Revenge of the Seagull

I have some really fond memories of my times in Charleston. One of the more humorous ones is of an incident at the Battery in White Point Gardens when I was fourteen.

I had tagged along with my older brother and his friend who was visiting from out of town, and we wound up eating a sack lunch at the Battery after visiting the museum. It was a beautiful day, and I was enjoying one of the few times of peace with my brother. Our conversation had turned to the seagulls, which we termed 'flying rats' for their apparent diet of anything they could swallow.

Others in the park were throwing bits of bread for the seagulls to snatch up on the wing. After joining in with the perimeters of our sandwiches, we thought we would try small pieces of apple. They too, were well-received (and no doubt a good source of fiber). After I demonstrated how trained the birds were to swoop down even when an empty hand is thrust skyward, I said they were stupid, and would probably even eat my apple core.

With three apple cores now before us, it was put upon me as the youngest to try this out. I suppose if the core landed on the ground, my brother and friend could not be accused of littering. As the subject approached, I heaved my core fairly high, so he would have an extra second to respond. Sure enough, he caught the apple core square in his beak and flew away.

We all had a laugh and commented on the stupid birds, wondering aloud what he would possibly do with such a large object. A second later, it was very clear. The seagull had circled the boundary of the park, taken aim, released, and hit me on the top of my head with my own apple core.

I should have written in a nature journal: 1) Seagulls will not eat quite everything. 2) Seagulls understand insults. 3) Seagulls have excellent aim.
Charleston, SC / South Carolina / Lowcountry