Gullible much? Seagull story nothing more than a classic joke

The story claims a man lured a pack of seagulls onto a train with a bag of fish and chips. Photo / iStock

The story of a man who lured a pack of seagulls onto a train with a bag of fish and chips took the internet by storm this week, but it turns out it's nothing more than an old joke.

It was claimed a man sitting on the ground at Frankston Railway Station lured between 15 and 20 birds with a bag of fish and chips before throwing the entire bag into the train carriage as the doors were closing.

"The entire flock of seagulls followed the bag. And the doors closed. Inside the train: pandemonium," Chris Harrigan posted on social media.

The post said the birds were trapped inside the carriage for at least five minutes as the train travelled to the next station.

Mr Harrigan wrote that this was "the true crime story of the decade".

He said the man amassed a "tiny army" of birds by throwing a few chips every now and then, "just enough to keep the birds interested, but not enough to sate them.

"It was frustrating. They were getting angry. Squawking. It was like he was rearing them up for....something."

According to the Daily Mail however, this viral sensation was nothing more than a standard joke from back in 1989 by the late Australian comedian Maurie Fields on the popular Hey Hey It's Saturday TV programme.

Maurie's son Marty Fields, told Mashable he remembered the joke well.

"Yep, he did (use the seagull joke). Circa 1989," Fields said. "Slightly different form but effectively the same joke."

Despite this, Mr Harrigan told Mashable is standing by the story.

"The friend (of a friend) who told me the story finally broke his media silence yesterday afternoon," said Harrigan.

A man named Sam from Melbourne called in to Triple J to say he was at Frankston train station in 2007 to watch the seagull legend unfold in front of him.

When asked why it took so long for the story to get out, he said: "Probably because my friend who relayed the story, to the gentleman who posted it, is a much better storyteller than I am."

- nzherald.co.nz