A food truck offers ‘seagull insurance’ in case food is stolen

In a food truck in the Isle of Man, between Ireland and England, attacks by seagulls are increasing. Hawkins BBQ customers are increasingly seeing their snacks “struck” with the birds. Fortunately, they now have the option to subscribe “seagull insurance”.

Co-owner Charlotte Smith insists “Customers can enjoy their food with complete peace of mind”, the BBC says. She was inspired by a Scottish trader who had a similar problem of theft with herring gulls, a protected species on the island. The insurance, in the amount of 1 pound sterling, guarantees that the food in a robbery incident.

In an urban environment, thean animal is looking for food where it can due to the reduction of herring in the Baltic Sea, confirms the chief executive of the Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT), an organization created to protect wildlife and natural sites to preserve In this way, the food truck will donate the money collected to the MWTcertainty is recommended.

A non-isolated case

Isle of Man seagulls are not the only ones to engage in this practice. In 2022, at United Kingdoma seagull used to enter a Tesco supermarket steal from the shelves before leaving with your loot. Named Steven by staff, the bird stole the equivalent of €350 worth of cheese strips, according to RTBF.

Further south in Europe, in Venice in Italythe solution that was found was to use hawks in the town, and these are predators for the seagulls. Deemed ineffective by hotels and restaurants, the shooters were replaced by water guns provided to customers. A more radical solution, but it is not known how effective it is.