We’ve seen them out Castle Island, loitering near Sullivan’s, looking for the right moment to strike. Seagulls, aka brazen street toughs with wings.

Personally, last week, I was a victim of assault and battery by a seagull, in addition to being robbed of one hot dog from my cardboard box of food.  A family of four watched in shock, then quickly turned into laughter after witnessing me shriek in fear as I scurried quickly to my car, clutching my lunch for dear life.

There were three seagulls involved in the attack.  One hit me on the head, causing me to stop and look to see what the hell hit me, thus throwing me off of my rhythm. Another then reached into the box while still flapping its wings, extracting a hot dog with precision from its bun, causing me to scream out to no one in particular, “Oh my God, he stole my hot dog!”  The third seagull just laughed at me and high-fived the one who hit me on the head.

Evidently, it can get crazy near the recent James Beard Award winning spot when it comes to the seagulls. And it’s not one or two; it can be up to twenty seagulls swooping down from above and attacking unsuspecting Sully’s customers. It’s become such a problem that the legendary hot dog and burger spot decided to remove the outdoor seating a few years back, marking it off with caution tape and warning signs posted for people to watch out for seagulls.

“They (the seagulls) swoop down and grab the food right as the person is putting it in their mouth.  It’s crazy!  They’re vicious,” said one (legendary) Sullivan’s employee.

Like a scene right out of The Birds, customers are dropping their boxes of food and running from the scene screaming. So consider yourself warned. When heading out of Sully’s, walk with a purpose. Make yourself appear big and intimidating. And no stopping to chat with friends and neighbors. Get that food and yourself to a safe space!

“Ideally, sit near the rocks if you’re gonna eat outside.  They need space to spread their wings and swoop down and they don’t have that if you’re on the big rocks,” added the Sully’s worker.

On a side note, Sully’s employees have studied the seagull attacks and noticed the birds prefer Sully’s hot dogs and burgers, followed by the fish sandwich. “They grab the whole thing!”   They tend not to go after meals like the baked fish with rice. (duh!)

A few years back, one West Roxbury resident had a run-in with a massive 10-pound seagull who literally dive-bombed the retired plumber for his hot dog, knocking him to the ground.  You can read about that run in here. 

Our own Heather Foley has covered seagull attacks in the past. You can read her report right here!