Mechanical owl ‘fired’
April 22, 2009
Power company Con Ed said it has nixed a mechanical owl that failed to prevent parrots from blowing a New York electrical transformer.
Con Ed workers said Hootie
the battery-powered owl was installed at the transformer in New York’s Queens borough to scare off parrots, but the wild birds continued to build nests that caused damage to the equipment when paired with rain, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
The birds win,
said the Con Ed worker who took Hootie down Tuesday alongside a broken $25,000 transformer. The owl’s fired!
They got used to the owl,
another Con Ed worker said. (Then) we put up a red flag, and now they’re building a nest on it.
Source: upi