Falcons and Gulls

California and San Francisco specifically, have conflicting yet related bird problems. Sea gulls have been dropping in and on Giants’ fans and players this year and it’s become a nuisance even though when a bird poops on your head it’s supposed to be good luck. I guess it’s not good luck from the recipient’s point of view. Apparently hundreds of gulls sometimes land on the field during the games. One solution would be hiring a falconer to scare the gulls away during games but the down side is the cost, $8,000 each game, and the possibility of a falcon gruesomely killing a gull at a family friendly event. On the other hand, peregrine falcons rescues in California have been so successful that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is no longer permitting peregrine chick rescues from bay area bridges which will probably lead to the cute fluffy chicks tumbling to their drowning deaths next spring, much to the chagrin of raptor rescuers. The rebound of peregrine’s numbers now poses a threat to other shorebirds, since the shorebirds (like gulls) are their main meal.

Too bad nobody’s figured out a way to get the rescued raptors free passes to the games.