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5-year-old Harris's hawk named Pac-Man has taken up the perch at
El Cerrito del Norte station, where he's on the look out - not
for fare evaders, but pigeons.
Ricky Ortiz, a falconer with Falcon Force and Pac-Man's handler,
began patrolling with the bird at the station this summer,
contracting with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, or BART, to
keep the pigeons at bay and protect commuters from pigeon poop.
The team patrols three days a week, starting their day at the
bottom level entrance before scoping out the platforms, scaring
away any pigeons who are resting on a ledge or on the interior
scaffolding of the station.
So far Ortiz has noticed a big difference.
"There was probably less than half of the pigeons here after the
week of us flying," he said.
Ortiz tries to keep Pac-Man from feasting on the pigeons or
local rodents, instead giving him snacks throughout the day to
keep his feathery friend happy on the job.
So far, Pac-Man has been a hit with commuters.
Rider Bethany Campbell, 43, took a selfie with Ortiz and Pac-Man
to send to her family.
"We have family back in the Midwest and the south and they think
everything in the Bay Area is weird, so the idea of having birds
here for bird eradication is just funny to them," Campbell said,
adding that she was first scared when she saw the hawk but now
thinks it's great.
"I switched cars because I wasn't going to be trapped in a metal
box with a bird of prey."
(Reporting by Nathan Frandino; editing by Diane Craft)
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