Non-fare-paying pigeons have been causing a nuisance at London Waterloo station, leading Network Rail to hire a Harris hawk to scare them off.
The 5-year-old hawk, named Aria, has possibly the best and easiest job in London: she does a two-hour shift twice a week, which mostly involves flying about like a badass and scaring the bejeezus out of the poo-happy pigeons.
She also gets a nice bath out of it – her handler Max Bell comments:
“Aria really enjoys the environment at Waterloo and is delighted to be here. She does a great job and often likes to reward herself with a relaxing bath in the puddles that gather on the rain shelters over the platforms.”
This isn’t Aria’s first rodeo, though: previous gigs include King’s Cross station and the Treasury, where she unfortunately failed to scare off Theresa May.
Waterloo area manager Jason Murphy explains the need for a hawk:
“Pigeons can be a real nuisance for people using the station. They also cause a lot of mess which needs cleaning up at some expense.
So Aria’s work is really important in making the station a better place for our passengers, while saving us money on our cleaning bills.
She’s a very hard worker and we’re delighted to have her as part of the station team here at Waterloo.”
Keep an eye out for Aria next time you’re at Waterloo, because she’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for you.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
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Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)