Seagulls Are Getting ‘Drunk’ on Flying Ants and Stumbling Into Traffic |
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Seagulls Are Getting ‘Drunk’ on Flying Ants and Stumbling Into Traffic
Experts say flying ants may leave gulls woozy and disoriented, making them more likely to wander into roads during coastal swarms.
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Every summer, England’s south coast deals with seagulls stealing chips, dive-bombing tourists, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. This year, they’re also stumbling into traffic.
Flying ant season has arrived early along the UK coastline, thanks to this summer’s successive heatwaves pushing the insects to swarm ahead of schedule. Seagulls, which will eat anything essentially, have been gorging on them—and the results have been so chaotic that they prompted warnings from both ornithologists and wildlife charities. Coastal towns like Lowestoft and Aldeburgh in Suffolk have seen blankets of gulls staggering around pavements and wandering into roads, seemingly indifferent to oncoming vehicles.
The leading........