MONTEREY >> Tired of the nuisance of gulls flying and pooping on stores and sidewalks, Del Monte Mall has hired a raptor trainer to ward off the scavenger birds.

Repeated voicemails left at the mall’s administrative offices were not immediately returned Thursday. But others who have used similar programs say it is very effective in maintaining adequate hygiene in areas where people walk and shop.

Moe Ammar, president of the Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce, said that the city struggled with the gull population until they started using a falconer. The species of the raptor used at Del Monte is not known, but typically peregrine falcons or Harris hawks are used.

“We don’t have a choice not to have a falconer,” Ammar said. “If we don’t hire one every year the gulls tend to come back.”

Ammar notes something many business districts along coastal areas of the state have learned — gulls are turning away from fishing birds to scavenger birds. The Western Gull, for example, spends most of its winters along the Central California coast. The migratory birds are leaving ocean areas in place of urbanized locations. The abundance of gulls along coastal towns and cities can be a nuisance to the communities for various reasons.

One reason is the simple nuisance problem. Gulls have adapted to foraging for food from Dumpsters that are not properly secured. They are bold enough to grab food from people eating outdoors in restaurants, cafés and beach or park picnics, as well as stealing food from open backpacks and bags when left unattended.

“They are very intelligent,” Ammar said. “If someone is eating a sandwich outdoors the gull would come down and steal the sandwich.”

In addition to being a nuisance to the local community and tourists who visit Pacific Grove, gulls leave feces droppings on rooftops and sidewalks, according to Pacific Grove’s Gull Rooftop Deterrents Design Guidelines. When it rains or when the rooftop or sidewalk surfaces are washed with water, the feces from the rooftops and sidewalks flow with the stormwater runoff. The contaminated runoff leads directly to Monterey Bay, adding to the water pollution problem.

Not to mention that people have been the unfortunate targets of gull poop bombs.

“And the smell,” Ammar said. “When I first got here I would complain about how bad downtown smelled.”

The city followed the model the Monterey County Waste Management District was using at its landfill, Ammar said. The district was among the first in the state to begin using falconers.

Jeff Lindenthal, director of communications and sustainability for the waste management district said they began employing a falconer in 2012 after other abatement means, such as propane cannons, proved ineffective.

“They are very smart birds and they discovered the cannons are on a timer so they would return in between cannon blasts,” Lindenthal said.

The first day the falconer and his bird patrolled the landfill, Lindenthal noticed a change right away.

“Just the presence of the falcon kept them in the air and eventually they would grow tired and return to the coast,” he said.

Raptors aren’t trained to attack birds, rather be a deterrent to keep them away. Along with condors, trumpeter swans and other birds, gulls are protected under one of America’s oldest environmental laws: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. The law makes it illegal to kill any California gull or destroy its eggs without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

So until someone comes up with a better idea, falconers continue to be the go-to solution for gull abatement.

“They have been extremely effective,” Ammar said. “We can’t do without them.”