VIDEO: MI officers try to clear out invading seagulls by shooting them

SOUTHGATE, MI - It was a bad day to be a seagull in Southgate, Michigan on Thursday.

Thousands of the birds have invaded the city near Detroit so police got permission to start shooting them, CNN reports.

Officers started shooting Thursday morning near a car dealership and after about two hours had killed more than 100 seagulls.

Neighbors reportedly say they hope it's a regular event.

Southgate police chose not to poison the birds because they didn't want dying or sick seagulls dropping from the sky all around the city.

One officer says shooting the birds isn't exactly the best way to clear them out.

"The city was able to obtain a permit from the United States Department of Agriculture that allowed them to, with lethal force if necessary, shoot the birds," Thomas Coombs of Southgate Police said. "The way we chose today, obviously it wasn't all that successful. We were able to, I would guess, we were able to kill 100 to 200 of the seagulls." 

City workers originally brought in trucks with plows to try and kill the birds while they slept on the ground, but that turned out to be not very effective. The birds would just scurry away and then come back.

There was no word on how long police would wage war against the birds.