It’s come to our attention that feeding seagulls is a legitimate problem on the Jersey Shore.
Why anybody would willingly sacrifice Boardwalk Fries to these obnoxious, indiscriminate defecators is beyond us, but alas, this is the state of our world today.
That said, the mayor of Ocean City is reminding you to not do it.
In a letter penned last week, Mayor Jay Gillian reminded all visitors that feeding wildlife is strictly against the law, and will be enforced with fines up to $500 and up to 90 days in prison. In years past, the Ocean City Police Department has tried to be the nice guys about this problem, issuing warnings to violators.
No more Mr. Nice Guy, it seems.
The mayor says continuing to feed the birds gives the animals confidence.
“The emboldened birds try to take food from people on the beach and boardwalk,” he wrote, adding that feeding presents health and safety problems forboth animals and humans.
If you’re still not convinced, watch some terrifying videos of people feeding these vicious creatures.
don’t feed seagulls, kids pic.twitter.com/aZee8dF4mV
— patrasha (@ohthatstricia) July 12, 2016
When feeding seagulls goes extremely wrong.. pic.twitter.com/hJoRo7wPXr
— Amy Jade (@HiAmyJade) June 26, 2016
seagulls are scary ok ? pic.twitter.com/frPhlkuP1t
— Graison Rolf (@GraisonR) June 22, 2016