Ever have a coastal picnic and have a uninvited guest sneak onto your picnic blanket and make off with your sandwich? Research shows that to protect your food, try staring down the gull that is eyeing that delicious feast you brought to the beach. When stared at, gulls took on average 21 seconds longer to approach food. However, this is not a fool proof method as some gulls were bold enough to approach even when getting the death stare. Either way, better safe than no sandwich!

[Photo by Nick Chudeau and caption by Karli Chudeau]

Goumas, M., Burns, I., Kelley, L. A., & Boogert, N. J. (2019). Herring gulls respond to human gaze direction. Biology letters, 15(8), 20190405.