Multiple times a week, Sam the Harris Hawk and falconer David Roth visit the Tajiguas Landfill to chase away seagulls that otherwise would flock to the trash.
"It's a man-made problem, but the solution is so simple. It's using a natural predator to frighten them off," Roth said.
Before the raptors arrived at Tajiguas, the landfill was overrun with gulls every day with no way to scare them off.
"We had a dog, we had remote-controlled airplanes, we used guns that shoot blanks that makes screaming sounds — none of it worked. There were thousands and thousands of gulls every day. All the equipment was covered white from gull feces. It was a mess," explained Carlyle Johnston, ReSource Center Manager at Tajiguas landfill.
So they turned to Roth and his birds of prey for help.
"And now there are very few gulls, if ever, on-site," Johnston said.
After success at Taijguas, Roth and his raptors now provide non-lethal pest control at landfills, shopping centers, and hospitals across California by embracing what birds of prey like to do most — hunt.
"For her, the best day is a good seagull chase. There could be 20 gulls down there and she'll chase them down the canyon and into the ocean and splash them down, and then come flying back up for a food reward," Roth explained.
Roth works with three falcons and two hawks and although they are all predators, Harris Hawks like Sam enjoy being in family groups.
"And because they're social like that, they really take to falconry and working with people. And they, you know, like their people and want to be with you," Roth said.
