Ramirez.
And the pesky gulls at the zoo have a taste for sweets.
"When you're making the cotton candy the seagulls will come and try to attack… not the person, but the sweet, the cotton candy," said Coco Ashley, a cotton candy vendor.
The city says we can all do our part in the war on the gulls by not feeding them. The more they eat, the more of them will be around to bedevil us.
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