Demand for technology that curbs seagull attacks has risen 400%

Demand for technology that curbs seagull attacks has risen drastically amid fears they have become more aggressive - and started to target NURSERY children.Pest management specialists Integrum Services says it has seen a four-fold increase in demand for its smart technology with seagulls adapting behaviour due to a lack of food available during lockdown.The vicious birds have even begun attacking children of key workers who attended a nursery in West Sussex, swooping down on them from a roof as they played outside.The technology will emitt a seagull distress call whenever a seagull lands near it, alarming the birds and sending them flying off at high speed to escape the noise.The company has seen a huge demand for their technology system.Director of Integrum Services Peter Bowers-Davis said: "We've seen a 400 per cent increase in sales during lockdown - we usually deploy 2-4 systems a month but in May we actually deployed 18 systems so there's been a major rise in demand."The seagulls have loved the peace and quiet of lockdown and taken the opportunity to nest on empty buildings."There's less food available for them with people not visiting the beaches and we have seen quite a few killing pigeons and eating them."The seagulls hatched their chicks on the roofs of buildings and now people are returning to those buildings and so they're reacting aggressively because they want to protect their chicks."There's a nursery in West Sussex where the kids of key workers were attending and they were using the outside space a lot to try and keep to social distancing rules."The birds were swooping down and attacking the children and the nursery staff so they were forced to hide inside from the seagulls but we've now installed the technology so they can play outside again."One great thing about our system is that we can manage the unit remotely so we can easily use it and keep to social distancing rules."Surrey-based Integrum Services usually reserves the technology for the aviation section, providing airports with the system to keep runways and airfields clear of birds.With the increased aggression of seagulls over lockdown, the pest management specialists have deployed the system across the UK to various schools, universities, colleges as well as working with local authorities.The technology system detects seagulls entering an area and listens to their calls through a microphone, learning the pattern of their distress calls.When seagulls come close to the technology, the system emitts the distress call, sending the birds flying away quickly to escape the sound.There's even the option of an added extra - a blow up assistant nicknamed 'Scary Dave' who will inflate up to scare off troublesome gulls who stick around despite the noise.Peter added: "Birds have different types of calls so what our technology system does is listen to the seagulls, learn their distress call and then imitate it to scare them away."The best way to describe it is when a seagull is being attacked, it lets out a distress call which is like shouting 'Danger!'

To the other seagulls so they don't come near."When we've activated the system, it's quite something, like an entire cloud of seagulls swarming above to get away from the noise."It alerts every seagull within a 200 metre distance, and the seagulls imitate the call to spread the warning so the distress call reaches even further."On Brighton seafront, there can be 200 to 300 seagulls flying off in a massive flock, it's very impressive."

Demand for technology that curbs seagull attacks has risen drastically amid fears they have become more aggressive - and started to target NURSERY children.Pest management specialists Integrum Services says it has seen a four-fold increase in demand for its smart technology with seagulls adapting behaviour due to a lack of food available during lockdown.The vicious birds have even begun attacking children of key workers who attended a nursery in West Sussex, swooping down on them from a roof as they played outside.The technology will emitt a seagull distress call whenever a seagull lands near it, alarming the birds and sending them flying off at high speed to escape the noise.The company has seen a huge demand for their technology system.Director of Integrum Services Peter Bowers-Davis said: "We've seen a 400 per cent increase in sales during lockdown - we usually deploy 2-4 systems a month but in May we actually deployed 18 systems so there's been a major rise in demand."The seagulls have loved the peace and quiet of lockdown and taken the opportunity to nest on empty buildings."There's less food available for them with people not visiting the beaches and we have seen quite a few killing pigeons and eating them."The seagulls hatched their chicks on the roofs of buildings and now people are returning to those buildings and so they're reacting aggressively because they want to protect their chicks."There's a nursery in West Sussex where the kids of key workers were attending and they were using the outside space a lot to try and keep to social distancing rules."The birds were swooping down and attacking the children and the nursery staff so they were forced to hide inside from the seagulls but we've now installed the technology so they can play outside again."One great thing about our system is that we can manage the unit remotely so we can easily use it and keep to social distancing rules."Surrey-based Integrum Services usually reserves the technology for the aviation section, providing airports with the system to keep runways and airfields clear of birds.With the increased aggression of seagulls over lockdown, the pest management specialists have deployed the system across the UK to various schools, universities, colleges as well as working with local authorities.The technology system detects seagulls entering an area and listens to their calls through a microphone, learning the pattern of their distress calls.When seagulls come close to the technology, the system emitts the distress call, sending the birds flying away quickly to escape the sound.There's even the option of an added extra - a blow up assistant nicknamed 'Scary Dave' who will inflate up to scare off troublesome gulls who stick around despite the noise.Peter added: "Birds have different types of calls so what our technology system does is listen to the seagulls, learn their distress call and then imitate it to scare them away."The best way to describe it is when a seagull is being attacked, it lets out a distress call which is like shouting 'Danger!'

To the other seagulls so they don't come near."When we've activated the system, it's quite something, like an entire cloud of seagulls swarming above to get away from the noise."It alerts every seagull within a 200 metre distance, and the seagulls imitate the call to spread the warning so the distress call reaches even further."On Brighton seafront, there can be 200 to 300 seagulls flying off in a massive flock, it's very impressive."