Seagulls seem to really like baseball

Anybody who has watched the Cleveland Indians this week was treated to the site of a massive seagull invasion of Progressive Field. Seagulls here, there and everywhere culminating in a seagull being hit by the game winning batted ball in shallow center field on Thursday.

In an article on mlb.com titled "Tribe devises plan to scare off seagulls", it is noted that the Indians are considering ways to rid themselves of these pesky birds including setting off fireworks every half inning. They are also considering using a live eagle to swoop down and chase the birds around and out of the park. (I would buy a ticket)

Indians Vice President of Public Relations, Bob DiBiasio said "Gulls are riding the wind currents up the valley to the ballpark in search of food scraps to feed their young. The Indians are continuing to research ways to control this issue under the guidance of gulls being federally protected."

Wait, hold on!

Seagulls are a federally protected animal species?

Since when?

Why?

Anybody that has spent any time near a body of water of any size can probably tell you that seagulls appear to be the most abundant animal species on earth. There is a shortage of them? By what measure? From my own experience, I can say that it is darn near impossible to consume even the smallest morsel of food anywhere near our local lakes without being swarmed by these birds.

I sure hope that these seagulls are federally protected in a "you can't just kill animals indiscriminately" kind of way rather than for preservation of the species because this is one species that sure seems to be thriving. A true success story; if you will.

What other animals are federally protected?

Crows?

Squirrels?

Are beagles federally protected?

If not, they need some better lobbyists or something.