MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Thousands of seagulls never left with the old Mid-Cities Mall in Manitowoc when it was demolished about two years ago.
Now, the property owner is hoping the sound of an air cannon will get rid of them.
Deputy Chief Gregg Kadow of the Manitowoc Fire Department tells WLUK…
“In recent weeks we’ve been getting more complaints from the public about the smell and sound of the seagulls.”
The air cannon will start being used this Saturday. It will sound a few times between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and again between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Kadow says it will alert residents if the cannon is needed more than just a few days.
“It’s just a big boom and then they’ll wait for a while and they’ll do it again. I would imagine most of the people with the right wind conditions in Manitowoc would be able to hear it.”
Kadow says the birds used to sit on the mall’s roof. The air cannon was used back then, and he says it was successful to a degree.
However, the birds eventually returned.
“They do have to go somewhere,” said Chad Scheinoha, the operations division manager for the City of Manitowoc.
“Where they’ll go, I guess that’s up to the birds.”
Scheinoha controls the seagull population on city properties like beaches.
He says he has found success hazing the birds with a flare gun, but believes the air cannon should work.
“Since I’ve been around, we haven’t had to use the lethal methods. We’ve just used the hazing methods.”
“If they want to waste their money shooting cannons off, that’s fine,” said Ralph Schwark, a nearby resident. “I don’t think they’re going to chase the seagulls away.”
Schwark doesn’t think the cannon worked in the past, and he became used to the sound.
The mall was torn down in 2015 after sitting empty for about a decade.
