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Meet Rufus the hawk who's the real star of Wimbledon!

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ANI Sydney

A hawk is reportedly the real star of Wimbledon, as it protects the world's most prestigious tennis tournament from pigeons every year.

Rufus, a woodland hawk, patrols the skies above Wimbledon from 5am to 9am everyday to scare off pigeons, which love to feast on the courts' grass seeds.

According to News.com.au, Rufus' handler Imogen Davis said that they use the hawk as a nonlethal deterrent.

Davis told a British newspaper that Rufus flies when he is not hungry enough to eat the pigeons, but not full enough to ignore them either.

Davis, who has formed a strong bond with the hawk, said that two years ago Rufus was stolen, which was the biggest disaster she could ever predict.

 

The handler said that the press attention must have frightened the thief, because Rufus was returned on Sunday, but it was the worst weekend imaginable and she dose not let her out of my sight now.

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First Published: Jun 24 2014 | 2:20 PM IST

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