Alka-Seltzer and seagulls?

Question

Ok does feeding Alka-Seltzer to seagulls made the birds explode? im pritty sure that it makes their stomach hemorrhage and they die a painful death and thats about it but 1 of my friends says it makes them explode so yeah solve our argument plz.

ok people i dont plan on doing it! it's just stupid! so yeah all u bird lovers dont get all grumpy cause i wasnt planing on doing it neways

Answer 1

they do explode, but from the inside. the tablets react with the hydrochloric acid in their stomach, and causes it to bloat. eventually, the seagull would die...so don't even think about trying it out. it's a HORRABLE and painfull death that nothing should ever go through.

Answer 2

Seagulls And Alka Seltzer

Answer 3

No, gulls do not explode if you feed them Alka Seltzer and birds do not explode if you feed them rice, either. They are two very old urban myths.

The highly respected publication, Bird Watchers Digest, had an article debunking these and other bird-related myths. It states:

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.

1. You should not throw rice at the bride and groom at weddings because birds eat it and it swells up in their stomach and kills them. Sometimes the myth goes that it causes them to explode.
Not true. If it were, there would be exploding bird stories all over the national press every June. Think about it. Lots of birds feast in rice fields every year, irritating rice farmers to distraction. If eating rice caused birds to explode, most rice fields would look like a popcorn machine in the harvest season, with little puffs and explosions providing constant entertainment. Quite a vision, and one that the press would never miss.

And there is no difference between rice in fields and rice in bags from the supermarket. Birds have no trouble digesting rice, or any other "expanding" vegetable. I am all in favor of throwing birdseed at weddings, which is what proponents of this myth urge as a solution. I like the symbolism of throwing birdseed. But rice is fine, too.

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

Answer 4

Impossible.
Look at the bird's anatomy.
It swallows food and objects (yeah, not always food) into its crop, an organ in the throat area, which gets distended when full. The crop has some digestive fluids in it (bird spit, so to speak) and the bird mushes up food in there to regurgitate it into the mouth of its chick or mate. Birds are made to regurgitate. If the bird swallows anything that turns out not to be digestible, and not useful for grinding up its food (they swallow rocks for this) then the bird will just regurgitate it. They do it all the time. So how is fizzy alka seltzer going to cause a disaster? It might overflow, to be sure, and might temporarily interfere with digestion (as it does in humans) by neutralizing stomach acid. I'm pretty sure that as soon as it started fizzing, the bird would spit it out. No harm done.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Alka-Seltzer and seagulls?
Ok does feeding Alka-Seltzer to seagulls made the birds explode? im pritty sure that it makes their stomach hemorrhage and they die a painful death and thats about it but 1 of my friends says it makes them explode so yeah solve our argument plz.

Answer 6

That was done in a movie once, but I don't think it will explode a bird. I once ate an alka-seltzer because I hate the taste of them in water and THEN drank the water...it further upset my stomach and made me feel pretty strange, but I didn't explode or throw up, so I would have to say, NO, it won't explode the bird......it might wish it did though...LOL

Answer 7

if you give a bird a alka-seltzer they will go pop, explode, boom, how ever you want to call it because birds cant fart, that trick came from the branches of the us, army, navy, airforce, and marienes they would blow the birds up to keep them from getting sucked in the turbines on the jets and causing major problems

Answer 8

It's not good for them to say the least, some drugs that are beneficial to humans can be toxic to some animals.

They will regurgitate anything which makes them feel sick.

BTW: gulls are a protected species and the penalties for harming them can be stiff.

Answer 9

Yes, they will pop like a balloon, Its the same effect as putting dry ice and water in a soda bottle and the soda bottle explodes. The bird cannot burp, so he just fills with gas until he pops like a balloon. I do NOT suggest you try this experiment, if caught, you could face felony charges of animal cruelty. Try looking on www.youtube.com and see if theres a video on their.

Answer 10

Hello,
It makes them die a painful death.
It is also against the law here in Oregon to do this to our birds. One can get a big fine. Do not try it (I know you are just curious), it is cruel.