'Pac-Man' the hawk working hard to keep pigeons away from BART El Cerrito Del Norte station
EL CERRITO -- If you ride BART through the El Cerrito Del Norte station regularly, you probably have noticed the pigeon problem.
"Increasingly in the last 10 to 15 years," said Dave Larson, a BART rider. "The pigeon population has significantly increased."
Over the years, BART has tried a number of strategies to deter pigeons from going there, including spikes, but none have seemed to work as well as their new strategy: unleashing "Pac-Man."
Pac-Man is a hawk and has been working at the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station since the end of May. Pac-Man swoops over the area scattering the pigeons seeking to park themselves at the station.
Falconer Ricky Ortiz walk along the platform with Pac-Man, patrolling inside and outside the building. It appears Pac-Man takes his job seriously, flying back and forth with enough time for the pigeons to fly off.
"He scares them away," Ortiz said. "He's just a really good bird, he's not fazed by the BART, not fazed by most things."
He's not even fazed by all the attention he's been getting from a captive audience. As he works, BART riders will take out their phones and make sure to snap a picture of him. And Pac-Man takes it all in.
"I love Pac-Man!" Larson said.
In the last few weeks, Larson reports there haven't been nearly as many pigeons as usual.
"I didn't know the reason why until I read about Pac-Man," said Larson. "I said it's the best idea BART has had in a very long time," Larson said.
Ortiz said Pac-Man is one of the only species of raptors that live in a family group and hunt in a group, so that makes him social, which makes him perfect for this job.