A lunch outside by the water sounds nice in theory until the seagulls start to circle. It is with that in mind that a new study hoping to protect food from thieving birds has uncovered a eye-opening idea — literally.
The study, as detailed by co-author Laura Kelley in The Conversation, put to the test the theory that fake eyes could keep gulls from swooping down on your lunch.
The idea was based on the presence of real-world eyespots that different creatures have to ward off predators.
“Given that evolution suggests eyes are a good way of increasing animal wariness, the idea of mimicking nature by using fake eyes to deter other animals has been tried in a variety of settings,” Kelley writes.
For their study, Kelley and her colleagues attached pairs of googly eyes to boxes of food and left them out over 6 feet apart from an eyeless box.
“Gulls appeared to be put off by the eyes, as they were slower to approach and less likely to peck at these boxes, compared with the ones without eyes,” Kelley writes.
The researchers also teamed up with local food vendors to test the theory by having them attach googly eyes to their takeout packaging.
“While this might only ever deter half of gulls from stealing food, perhaps when paired with other deterrents – including shouting – it can have an impact on the amount of food theft,” Kelley writes.