If you’ve ever dreamt of being a bird, an English zoo might just have your dream job.
The Blackpool Zoo announced this week that they’re recruiting a few human seagull deterrents to protect their visitors from flocks of gulls who are just plain trouble. To get the job done, the ideally “outgoing” employees will have to don bird costumes and, presumably, wander around the dining areas making themselves appear terrifying to the local seagull colonies.
“As a seaside resort, Blackpool is not short of seagulls,” the zoo said in its job posting. “However, the seagulls are proving to be a bit of a nuisance when it comes to trying to steal food from our visitors and our animal enclosures!”
Those hired for the job should also be “friendly, energetic, and flexible.”
Blackpool Zoo’s seagulls are “ravenous,” according to a Mirror article that dug up a Trip Advisor review knocking points off the experience due to the gulls. The review is from a 2013 visit to the zoo and is reminiscent of those one star national park reviews that often go viral: “Compared to other zoos that we have visited, Blackpool Zoo was enjoyable but not exceptional,” the review begins, noting that the sea lion show was “one of the best that we have seen.”
However, the zoo has a “major problem with seagulls dive bombing the area surrounding the cafe/restaurant—this was unsettling for some families, especially the children. The zoo has put up ‘dummy’ falcons/hawks on the roof of the establishment but this is not working. The zoo will have to become more creative in dealing with a serious problem.”
It’s hard to think of a more creative solution than a team of human scare-gulls. You can apply for the position here.
