- Feb 5, 2002
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With the curtain closing on the All England Lawn Tennis Club’s annual championships at Wimbledon, it’s another successful year in the books for the real king of Centre Court—Rufus the Hawk.
For any Nigels reading this, it will likely be a case of heard it all before, but us Yankees might not know that a family of falconers has been training Harris’ Hawks for use as pigeon control officers on Wimbledon’s grass courts for 20 years.
Taking over from the previous hawk, Hamish, for 15 years Rufus has spent a few hours every morning during the 42-day-long tournament scaring away pigeons that may have entered the grass courts to roost during the night. Rufus doesn’t hurt the pigeons, but he scares them away by triggering a flight or fight response which can take days to get over.
Continued below.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
For any Nigels reading this, it will likely be a case of heard it all before, but us Yankees might not know that a family of falconers has been training Harris’ Hawks for use as pigeon control officers on Wimbledon’s grass courts for 20 years.
Taking over from the previous hawk, Hamish, for 15 years Rufus has spent a few hours every morning during the 42-day-long tournament scaring away pigeons that may have entered the grass courts to roost during the night. Rufus doesn’t hurt the pigeons, but he scares them away by triggering a flight or fight response which can take days to get over.
Continued below.
Wimbledon’s Unsung Hero is Rufus the Hawk (Video)
A family of falconers has been training Harris' Hawks for use as pigeon control officers on Wimbledon's grass courts for 20 years.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
