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Thursday, 12 September 2024

Rufus On Patrol !

Meet Rufus the hawk on seagull patrol at a city boat show


Yes, "Rufus the hawk will be keeping skies seagull free at this year's Southampton boat show on the city's waterfront. The city's boat show has hired a hawk to protect visitors at the waterfront event from chip-stealing seagulls.

Rufus, an American Harris hawk, is being brought in to deter the birds at the Southampton International Boat Show.

The bird of prey is also used at Wimbledon where he is on pigeon patrol - stopping them eating the grass on the courts.

Named 'Head of Seagull Security' by the show's organisers he will be on duty on the first Saturday of the 10-day show. T
he boat show usually attracts more than 100,000 visitors to Southampton's waterfront.

The show's organisers said they had brought Rufus in to create a "safe chip zone" where visitors can enjoy their food in peace.

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is set to visit the show on its opening day.

The Southampton International Boat Show at Mayflower Park runs from Friday 13 - Sunday 22 September 2024."

I hope you enjoyed reading this story, something a little different!
The above words taken from here and more details about the boat show here

All the best Jan

28 comments:

DrumMajor said...

That's a cool plan. Some airports have resident dogs that chase birds off runways to diminish birds flying into plane engines. Linda in Kansas

Mari said...

That is so interesting! That hawk has to be very well trained to do that and not fly away.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

What a great way to keep pesky sea gulls and pidgins at bay.

Rose said...

I did enjoy it...

Elephant's Child said...

Hooray for Rufus - though I am a bit surprised that they chose to import a hawk.

J.P. Alexander said...

Lindo halcón. Te mando un beso.

Iris Flavia said...

Very interesting indeed.

Granny Marigold said...

That is so interesting. I went on to read more about Rufus!

Jules said...

Love this. Xx

Margaret D said...

Oh my how wonderful is that to have a large bird on patrol.
Hope all goes well.
When you talk of chips I presume you mean the kind you get from the fish shop as in fish n chips?

jabblog said...

I hope Rufus proves to be a good deterrent. It's years since we went to the Boat Show.

Lowcarb team member said...

Reply to Margaret D who asked ...
When you talk of chips I presume you mean the kind you get from the fish shop as in fish n chips?

Yes :)

All the best Jan

eileeninmd said...

What an interesting job for Rufus the hawk!
Take care, enjoy your day!

roentare said...

That is a sleek statue!

Caroline said...

Wonderful photo of Rufus. How do you do Jan ?

José Antonio Sánchez Rumí said...

I like those birds that do their job very well to control the population of pigeons, turtledoves and others that flood our parks and gardens, in my area we also have a pair of kestrels for it.
Best regards

CJ Kennedy said...

They need a Rufus at Ogunquit Beach

Ananka said...

He is a stunner. I am sure he will keep the seagulls aways for the event :-D

Valerie-Jael said...

We need a Rufus here at the Rhein, the seagulls steal our food all the time. Valerie

carol l mckenna said...

Rufus is almost ~ great photo ~

Wishing you good health, laughter and love, in your days,
clm ~ A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)

HappyK said...

Wow that sounds like a great idea.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading about Rufus.

Hope you are doing okay Jan.

Tina

Dianna said...

What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing about Rufus.

D. said...

All hail, RUFUS!!!!!!

Conniecrafter said...

that is interesting I didn't know they did that to detour other birds from coming around, I wonder how well it works.

Teresa said...

Muy interesante el tema. Besos.

Back2OurSmallCorner said...

Great story. I hope Rufus does a good job keeing the seagulls away from the boat show and visitors.

Phil Slade said...

Even the gulls must eat. And as we all know there is no such thing as a "seagull", just hundreds of species of gulls which are all different..