A quick read online shows that its not just the UK thats urban areas are suffering from the impact of having too many seagulls in their areas. 

This article from French news outlet connexionfrance highlights the plight faced by many Towns in France.

APRIL signals the start of the seagull breeding season – and the annual campaign in many French seaside resorts to control their numbers.

With the birds becoming increasingly aggressive, an increasing number of resorts, including Nice, are turning to sterilisation in a bid to stop the problem becoming worse.

In the Gard resort of Grau-du-Roi, the annual sterilisation programme to control black-back gull numbers has been going on for 20 years, France 3 reports.

Black-back gulls are the largest member of the gull family. Residents in Grau-du-Roi say the birds regularly go through refuse and prey on small animals – including pets.

The birds are a protected species, but individual prefectures can authorise methods of population control. In Grau-du-Roi, the process has not changed in two decades. Eggs are coated in mineral oil to prevent the chicks inside from hatching, Thierry Galibert told the broadcaster.

He said that this method is more successful than removing the eggs from nests, as that would prompt female gulls to lay more eggs within a fortnight.

Every year, about 800 eggs are treated in the town – at a cost to the taxpayer of €15,000.

A quick calculation shows that like many UK Councils this French one would make some substantial long term savings if they switched to Ersatz imitation sea gull eggs.