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A cup with

Imogen Davis

Published on 02 August 17

Hawk Handler

 

Imogen comes from a family of falconers and, albeit very young, this has been her job from the very beginning. For ten years, she has served at Wimbledon alongside Rufus, her Harris hawk.

“He scares off the pigeons, without attacking them,” says Imogen while she sits in front of a Cold brewed Nitro Lavazza, “Pigeons love grass seeds, without of course knowing when a tennis match is underway”.

 

Imogen Davis
Imogen Davis

 

With a wingspan of more than a metre, Rufus rules over the territory surrounding the stadium, acting as a deterrent for all the birds in the area.

Being a wild animal, he is not always easy to manage, especially when he flies off, once he’s had enough to eat: “Once I sat on the centre court waiting for him for 24 hours”.

 

A difficult job, but one that has created a winning relationship, and made Wimbledon the oldest tournament in the world which benefits from a double "Hawkeye".

 

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