OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Four years after she swooped in, Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste is announcing the retirement of Fang, one of its most valuable employees.
Perched at the top of the Outagamie County landfill from about July to October is Fang. The Harris Hawk was hired four years ago by Outagamie County as part of its landfill plan of operations.
“We have a vector mitigation plan, but we also want to be good neighbors. Our proximity is close to the highway and very close to residents, so we’re just trying to be good neighbors, and basically we’re trying to train generations of migrating seagulls that this isn’t a fun place to be and that this is not an all-you-can-eat buffet,” said Craig Van Groll with Outagamie County Recycling and Solid Waste.
Fang, along with her handler from Predator Bird Services, are tasked with keeping seagulls and other pests away — making sure they’re not eating trash or removing anything from the landfill.
Van Groll said, “The DNR obviously cares if they come in and eat the trash. And they can be a hazard and we don’t want them coming on our site and then carrying stuff off. And also the neighbors don’t want seagulls around. They don’t want them on their homes. We don’t want them on area businesses.”
Keeping the seagulls at bay is at least a 40-hour-a-week job.
Fang and her handler start every day walking the landfill’s perimeter. Rewards help to keep her coming back for more work.
At the top of the food chain, compared to the seagulls, Fang’s presence on site simply scares them away.
“Sometimes you’ll notice a big clump of seagulls and then if I can’t deter them away, that’s when I get my bird out and she’ll fly around,” said Nathan Alendal, Fang’s handler. He added, “So we just kind of do a combative technique where she goes after them, I go after them and we just kind of meet in the middle.”
Before hiring Fang, whistles, pyrotechnics and even hawk-shaped kites were used to keep seagulls away. Those techniques are still in place, but landfill officials say nothing has worked as well as Fang.
Van Groll added, “We have no plans to get rid of them. It is our favorite and what we feel is the most effective deterring method. So, for the foreseeable future, we will have a hawk or a falcon on our site.”
Fang, who is retiring later this year, will live out the rest of her life with a local family. Her replacement hasn’t been named yet.
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