For many years now, the Parc des Princes pitch has been the pride and joy of Paris-Saint-Germain, voted the most beautiful in Ligue 1! It is pampered by the Parisian club's gardeners, who have a real budget for taking care of their playing field in the heart of the capital. But humans aren't the only ones responsible for keeping the pitch in top condition... four falcons are also at work all year round!
A rather unusual piece of information, revealed a few years ago by Jonathan Calderwood, head gardener at PSG, to BFMTV. For almost ten years, he has been using a falconry company, Christophe Puzin, to protect the lawn from pigeons and other pests, which prevent the grass from growing in big cities."They eat the lawn seeds and without seeds, we have no grass, and without grass, no land. So we set up a tactic to scare off the pigeons and let the grass grow," says the gardener.
Every year, buzzards used to stadiums repel pigeons from sunrise to sunset. Four Harris buzzards from the USA take care of the pest control. An original solution that saves gardeners a lot of time, at a cost of almost 20,000 euros a year.
Location
Parc des Princes
24 Rue du Commandant Guilbaud
75116 Paris 16
