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Watch: Aberdeen gull ‘viciously’ attacks £800 drone causing it to crash land in Torry

An Aberdeen gull has attacked a drone worth £800. Image: Natalie Hood and Roddie Reid / DC Thomson.
An Aberdeen gull has attacked a drone worth £800. Image: Natalie Hood and Roddie Reid / DC Thomson.

An Aberdeen gull has attacked an £800 drone causing it to crash land in Torry.

The incident happened on Saturday night after local resident Natalie Hood decided to make the most of the sunset and film Aberdeen’s skyline.

Ms Hood captured the episode on her drone’s video camera.

She later saw her drone spiraling down from the sky after the attack.

She regularly flies the drone over the Granite City’s skies to get the best possible views.

Gull deliberately attacked drone

While filming near Victoria Road at around 6pm she noticed a group of gulls sweeping past her.

“The next thing I saw was a vicious gull had attacked my drone”, she said.

“It was not an accidental collision – it had deliberately targeted it.”

Ms Hood uses the drone to get the best vantage points over the city. Image: Natalie Hood.

The gull caused the drone to crash land, and due to how far away Ms Hood was, she was not able to see where it had landed.

GPS used to track down landing site

After the attack, she went to work at the nearby Chinese takeaway Royal Crown.

When she finished her shift she used the GPS locator to help track down the drone with the help of a few friends.

The drone was insured but if they couldn’t find it Ms Hood would be entitled to nothing.

At 10pm they eventually found it on some unused ground beside the Marine Lab in Torry.

Ms Hood’s drone the Dji Mini was £800 when she bought it. Image: Natalie Hood.

“I was totally elated and absolutely delighted when we found it”, she said.

“Drones have shot up in price since I got mine and I couldn’t really merit buying another one just for my own pleasure.

“Aberdeen is such a beautiful city and it is good to get up there and see it.”

However, during the attack the drone’s feet and sides had been cracked and it will need to be repaired.

Drone operators report increasing gull attacks

This attack was the first time Ms Hood’s drone had been attacked by gulls, but she said she has heard of similar attacks happening on other pilots.

Despite usually nesting around May, when they become protective more protective, Ms Hood said she has noticed them becoming more aggressive recently.

She works in the area as Old Torry Community Centre’s engagement officer and has in the past campaigned for Torry businesses. 

Natalie Hood has been a campaigner for businesses in Torry. Image: Darrell Benns/ DC Thomson.

Gulls known to attack animals

Despite having a natural diet of insects, fish and fruit, gulls have been known to attack larger animals.

They will consume around 20% of their body weight every day in food – the equivalent of a human eating 59 Big Macs a day.

Ms Hood says they have begun to nest on the roof of Victoria Road school where she was flying.

She said: “They will totally even come to try and attack my small cat.

“I can’t let it out anymore”.

A gull stealing food at Aberdeen beach. Image: Kath Flannery/ DC Thomson.

In 2015, it was proposed by an Aberdeen councillor at the time Ross Thomson, that drones could be used to scare off nuisance gulls instead of more commonly used predatory birds.

But Ms Hood believes that the drones would need to be extremely large and expensive to be able to scare off the gulls.

In July, a Press and Journal poll revealed 92% of readers think that gulls are a problem in their area.

Conversation