Seagull lover (From The Argus)

Seagull lover

3:49pm Monday 1st August 2011 in Your Argus

AS A campaigner for wildlife – particularly for seagulls, which I find are so often misunderstood – the article “mutilated gulls found on a beach” sickened me (The Argus, July 23).

It is not surprising these birds are on the red list of endangered species worldwide when they are treated like this.

Among the 11 species protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is the herring gull.

The herring gull seems to be be a particular target in this recent and unprecedented number of killings in Sussex.

Young gulls cannot cope without their parents and herring gulls must be the most protective and caring among bird life.

I never tire of watching gulls teach their young to fly, which is a long process.

Seeing as many of the dead gulls were probably parents, their young won’t get the tuition they need.

Before I came to live in Hove, I always felt I was at the seaside when I heard the call of a herring gull.

If you live along the coast you must live alongside the seagulls in harmony.

The seagull to me is the symbol of and the sound of the seaside – I don’t want to see that disappear.

GW Wheatcroft, The Drive, Hove