Falcon Company Focuses On Rats In Ocean City’s South End

OCEAN CITY, NJ — East Coast Falcons, a company that Ocean City hires to scare seagulls away, is focusing on another pest in the city’s south end.

For the third consecutive year, East Coast Falcons has used their birds of prey — falcons, hawks and owls — to intimidate aggressive seagulls away from the beaches and Boardwalk.

After residents in the south end reported seeing an increase in rodent activity, City Business Administrator George Savastano announced that officials sought help from Erik Swanson, the owner of East Coast Falcons and a licensed animal control officer.

Swanson went to work — without his birds — and set up live traps from 50th Street to 59th Street. Rats were reported in homes and on streets and sidewalks in that area.

“It has a lot to do with the way garbage cans are kept and the summer population was really high this year, so there was a lot of garbage,” Swanson said. “The biggest thing probably is proper sanitation — no food, no rats.”

Swanson and officials came up with a plan with residents to make sure trash cans are covered to cut off any food supply the rodents seek. Swanson also suggested that homeowners switch to metal trash cans rather than plastic ones which are easier for rats to chew through.

Swanson noted that the rat population in the area is small and was nearly under control as of Friday.

Though his birds of prey are capable of hunting rats, Swanson said the rat poison that residents left out to kill the rodents could be dangerous to them.

Mayor Jay Gillian and the city administration first hired East Coast Falcons in 2019 after they received "more complaints than ever" about aggressive seagulls. Read more: Ocean City Officials Praise Early Seagull Program Results

The birds of prey fly over Ocean City to move the gulls away from the boardwalk and beach without harming them. As the raptors fly overhead, seagulls instinctively know to leave an unsafe area. However, the raptors are full when they fly, so they don't attack the seagulls.

After the end of a busy summer season, East Coast Falcons' reps transitioned from working daily full-time shifts to working weekends through Columbus Day.

“It was its highest year for beach badge sales ever so the amount of people that came in were large,” Swanson said. “We just get compliments all summer long. People are really happy about it and really enjoy going to a mostly gull-free beach.”

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