'Ear-piercing' gull deterrent upsets locals

A Christchurch neighbourhood has taken issue with an "ear-piercing" device being used to deter seagulls from a house.

The high-frequency sound is coming from a 'bird imitator' at a hillside Scarborough house known as “The Rocks”.

• Subscriber: Anti-gull nets employed in Oamaru

The Rocks was reportedly sold off-market in April for about $9 million, breaking Christchurch’s house price record, OneRoof reported.

Locals took to Facebook to describe the "horrible" sound, which they likened to a "dog whistle", and find out if anyone else in the area had heard it.

It was identified in the post's comments as a seagull deterrent.

Sumner resident Tobin Bain-Hogg told The Press the device “sounds like a masonry drill”.

“It’s such a brutal noise. It’s ear-piercing,” he told The Press.

The Rocks owner Hamish Doig told The Press he was surprised there have been complaints about the device, which aims to keep seagulls from the nearby colony away from the house.

He told The Press the device is supposed to mimic a predatory bird sound and is set off by a seagull flying past or landing on it.

The Press reported Bain-Hogg had complained to Christchurch City Council about the noise. The council sent an officer to investigate but a council spokesperson told The Press no further action was taken as “the complainant does not live in the vicinity and the device does not activate regularly enough to be described as a nuisance”.