To keep the grass of the Parc des Princes in its neat condition, before the players of Paris Saint-Germain can come and trample it with their crampons, the Parisian stadium has decided to adopt a draconian method from now on. On Tuesday June 28, the club’s gardener revealed to RMC Sport and BFMTV that he had called on a falconer to help him with his daily tasks. Taking advantage of the off-season, Jonathan Calderwood renewed the lawn of the mythical stadium by sowing new seeds. To prevent them from being eaten by the birds of the capital, the Fauconnerie Christophe Puzin therefore puts at its service… falcons to chase away intruders. The Parisian pigeons are the first in the viewfinder of the gardener of the Parc des Princes, and therefore directly in the line of sight of the raptors.
Since Tuesday, June 21, three falconers from this specialized company have taken turns daily, from sunrise to sunset. They are accompanied by Harris’s Hawks, an American species with brown feathers and physically similar to a small golden eagle. Raptors are sent over the lawn to dislodge unwanted birds, which run away in fear.
The buzzards will watch over the prestigious green square until Friday July 1, before taking off for new adventures within the company to which they belong. They will surely be called upon again next year, Jonathan Calderwood having revealed that he had initially requested their service in the greatest secrecy. And if the gardener did not hesitate to opt for this perhaps unconventional method, it is because the game is worth the candle. As BFMTV and RMC remind us, the lawn of the Parc des Princes is considered the most beautiful in Europe.
