USDA using dead seagulls as scare tactic upsets county residents

EVERETT, Wash. — Some say it's a gruesome display in Everett -- dead seagulls are now hanging from wires underneath the Port of Everett Mt. Baker Terminal. But the USDA said the dead birds are there to scare off live ones.

The Port of Everett told us the birds were only visible via the water. So we connected with some fisherman and went to check out the site some are calling “ghoulish.”

Dennis Morgison was piloting the boat that took us to the terminal. He has spent his life on the water; his dad Dave has run a fishing charter business for three decades. So the pair have seen their fair share of dead marine life, but they said what's hanging from the Mt. Baker Terminal is different.

"This is the first I have seen them out here, and there has to be a better way than to kill waterfowl to get what they have to do done,” Dennis explained.

The USDA's wildlife division said what it needs to get done is rid the pier of seagulls.  Biologists told us their excrement is dangerous for the longshoremen who work there.

The USDA has been using dead gulls as a scare tactic for years- usually shooting them at the site.  But just this week a bird enthusiast snapped pictures of the practice from the water. They were posted to social media and birders and Audubon societies reacted with total disgust.

In a statement, the Pilchuck Audubon Society based in Snohomish told us they were "shocked and disturbed" to learn of the dead gulls and asked to meet with officials to have a "discussion of how we might support alternatives for avian management."

But biologists say this works. We have to admit we didn't see a single seagull on the Mt. Baker Terminal Thursday afternoon. Still, for the Morgisons, who probably spend as much time on water as they do on land, there's got to be a better way.

"Having them hang like this -- families coming over here to do crabbing and kids and things, I don't think it's a very good example however this was generated,” Dennis concluded.

One way to utilize the dead bird concept without actually killing birds is fake dead birds. The USDA has tried implementing that in at least one spot on the Mt. Baker Terminal.

Cox Media Group