Daylight Robbery

Today I was a witness to a robbery and I have to admit it has shaken me to the core.

I went to get a paper this morning at the McColls newsagent at the Castlegate in Aberdeen.

As I went to enter the shop I had to stand back and make way for the thief who was making a hasty exit.

Yes, walking through the door at some speed was a seagull, with a packet of crisps clutched in its beak, being pursued by the shopkeeper.

Jokingly I said to the man, "There's a sight you don't see everyday!"

"Don't you believe it" he replied "that damn bird has had twelve packets of crisps off me so far this week!"

The shop has a full rack of crisp packets which is fairly low down at the front of the counter beside the shop door. This devious bird loiters outside the shop waiting for someone to enter without closing the door properly behind them. It then seizes its chance, walks into the store bold as brass, and helps itself to a packet of crisps. It then makes its escape and retires to the pedestrianised square outside, rips open the bag, and enjoys its potato based snack.

Aberdeen is plagued with seagulls all year round and they can be really messy, especially when they are nesting and rearing their young. When walking in Aberdeen city centre it is always best to keep one eye on the sky and one eye on the tell-tale signs on the pavement in order to try and avoid being splattered with fresh guano from one of these "shite hawks".

Anyone leaving a bin liner full of rubbish out on the street for collection is likely to find the contents strewn all over the pavement once these scavengers rip them apart to find out what treats lie within.

All this I don't like, but I can tolerate.

Robbing shops though is a different matter altogether. I mean, what on earth is coming next?

Are we going to see gangs of young daring seagulls hanging about outside supermarkets waiting to rob old age pensioners of their freshly purchased provisions?

This really is a step too far...

Update 20/7 : The story of Sam the shoplifting seagull was featured in the Daily Record of 20th July, the article includes a link to a video of the devious bird in action.

Link : Daily Record article

Update 2 20/7 : Here is a video clip of Sam in action