Mother nature’s joke: Rats with wings

Between attacks by seagulls, magpie massacres, and an invasion of Japanese knotweed, it looks like mother nature is enjoying a joke at mankind’s expense.

Except none of these problems is a laughing matter.

Giant seagulls have begun to head inland, attacking and killing mature ewes in South and West Kerry. They are also attacking pet dogs, while magpies are conducting massacres of small garden birds such as sparrows, tits, and thrushes.

British prime minister David Cameron recently said a “big conversation” is needed about the threat from aggressive birds while, here, the Seanad noted how a Dublin woman had her phone stolen by a gull in the Botanic Gardens.

Skibbereen in West Cork, meanwhile, is under virtual siege by knotweed, a plant that can ruin buildings and, consequently, the value of property. Whatever about a concerted effort to kill a dangerous plant, modern sensibilities may baulk at the notion of a gull cull, yet that may be well what is needed. We would not be so soft-hearted about getting rid of rats, so why not the rodents of the skies?