Aggressive gulls are becoming an escalating menace in Inverness in Scotland, forcing the council to roll out a new strategy to reduce clashes between residents and the birds – an issue common in many coastal towns around the UK. A new report by the Highland Council details the ongoing conflict between the birds – mostly herring gulls – and people in the area, who have complained of being woken by noisy gulls, food being snatched out of their hands as they've been dive-bombed by the birds, and also the aggressive swooping behaviour by birds apparently defending nesting areas. Last month an Easter egg hunt in the city was thrown into chaos by a series of more than a dozen violent gull attacks on children. With the city estimated to contain around 700 nesting sites, the council and Scottish natural heritage body NatureScot has spent £20,000 appointing external consultants to undertake a "baseline census and distribution study" of gulls in a 5km squared area in the centre of Inverness.…