Every day at the Cheesy Toast Shack in St. Andrews, Scotland, seagulls swoop down and snatch food from dozens of customers. The proprietors at Cheesy Toast Check are kind enough to replace stolen grub for free but it happens so often that it's turned into real financial burden.
"The gulls are super aggressive and actually terrifying," Kate Carter-Larg told Fife Today. We are a family run business and I can't just sit and watch a sandwich get stolen and not replace it, so I'll always give another for free. But it has been costing us a lot of money – people are even left bleeding after the gulls swoop for the food. We get old women emailing us saying: 'I've nearly rolled my ankle because of seagulls', we have children crying too from it."
Playing recordings of predator birds and flying bird-of-prey kites didn't help. Now, rather than continue with the free replacements, they plan to offer seagull insurance. For £1 on top of the £6.75 sandwich price, customers will be protected in the event of a gull attack. Peace of mind. Piece of sandwich.
Previously:
• Staring at seagulls may deter them from stealing your food, research says
• 9-year-old British boy wins Europe-wide Imitation Seagull Screeching Competition
• Seagulls snatching drug stashes become 'zombie' birds
