[José Manuel & Lupi]
It’s not every morning you pass a guy in the street with a hooded raptor perched on his arm (to be honest, it had never happened before today). And so of course I had to stop and ask him what he was doing there with such a splendid bird. Turns out they were both working! They were standing just below the Metropol Parasol (aka The Mushrooms) and apparently José Manuel lets the beautiful Lupi loose on a regular basis to swoop around the Parasols and return to her perch, thereby keeping pigeons from roosting. Amazing! When you think about it, the Parasols would make a great pigeon hang-out and yet there are never any there. Thanks to Lupi and José Manuel.
It was only afterwards that I realised I had more questions. Are there several pigeon prevention teams that work on shifts, or are a few hours a day with a hawk shadow passing over the structure enough to keep pigeons away? Does Lupi also hunt and kill or just maintain a menacing presence? And who the hell thought this up? I think it’s brilliant. Clearly the entrepreneurial spirit in Sevilla is not dead!
We have a guy does this outside our factory here on Scotland’s east coast.
But our problem is seagulls and there “produce”
I’ve since heard that football stadiums and airports regularly use falcons to keep other birds away. Very clever and “eco-friendly” too.
Oh wow! I never would have thought of that explanation for running into a falcon in the middle of Sevilla!