Giants hope hawk can solve seagull issue at AT&T Park

Anyone who has had the pleasure of taking in a Giants game at AT&T Park without the protective covering of a luxury box knows that the San Francisco seagulls and pigeons become quite a nuisance around the 9th inning.The scene at China Basin approximately three hours after the first pitch of a night game could come straight from an Alfred Hitchcock movie. These birds are aggressive and often don't wait until the last out to start dive-bombing for cold garlic fries or dropping their waste on unsuspecting fans.Well, the Giants have taken notice and may have found a solution in Bruce Lee, a red-tailed hawk that has called AT&T Park home since November."It's a warrior," Giants operations director Jorge Costa told The Bay Citizen. "You don't mess with it."Costa and his co-workers at the Giants hope that Bruce Lee will keep other birds away and are prepared to explore remote-controlled fake falcons if Lee can't handle the foul fowls. Lee's first test will come Monday when the Giants take on the A's in an exhibition game.Since Lee took perch high along the third-base side of AT&T Park soon after the season ended, team employees have noticed him devouring pesky pigeons and intimidating the gulls."Whenever it's even remotely in the area, there is no bird activity of any kind here," Costa said.After opening the waterfront ballpark in 2000 and realizing that the birds were a chronic issue, the Giants explored hiring a falconer to fight the problem. However, Costa told the Bay Citizen that the plan was not cost effective.We just hope that it works out, Costa said. Well see.
Rael Enteen is a web producer with CSNBayArea.com. Follow him on Twitter @RaelEnteenCSN.