Don’t you love it when it is a nice sunny day outside, with minimal clouds? A fresh breeze feels very nice, with a touch of chill from this wonderful weather. Oh, is that a huge flock of seagulls? Instead of rain, we are getting something else dropping on our campus. It’s creamy white bird droppings, how lovely!
The many seagulls on campus are becoming a problem. These pesky birds come to campus every single day, but for what exactly. Free food, a place to rest, or is our campus just the best to release droppings? Well, there has to be a way to solve this problem, many students and staff dislike these pesky birds as well. Maybe there are some ideas to solve this madness?
Senior Jordan Hernandez has not had many issues with the birds at school as well as with his car. He reminisced when he remembered the school’s fake hawk that would be on top of the library, which caused the seagulls to fly away. Jordan Hernandez said, “A personal memory of mine was early in the morning sitting at the quad. Then, out of nowhere, a bunch of seagulls flew over the quad, and began to rain s*** across the place. I was under a tarp so I was fine, but some people got badly hit.”
Math teacher Elizabeth Kilgore thinks that the bird problem is a minor problem here at Royal. She parks in the East parking lot, and her car has been “hit” by the birds. Her solution to this would be to not park under the solar panels like most of the staff do, or take your car to the car wash. Mrs. Kilgore had said, “The bigger solution would be eliminating trash on campus, which attracts the birds. Though the trash issue could be discussed by our Student Senate to come up with a solution.”
Visual arts teacher Catherine Holcombe is not affected by the birds. She sees them a lot by her classroom, hanging out and looking for food. Mrs. Holcombe said, “I think that the birds would not be as prevalent if students cleaned up after themselves during lunch.” Her favorite birds that she sees on campus would be the Canadian Geese that frequent the baseball field.
Senior Jenis O’Sodth also worries about the birds on campus as well. She thinks that it is kinda scary, mostly the seagulls though. She mentioned how the seagulls are also carrying many diseases, and fly over the whole school carrying it. Jenis does not drive yet, so she doesn’t have to worry about her car. However her aunt usually takes her to school but doesn’t have much of a problem since she never parks in the area where the problem is occurring. Jenis O’Sodth said, “Personally, I think the best thing I can do is to avoid them, but I don’t think that I can do more than that. None of my experiences are bad either with the birds yet, so I didn’t have much of an issue.” O’Sodth thinks that it depends on how much other people have problems with the birds that it can become a real issue, but the school does need to take action. Senior O’Sodth added, “If it’s a serious problem, schools should consider to try and decrease the population of birds, especially the seagulls in school.”
Spanish teacher Keely McKnight tries not to complain much about the bird problem at school. She’s blessed that we have such a beautiful school as it is with many wonderful students and encouraging staff members, admininistration team, and principal who dedicate themselves to making our school better each day. Her classroom is the closest to the East parking lot, she has no clue what the West parking lot looks like so she parks closest to her classroom which is in the proximity of the East parking lot. She hadn’t realized the bird situation until she started feeling like she was “always going to the carwash” Mrs. McKnight said, “I live in an apartment, so I don’t have a hose where I can just wash it myself. So, it was getting kind of expensive.” So, as a result of this she had stopped parking under the solar panels because of the other teachers, and she realized that the birds enjoy warmth, and tend to sit there most of the day and defecate on all of their cars. Mrs. McKnight also added, “What I don’t understand is all the bones on the ground that are under the panels. It’s confusing, a little gross, but again there are so many positive attributes to our school with the addition of many beautiful areas to sit at lunch, the new quad, and new facilities….I just haven’t said anything out of respect for all that the school is doing for us.” She also had an idea that could be done, she was thinking that maybe a custodian in the evening could wash, and clean the area below the panels at night so that when everyone arrives in the morning, that they are not walking through a bunch of bones, and feathers to get to class. Though, she knows that they all have important jobs to do here at Royal, so if they were to do that this would include hiring more custodians, and that would end up taking more money out of the pockets of the school district. McKnight thoughtfully said, “Without spending any additional money, I guess we will have to live with it, and be grateful for what we do have.”
History and English teacher Alfred Pratt was amazed when he first saw the flock of seagulls soaring above Royal. He parks in the East parking lot, and his car is frequently pelted with bird excrement but in life, he wants to focus on the good rather than bad. Mr. Pratt said, “I wonder if the city could take action to help dissuade the birds from migrating here.” He also thinks that the school will just have to wait out the season, in hopes that the birds will move to another location. His usual experience with this is that whenever he sees the birds coming he smiles, and runs for cover.
