We Brits used to rub along pretty well with seagulls. Their distinctive call conjured memories of happy days out at the seaside and it was strangely hypnotic to watch them circle above the waters as we breathed in the salty air. But now they’re in danger of becoming public enemy number one as the tabloids pump out scare stories about our feathered friends.
Only this week, the Daily Star called them ‘flying scumbags’, the Daily Mail described them as ‘feathered thugs’, and the Sun labelled them ‘dive-bombing muggers’. Meanwhile, the Daily Express warned that an ‘apocalyptic swarm’ of 3,000 seagulls had ‘invaded a UK town’. The Daily Star raised the stakes to Jurassic levels, terrifying readers with a story about seagulls ‘the size of pterodactyls’ that are ‘terrorising’ a British village.
The Daily Star called gulls ‘flying scumbags’
I’ve never seen a seagull the size of a dinosaur, but I know it is incredibly annoying when they rip open bin bags and dive-bomb you when you’re trying to relax over an al fresco lunch.
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