Here is the telling statement in Schandelmeir's article: "The past few seasons, I have seen dead seagulls, porcupines, fox and other critters abandoned by the roadside." 

Why would someone shoot a seagull? 

Two reasons: Machismo, PBR, Takerism, and frail egos steered by peer pressure cause killers to mistake their d++k with their weapon. They wave it wildly hoping for approval from their equally stunted comrades.

Christians are to blame for the second: in their bible is this instruction, supposedly from thier god:  "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground." To christians, to rule means that every other being with whom we share this planet is lesser and not worthy of compassion and respect. To me, seagulls, foxes, porcupines and the rest of our fellows are "not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations" (Beston).