Fact, or Myth? Seagulls and Alka-Seltzer?

Question

I have a pet seagull at work. He knocks on my window with his beak when he wants me to feed him. One of my fellow employees threatened to feed the seagull an alka-seltzer hidden in some food. The old story is that an Alka-seltzer will kill a seagull by making him explode. Supposedly they can't burp out the gas created by the Alka-seltzer. Anyone know if this is fact, or fiction?

Answer 1

4. Exploding gulls.
Another exploding bird myth. I wonder why we are so attached to myths where something blows up. Must be the drama.

This myth proposes that if you feed a gull an Alka Seltzer tablet it will swallow the offering and when the lethal charge gets into the stomach and dissolves, the expanding gasses will cause the bird to explode. Every year there is another story about some mean kids doing this. Oddly, it always involves New Jersey.

After you stop giggling at the image of gulls exploding like flying land mines all over the Jersey shore, the unlikelihood of the myth starts to intrude. If it were true, it would be a big story. I can see the coverage now: Dan Rather in his safari jacket, standing on the windswept coast, hair blowing in the wind, gull feathers raining down in the background; PBS specials (who can resist the vision of a gull, cheerfully flying along and then suddenly exploding, right in front of the camera?); exposés in the tabloids.

If the body could not handle a little Alka Seltzer without an explosion, it wouldn't be legal to sell the stuff over the counter. If it caused gulls to explode, there would be a rash of reports every year. I do not know the physiological process by which the body processes a tablet swallowed whole (and I have no interest in trying), but I assume it involves, among other things, a fair amount of belching and a slightly gassy feeling. Actually, if I ate some of the stuff that gulls do, I would be thrilled to have a little relief, but they seem to do fine without it.

http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com/site/backyard_birds/myths/myths.aspx

part of the answer about rice:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/birdrice.asp

Answer 2

This ought to answer your question completely:


Question: Can birds burp? I use to live near South Padre Island and it is reported that if you feed a sea gull an Alka Seltzer tablet they will explode.

This is from the Environmental Literacy Council:

Answer:

It is an old urban myth that seagulls will explode if they eat an Alka Seltzer. We burp because gaseous byproducts are produced in digestion and forced up through the esophagus (See KidsHealth for a good explanation). Birds have a different digestive system than humans, though they do have an esophagus and are capable of burping. Birds have no teeth and many swallow their food whole or hold it in their crop to regurgitate. For more of bird digestion see Colorado State University's online biomedical textbook, which includes a chapter on the Digestive Physiology of Birds.


This is a letter from the Company that manufactures Alka Seltzer to an inquiring mind:


Miles Inc.
Consumer Healthcare
Products
Elkhart, IN

April 12, 1993

Dear Mr. Mikkelson:

Thank you for your letter requesting information about
ALKA-SELTZER Effervescent Antacid and Pain Reliever.

You inquired if feeding tablets to sea gulls would cause their
bodies to explode. I am sorry to report that we have no
scientific information to support this finding, but we do not
recommend such a practice. As you are aware, ALKA-SELTZER is
only intended for human consumption and this is only after the
tablets are dissolved in water. I would recommend directing
any future inquiries of this nature to your local wildlife or
forestry organizations.

Thank you for writing and for your comments.

Sincerely,


Sally S. Stump
Coordinator, Consumer Relations


And that's that.

Answer 3

I don't know about seagulls specifically, but I do know that if you feed guinea pigs anything that causes gas, they will die because there is no way for them to release the gas... So that's probably more or less true.

Answer 4

FACT!! Located at the very edge of Louisiana, I assure you it is a horrible truth. Tell them we don't think it's funny and that you will call the local Animal shelter and report it if anyone even thinks of such a thing!! What buttheads!!

Answer 5

Yep, it is true. Some jerks did it in the Navy. Rice will also do it. You best tell your coworkers that seagulls ARE a protected species and they would get in DEEP sh*t for doing something like that. TRUTH!

Answer 6

Myth as noted above. Check out....

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/birdrice.asp

Answer 7

true i think i dont know if they explode but it does make them sick and will kill them



and tell the workeru will report him for crueity

and they dont explode like boom and bird parts falling fromthe sky it makes them foam at the mouth ad they get big and die so there will be no body parts just a mean death

Answer 8

it's an urban legend along with the rice urban legend that a poster put in here earlier.

Answer 9

I say fact... My science teacher did an experiment in college and showed us the footage.

Answer 10

Don't know for sure, but my guess would be fiction.