ABP works to protect goods

Seagulls in the area are dropping seashells from height as part of their feeding habits. Experienced hawk handler Layla Bennett from Rentokil Pest Control will be flying Hope to scare off the gulls, but without causing them any harm.

The gull’s habits pose a risk to the lines of new cars awaiting import or export at the port, which is the UK’s number one vehicle handling port and saw around 750,000 vehicles pass over the quayside during 2013. s

Nick Ridehalgh, port director, Southampton, said: “The gulls are a genuine problem for our vehicle handling business but we were keen to take an environmentally sound and humane approach to the issue.”

John Shipton, advanced pest control surveyor, Rentokil Pest Control, added: “Trained birds of prey, such as Harris Hawks, provide a natural way to reduce the number of nuisance birds on site. Hawks like Hope are taught to scare away problem birds but to not hunt them, so the gull population can simply move to other areas where they will be less of an issue.”

The bird flying work is just one element of ABP Southampton’s pest control issue. Rentokil will also tackle feral pigeons at ABP’s Town Quay and rodents on the port estate as well as monitoring and controlling insects on site.