Raptors, Owls, Bats Guard South African World Cup Stadium

May 31, 2010 3:42 PM

Open air sports stadiums often have issues with birds, insects, and other wildlife. Common preventative measures include ultrasonic devices and bird netting. But Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium - one of the venues for the 2010 World Cup - has taken an all-natural approach. It is working with the Urban Raptor Project to install raptors, bats, and owls to patrol the stadium for various pests, while a trained peregrine falcon chases away crows. This is not a new technique - Millennium Stadium in Wales has long used a Harris Hawk for bird control. But according to the NMB stadium manager, it "is the only stadium with a programme like this in place as a pest deterrent".
posted by gemmy (11 comments total)

And when the raptors, bats and owls get out of hand, they simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes.
posted by codswallop at 3:47 PM on May 31, 2010

And then the gorillas will freeze over the winter!
posted by amethysts at 3:54 PM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

But besides the lazy lullzy simpson reference, I wanted to say that this was a very well done, interesting and enjoyable post.
posted by amethysts at 4:18 PM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Minnesota Twins' new stadium, Target Field, has an unofficial moth-control system in Kirby the Kestrel.
posted by rigby51 at 4:18 PM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

I admit to being slightly disappointed that the raptors involved are not of the dinosaur variety.
posted by WalterMitty at 4:20 PM on May 31, 2010

As both birders and Giants (baseball) fans, we often bird from the baseball stadium, and have seen kestrels, peregrines, and Red-tailed Hawks at the game. The best insect controls are the Barn Swallows, by far, supplemented by swifts for part of the year. The spend much of the game zipping about and nabbing bugs in mid-air.
posted by gingerbeer at 4:28 PM on May 31, 2010 [1 favorite]

Raptors? That's a spot of overkill, no?
posted by GilloD at 4:56 PM on May 31, 2010

Nobody else has yet pointed out the missed awesomeness of having a hawk, rather than a falcon, in the Millennium Stadium.
posted by DU at 5:01 PM on May 31, 2010 [2 favorites]

if the bats get out of hand, they can always call billy the exterminator.
posted by msconduct at 5:40 PM on May 31, 2010

Let's hope they never host a dog show there, I remember a kerfuffle in NYC when the hawks that normally go for pigeons and rats decided someone's little rat-like purse dog looked like good eatin'. I think they ended up putting some kind of safety tips on the hawk's claws so that rich ladies wouldn't have to worry about their hideous living purse-bangles getting eaten. So unfair to the hawk.
posted by emjaybee at 7:57 PM on May 31, 2010

A couple of days ago, a football coach friend of mine told me that groundskeepers at Boise State's Bronco Stadium regularly have to scrape dead birds off the stadium's famous blue artificial turf playing surface. Apparently, birds nosedive onto the field thinking it's a body of water and then smash headfirst into the turf.

Apparently, it's an urban legend
posted by kalimotxero at 8:46 PM on May 31, 2010