A hawk who has been given the name Pac-Man is patrolling the area around the El Cerrito del Norte Station, thanks to a contract with a falconer in what's sort of a last-ditch effort — after many failed attempts — to control the pigeon population there.

"Over the years, BART has taken numerous steps to mitigate the pigeon population at the station," BART says in a release. "Hundreds of bird-repellant spikes and netting can be seen fastened to ledges, pipes, fare machines, and other surfaces in the station, which received a total makeover in 2021."

“We brought in owl statues, we tried nets, we tried various measures with noise. We did quite a bit to see how we could gently move them along,” says Wahid Amiri, the project manager for the El Cerrito del Norte Station Modernization Project, which concluded last spring. “Nothing was successful.”

So, enter Pac-Man. He's an adult male Harris hawk, and he comes to BART thanks to La Crescenta-based contractor Falcon Force. Pac-Man and handler Ricky Ortiz come to the station three days a week for eight hours each time, offering "bird abatement services," hoping that the swarms of pigeons at El Cerrito del Norte Station at some point get smaller or go away.

"Hawks such as Pac-Man are natural-born predators and their presence alone deters prey birds, like pigeons," BART explains. "Walking the station with Pac-Man, Ortiz merely has to lift the bird in the general direction of a sitting pigeon for the bird to flap away hastily."

So, it's not a pigeon massacre every day in El Cerrito. The hope is that the pigeons begin to associate the station with being the hawk's territory — and the bird is given other treats throughout the day to tide him over, including rodents and rabbits.

"Trapping works to an extent, but you can only trap so many,” Ortiz says. “A bird of prey works really well. When the pigeons see the predator, it’s instinct for them not to want to be around.”

Also, Pac-Man is apparently very good at this work, doesn't really mind the crowds at the station, and train noise "doesn’t even faze him." Harris hawks have been known to roost for years at a time in urban locations.

"These birds are used to hustle and bustle," Ortiz says.

And yes, in case you didn't instinctually know this, pigeons are disgusting.

"Pigeons are non-native, non-migratory, and invasive," BART says. "Their droppings can carry bacteria, fungal agents, and ectoparasites that can impact humans."

The station gets cleaned every morning, but less pigeon poop and general pigeon nastiness is the goal.

El Cerrito del Norte's pigeon problem goes back a couple of decades, but it isn't the only station that's plagued with the birds. As the East Bay Times reported back in 2004, Union City, Mission 16th Street, Balboa Park, Colma, and Daly City stations also have had historic pigeon issues, and bird-of-prey soundtracks have been used to deter them there. So maybe if Pac-Man's efforts are successful, he'll be deployed elsewhere in the BART system.

-- the Jesus Lizard, "And Then The Rain"

* Washington vs Seattle
Saturday, January 5, 2008. 1:30 PM, PST.
Wild Card 2008
Battle Of The Wounded

Washington is still riding the emotional wave of FS Sean Taylor's untimely death, and gashed their way into the playoffs by beating (an admittedly resting-for-the-postseason) archrival Dallas by 21 points. 21 was Sean's jersey number. Now this ragtag just-good-enough emotionally-charged franchise heads northwest to Seattle.

Photo via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The cold-fish Seahawks have the unenviable task of trying to defeat a team that has become a memorial wake on-the-field. The Hawks are unwillingly become the opposing force in Washington's storyline. No fun.

And no run game. Seattle still misses former LG Steve Hutchison (long gone; poached by the Vikings), and their run game has sucked so hard that it's been given up. The Seahawks have become one-dimensional, dragging their dead run game behind them like a wolf that'd chewed off its leg to get out of a trap. The crazy part? It's worked. Shaven-headed QB Matt Hasslebeck has had a fantastic season executing Head Coach Holmgren's pure form of the West Coast Offense, and it may provide enough firepower to get Seattle through.

Both teams are hurt, but in different ways. Who will survive?

Seahawks 24 Niners 0 -In light of the news of the death of Dick Nolan, we feel a little icky about being negative and snarky about the Niners. Poor Mike Nolan. So, instead, we'll put a positive light on this game, mainly that it could have been worse. We watched part of the first half and it looked like the Seahawks were going get all New England Patriots on the Niners and crush them. But somehow, the Niners made enough defensive adjustments to slow the 'Hawks down and as a result, this was merely just your standard issue blowout, not a monstrous blowout. Of course, we could mention an offense that managed only six first downs the entire game (just one the entire first half), but in keeping with our spirit of generosity, we won't mention that.

-The fine folks at Say Hey (welcome back guys) point out that if you take away the Sharks, the Bay Area's sports teams haven't won anything since September. Not one darn thing-- the 49ers, Raiders, and Warriors have yet to win anything in around half a month. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

-You know what our dream is? That every owner in Major League Baseball will take one look at the greedy shenanigans of A-Rod and Scott Boras and say "screw 'em" and not sign him. Wouldn't that be awesome? So he'd either have to take a major pay cut to play on a team or sit out a season stewing like the little bitch that he is because he didn't get his money. Of course, it'll never happen-- the people who run baseball are some of the stupidest people on earth-- but it's still nice to dream about.

* Seattle vs. San Francisco
Sunday, September 30, 2007. 1:00 PM, PST.
Week 04
The Surpriseless Battle

This is it, the game that will tell whether the 49ers can seize the lead in the NFC West by taking down the Seahawks.

* Photo of Frank Gore breaking away via the Chron.

SF swept the series last year, even as SEA won the division, so you know that Seattle won't be sleepin' on the Niners. Rather, Head Coach Holmgren has the 'Hawks focussed directly on the Niners as threat #1 to his team's divisional crown.

"They got us twice last year, and no one liked the feeling," Holmgren said in the Trib. "You have to try to take care of business in your division, to hope for the playoffs, first of all, and for home-field advantage if that's out there for you."

No more creeping-up, no more surprises. This game'll be a toe-to-toe battle to seize the early season lead in the NFC West.

* Seattle vs. San Francisco
Sunday, November 19, 2006. 1:15 PM, PST.
Week 11
The Battle Of The Wounded Hawks

Talk about gettin' up after being challenged, in the last two weeks the Niners' defense acquitted themselves far better after the blowout in Chicago and taking plenty of heat for their failings.

A two game winning streak. Hmm. Yeah. Feels pretty good. A bit familiar. A little nostalgic. And it's been a while since we've felt this way. Like hearing music from your high school days drifting by from the window of a passing car.

Granted, the offenses they did better against were Minnesota and Detroit. But the defense looked far better than before. OK, granted; they couldn't have looked much worse if they had tried.

But after holding both MIN and DET to a 3rd down conversion rate of about a third and reigning in two streaky offenses who'd had a bit of success this year, it feels a little better from how things felt after that whole Chicago-style debacle.

So what's contributed to this difference? Well, after getting excoriated in this very column, for the past two weeks LB Brandon Moore has been playing as though his favorite shirt depended on it. He's been stupendous.

And into town now come the NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks. You can tell where they are by the trail of blood they leave behind them. They're missing huge hanks of players from their D, and the two main skill players for their offense are trying to make this Sunday their return to the field from injury.