Painting eyes on takeaway boxes can stop gulls stealing chips, study shows
April 1, 2026
Wildlife | The Guardian
Research from the University of Exeter find that the method could help reduce thefts by as much as 50Gulls thrive on snatching chips from unwary beachgoers, but now research shows that painting a pair of eyes on takeaway boxes could put gulls off, reducing thefts by as much as 50.Laura Kelley, from the University of Exeter, and colleagues presented herring gulls with tempting takeaways at a number of seaside towns in Devon and Cornwall.
When faced with a choice between a box with eyes painted on it and a plain box, the gulls were slower to approach the box with eyes and less likely to peck at it. And the findings, which are published in Ecology and Evolution, show that the effect is sustained, with gulls remaining wary of the boxes with eyes on them, even after repeated exposure. Continue reading...
Wildlife | The Guardian
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