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Tim+[_5_]

Caecilius wrote:
On Wed, 31 Aug 2016 15:37:07 +0100, wrote:

On Wed, 31 Aug 2016 11:42:32 +0100, The Natural Philosopher
wrote:

My dad used to throw them a sticky sherbet lemon ,the bugger hopefully
cracked it thinking it was a whelk or something and start foaming at
the beak. I don't think it detered them for long though.

Urban legend has it that baking powder wrapped in bread would cause them
to blow up.

Haven't heard the baking powder version , have heard about throwing
them a lump of calcium carbide as once used in cycle and car lamps
years ago and until recently caving lamps.
Like in the lamp the calcium carbide reacted with water when they
dived into the sea and created acetylene gas which supposedly
expanded enough to kill them , No doubt an urban legend that spread as
well.

Sodium was the legendary seagull-killing substance when I was at
school. Lots of people had "a mate who'd done it", but strangely noone
had actually witnessed it themselves. Of course, we all believed it
and helped spread the legend.

At least calcium carbide was pretty readily available back in the day. I've
never known metallic sodium be easy to get.

Tim

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