Seagull attack leaves Prestatyn pensioner ‘bleeding profusely’

Rhiannon Fennell, 69, said she has never experienced anything like it in the 26 years she has lived at her home on Pendre Avenue.

The bird had been raising a chick in the chimney pot of the house next door, she said, before it swooped down and attacked her as she left her house at about 4pm yesterday.

It pecked her on the top of her head and knocked her to the ground, leaving her “bleeding profusely” from a cut on her scalp.

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She said: “In the 26 years that I lived on Pendre Avenue, this sort of thing has never happened before.

“It just pecked me once, but it knocked me off my feet, so I fell over just outside the back door.

“My neighbour, who is a nurse, came over to the check it out, and I washed it really well, so I’m OK now, other than being a bit bruised.

The wound on Rhiannon's head caused by the seagull attack (Image: Rhiannon Fennell)

“I know seagulls steal ice cream and chips off people, but I’ve never heard of them attacking someone for no particular reason like that.”

Rhiannon lives with her partner, but was at home alone when the incident happened.

She encouraged people to cap their chimneys, or refrain from leaving food out for the birds, for fear that this may re-occur otherwise.

“They’re just vandals, these birds,” she added.

“It’s a worry – you think you’d better go out with a hard hat or an umbrella.

“What can be done about it? I don’t know. I think the only thing people can do is cap their chimneys, or leaving food out for them.

“I just wanted to warn people about what’s going on with them. These birds are becoming a dangerous nuisance.”

Denise Theophilus, of Foundation For Feathered Friends, said: "This year has seen an increase in gull abuse; both juvenile, as well as adult. 

"Naturally, we are sorry for the shock and injury the lady in question has sustained from her encounter with a parent gull, who swooped because he felt his chick was threatened. 

"As she said, she has not encountered this in 26 years so could there be a connection between the increase in abuse towards the gulls and the increase in gull swooping?

"Perhaps as gull abuse gains momentum, the gulls are feeling more threatened which makes them more anxious about their young.

"We do not wish to see anyone hurt by a creature that is protecting its young but we do understand why that creature feels threatened. 

"We have advised several members of the public, who have asked us for help, to leave some water and food during this baby bird season and the parent gulls will realise very quickly that they are friends and not foes."