A dastardly Jackdaw called Derek has been branded a “menace” after terrorising children by dive-bombing them at playtime.
The naughty bird has divided opinion in the South Yorkshire former pit village after targeting children on trampolines.
But others have set up a Facebook page to honour Derek insisting the spaghetti-hoop-loving Jackdaw is harmless and just loves sitting on youngsters’ shoulders.
But one local mum said Derek had attacked her children in Rossington and left her entire family petrified.
She said: “It comes to something when kids can’t even go into their own garden without being petrified because of that bloody bird Derek dive bombing them and trying to attack them, so to whoever owns the horrible thing.
“If you want to try domesticating a bird like that then keep it at home because if it hurts my kids there will be hell to pay and I don’t care who that offends.
“The thing is a menace, attacking kids in the school playground, on the street, in their own garden. If it was any other animal it would have been put to sleep following the first attack on a child.”
Another Rossington resident claims he witnessed Derek attack a child in the street and was forced to intervene.
Describing Derek as “pure evil”, he said: “Is this the horrible thing that was attacking a young boy a few weeks ago opposite baths?
"I had to stop my car in the middle of the road to help him. That thing was pure evil.”
While one mum said: “My daughter has told me a few times that Derek has caused all the kids to go inside at playtime at school. She said most of the kids love him.”
But not everyone hates Derek as he has been hanging around since 2019 and now has his own Facebook page.
One mum said: “He landed on my son a few years ago when he was walking to the bus stop. I think he just wanted a piggyback.”
Another commented: “He sits on my door handle waiting for my son to feed him spaghetti hoops.”
Summing up local opinion, one mum wrote that Derek hurt her other child, who now hates him, but her other child loves him, much like Rossington.
She said: “Derek was a regular in our garden. My young son hates him as he scratched his face. My daughter loves him. During lockdown, he was sat on her arm for well over an hour.”
Councillor Barry Johnson said; “All wildlife is precious and we should look after it but if it’s terrorising people it’s a bit of concern.
“There’s not a lot you can do about it though and at least it’s not stealing chips like the seagulls at the seaside.”
