Cape May Resorts Hire Hawks to Keep Seagulls Away

Congress Hall and The Rusty Nail in Cape May have taken a page out of Ocean City's book on how to stop seagulls from bothering guests this summer.

The resorts are introducing a new falconry program to keep the seagulls from swooping down to steal food and bother tourists.

Congress Hall Turns to Hawks After Trying Other Seagull Deterrents

Cape Resorts, the owners of Congress Hall and the Rusty Nail says they tried all kinds of ways to stop seagulls from annoying their guests in the summer.

Fishing line strung in a grid over the table tops, plastic owls, transmitters that emit sounds, none of which have worked very well.

This summer, they launched a falconry program to naturally deter seagulls using Harris Hawks, highly trained raptors that make eye contact with the gulls and will not allow them to be comfortable in their territory.

The resorts hired Paul and Peg Totten as their falconers. The couple are lifelong Cape May County residents and master-class falconers with over 30 years of experience in falconry, handling, and flying raptors, according to Congress Hall.

Their Harris’s hawks, Chase and Lily, are fast, agile in flight, and very threatening to seagulls. But, the Trottens say there is no need to worry about the hawks. They insist they are gentle and their mere presence is a seagull deterrent.

Ocean City Uses a Falconer Company to Protect from Seagulls

Ocean City has been using hawks, falcons, and owls to guard the Ocean City Boardwalk against swooping, food-stealing seagulls since 2019.

East Coast Falcons is a Lodi, NJ-based company that Ocean City pays about $2000 a day to keep those pesky seagulls at bay.

Eric Swanson, the owner of  East Coast Falconers, told OCNJDaily.com that the program has been successful and tourists love it.

"People absolutely love the program. One of the falconers last summer said he felt like a rock star. The mayor seems to be ecstatic about the idea and how it is working and he freely expressed that."