Giants Fans Dodge Birds and Their Poop

Scalpers aren't the fiercest animals around AT&T Park during Giants game. At least fans don't have to worry about scalpers stealing food -- or defecating on their heads. That's all on the seagulls.

The flocks of Western gulls which congregate around the ballpark as games end are growing in size, aggressiveness -- and punctuality, as the gulls that once arrived only as the game was ending are showing up earlier and earlier, according to the Bay Citizen.

The birds steal food, pester patrons and even deposit poop in unwanted locations (such as everywhere). The bird problem is leading Giants officials to mull perhaps-unlikely solutions. Certainly it won't be to ask fans not to chow down on garlic fries and Caribbean chicken bowls -- though it does involve birds.

The team may hire falconers to scare away the seagulls. Falcons are used at waste management company Recology's dump in southwestern San Francisco to some effect, though hiring falconers could cost the team $100,000 a year or more.

Falcons are raptors, i.e. birds of prey which hunt living animals including other birds, whereas gulls are mostly scavengers feasting on trash, roadkill and other dead prey. The team may also investigate a way to attract a pair of peregrine falcons to nest at the ballpark, the Web site reported.