Gullible in Detroit

Seagulls snack on moths at Comerica Park

6/12/2007, 6:06 a.m. ET The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — There have been seagulls at Comerica Park. They've even congregated on the field before. But not like this.

The birds gave the downtown ballpark the look of a landfill site over the weekend, especially on Sunday against the New York Mets.

About 50 seagulls were on the field, mostly in the outfield, during the first inning and about half of them stuck around for the whole game.

"Does this happen all the time?" one of the Mets asked Tigers first baseman Sean Casey. "First time I've seen it," Casey said.

The gulls weren't there to see the game — they were there to eat the moths in the air and on the ground, The Detroit News reported.

So what are the Tigers going to do about it?

"We're buying plastic owls, putting them on the field until the players need it, and seeing if that works," said Heather Nabozny, head groundskeeper for the Tigers. "But there aren't a lot of plastic owls around."

Several seagulls also invaded Jacobs Field in Cleveland Monday night and spent most of the game milling around in the outfield grass.

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Information from: The Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com