Falcons Hired in Ocean City, NJ
If you were down the shore in Ocean City this weekend and you saw falcons or other birds of prey instead of seagulls, that was intentional. Ocean City officials hired a company called East Coast Falcons to fly 4 hawks, 2 falcons and an owl over Ocean City from 10am to 10pm to keep nuisance seagulls away. The seagulls don’t want to be eaten, so they either leave the area, or just don’t land on the beach or boardwalk. Mission accomplished. It keeps seagulls from being a nuisance to tourists on the beach or boardwalk, but the best part is that they won’t be harmed in the process.
The seagulls won’t be eaten, but they don’t know that. East Coast Falcons takes steps to keep the birds of prey from actually preying on the seagulls. They fly them higher and feed them before they fly so that they’re not hungry, but will still scare away the seagulls. The program is thought to be the first of its kind on the east coast. They’ll continue to do this daily through August, and if successful, continue the program next year.
Pretty cool!
