Here come the gulls: angry seagulls attack terrified animal-loving student

A fine art student from Aberystwyth University was pecked in the SKULL when she was attacked by seagulls outside her house.

Shannon Harris, 18, like a real-life Melanie Daniels from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, was dive-bombed by several seagulls and pecked repeatedly on the head – leaving her with a deep cut to the top of the head – after she attempted to help a seagull chick that had wandered into the road.

She had been smoking a cigarette outside her house when she spotted the chick and moved towards it in an attempt to make it move.

However, the animal lover’s efforts only succeeded in attracting attention from the chick’s mother. The bird – along with two to three others – aggressively attacked Shannon in what locals are describing as the latest in a spate of seagull attacks.

She said: “The next thing I knew, I was running back to my house, with one seagull caught in my hair, and three or four swooping down on me, clipping their beaks”.

Anyone who has seen Finding Nemo will be aware that seagulls are doggedly persistent, so it will come as no surprise to learn that Shannon was only able to stop the attack by running back indoors.

She said: “I was terrified, and my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t un-lock my front door.

“I didn’t realise at first that my head was bleeding – it was just pounding. I went up into my room, and when I looked in the mirror, I soon realised there was blood mangled in my hair.”

Thankfully, Shannon, who is from Birmingham originally, did not require medical treatment for her injury.

However, she was left shaken by the attack and says she will think twice about going near seagulls in the future.

“I love animals and wildlife but it will teach me to keep away in future.”

This story isn’t the first time a university student has fallen foul of the animal kingdom. Last April, students at Warwick were attacked by militant geese that were nesting near a footpath.

Warwick again found itself with a bird problem earlier this year, when foreign students started to be targeted by an angry, racist swan.

University bosses were forced to erect a fence around a lake in order to stop the 4ft tall bird from attacking people. Bizarrely, the bird only seemed to attack students from ethnic minorities.

One 24-year-old student from India said: “These swans are very annoying, and the students feel as though they’re being bullied.

“I’m from India, and they attack me especially, they focus straight on me.

“We’ve been warned that the swans will be a bit feisty at this time of year, but they go for me all year round.

“I think they don’t like too many Indians in England – maybe the swans here are a little bit racist.”

Italian student Albertina Crocetti, 24, said at the time: “It’s bizarre, she doesn’t seem to like foreigners and attacks them to defend her nest.

“She’s a true right winger that’s for sure – they certainly seem to be racially motivated incidents.”