Seagull Is A Regular Customer: Walks Into Store And Steals Chips Like A Boss
In this trending Twitter video you¡¯ll see a seagull walk quietly into a store, like an innocent shopper.
We know that seagulls are known to be super notorious birds. They just look all cute and adorable, but deep down, they¡¯re known to be master thieves.
Whether it is hunting for a prey underwater or stealing something from your hand in an instant, they do it all. However, this viral video surely shows that they¡¯ve taken their antics to a whole new level.
note the casual entry and hurried exit
¡ª btw there's still a pandemic ? (@ziyatong) August 8, 2020
this is an experienced seagull shoplifter pic.twitter.com/WnIOkIsqfK
In this trending Twitter video you¡¯ll see a seagull walk quietly into a store, like an innocent shopper. However, in a matter of seconds, the seagull grabs a packet of crisps from a shelf and just runs out of the store in the blink of an eye.
In fact, the pace at which it runs out of the store after grabbing the packet of crisps indicates that this isn¡¯t his first rodeo.
Nature¡¯s thieves
Seagulls, also known as just gulls, are closely related to the terns (from the family Sternidae). Seagulls are essentially ground-nesting carnivores who love to scavenge food opportunistically, and consume live food such as crabs and small fish.
They also live a long life, with Large white-headed gulls typically surviving for many years with species like herring gull living a maximum age of 49 years.
Unsplash
They¡¯re known to be the most notorious hunters, relying on stealing food, even adopting kleptoparasitism. In fact, some seagulls are also spotted eating the skin off whales when they¡¯re moving on the water¡¯s surface.
Instances of seagulls stealing food from the hands of humans is a very common affair on beaches around the world. And while many might feel that it¡¯s because climate change or global warming is making them do this, that¡¯s not really the case. In fact, they enjoy stealing food off human hands.
Seagulls love stealing from humans
A recent study by researchers at the University of Exeter in England looked at whether seagulls really preferred stealing from humans or just randomly scavenged for food.
For this study, they used two unopened granola bars and placed them under buckets. The researcher removed the buckets simultaneously to reveal the granola bars then picked up one of the granola bars, and after around 20 seconds, dropped it back in.
Unsplash
The researcher even wore dark sunglasses to avoid making any eye contact to impact the results. When the researcher left, the seagulls preferred grabbing the granola handled by the human, 79 percent of the seagulls to be exact. This was also the case when humans touched inedible objects like a sponge.
Lead researcher Madeleine Goumas said in a statement, ¡°Our study shows that cues from humans may play an important part in the way gulls find food, and could partly explain why gulls have been successful in colonising urban areas."