Use This Simple Trick To Stop Seagulls From Stealing Your Food – Maine, New Hampshire, & Massachusetts Take Note

If you have ever eaten lunch, or even had a snack, at the beach, there is a good chance that you have faced off against this particular problem.

Of course, I am referring to having to battle the seagulls for your food.  While they seem to love fries, the flying mooches will take anything from chicken tenders to BBQ chicken wraps.

For decades, people have been asking how you can keep the seagulls away from their lunch.

Researchers have found a way to keep the birds away from your food and, no, it does not involving injuring them in any way.

How Do You Keep Seagulls Away From Your Food?

According to an article on the Reader's Digest website, scientists say that all you need to do is make your food container look like it’s staring back at them.  Yes, seriously.

The article explains that researchers in Cornwall, England tested herring gulls by placing two takeout boxes on the ground.  One was plain.  The other had giant googly eyes stuck all over it like a middle school craft project gone rogue. According to the study, gulls overwhelmingly avoided the creepy eye-covered box, with only 22% pecking at it first.  The plain box?  Basically a gull buffet.

Even better, the fake eyes bought people extra time before the birds swooped in. Scientists think it works because animals instinctively react to eye contact.  If a gull feels like it’s being watched, it hesitates. Kind of relatable, honestly.

And this whole “eyes scare animals” thing goes way beyond beach snacks.  In Botswana, researchers literally painted fake eyes on cow butts to stop predator attacks. Amazingly, it worked.

So yes, your fries may actually stand a better chance if your takeout container looks emotionally aware.

So, before you head to Old Orchard Beach or Hampton Beach this summer, head to Michael's or AC Moore and grab some of those googly eyes.