Municipality takes fight to defecating gulls

“We have a growing problem with the gulls and boat-owners have tired of having their property soiled. They have quite a lot of money invested there,” said Jens Gustafsson at Karlstad municipality to The Local on Thursday.

Gustafsson said that the municipality has tried a slew of measures to tempt the birds and their unwelcome aerial deposits away from the marina.

“We have tried the normal measures, like scarecrows and such like, but the birds get used to it and carry on as normal,” Gustafsson said.

In response to complaints from the local yacht clubs the municipality came up with a new plan – to build a designated jetty to enable the gulls to congregate and relieve themselves of their excess ballast in the comfort of their own outdoor lavatory, anchored out in scenic Marieberg bay.

“We have built a platform – the gulls like to sit and enjoy the view,” Jens Gustafsson said adding that his team will evaluate the success of their initiative with hours of the jetty being towed into place on Friday.

“We hope that this will solve the problem with the gulls, although there was a swallow sitting on the jetty when we were working on it this morning,” he said.