Even the seagulls are throwing the struggling San Francisco Giants baseball team for a loss this year.
Giants officials trying to find a humane solution to the worsening onslaught of the birds at home games are stumped, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
The gulls have routinely showed up at the end of night games since the park along San Francisco Bay opened in 2000, but it appears an increasing number of birds are crashing night games this year, bothering players, workers and fans alike.
Photo: Reuters
照片：路透
Hundreds of gulls sometimes land on the field during play. They also defecate on fans and create cleanup headaches for staff.
Biologists said they do not know how the seagulls time their arrival for the end of games to feast on discarded hot dogs, popcorn and other food. “They are incredibly intelligent animals,” said biologist Russ Bradley, a seagull specialist. “Unless you want to build a dome, there’s no easy answer.”
Federal law prohibits shooting the birds, and hiring a falconer to scare them away would cost US$8,000 a game, said Jorge Costa, the Giants’ manager of operations. The Giants are also concerned a falcon could gruesomely kill a seagull in front of families and a television audience.
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
(AP)
舊金山巨人隊今年戰況不佳，就連海鷗也來找麻煩。
《聖荷西水星報》報導，巨人隊官員正試圖尋求以人道方式來解決巨人隊主場上愈來愈嚴重的海鷗問題，但是卻束手無策。
自舊金山灣沿岸的這座球場於兩千年開幕以來，海鷗就經常在夜間球賽結束時現身。但今年闖進夜間球賽的鳥兒數量似乎愈來愈多，讓球員、工作人員和球迷都非常困擾。
數以百計的海鷗有時在球賽中途就降落在球場上。牠們甚至會在球迷身上排泄，工作人員事後要清理球場也很頭大。
生物學家表示，他們也不知道海鷗是如何選擇在球賽結束時來到球場，大啖被球迷們丟棄的熱狗、爆米花和其他食物。專研海鷗的生物學家布萊德利說：「他們是異常聰明的動物。」「除非你打算蓋起一座圓頂，否則問題很難解決。」
根據巨人隊營運經理約治‧柯斯塔表示，聯邦法律禁止射殺海鷗，而若要聘請養鷹人帶獵鷹來嚇走海鷗，則每場球賽的開銷達八千美元。巨人隊也擔心獵鷹可能在球迷家人和電視觀眾前對海鷗大開殺戒。
（美聯社／翻譯：俞智敏）
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