LAKE FOREST : Hawks, Owl Flock to His Defense

For years, Charles Huffer battled the flocks of pigeons that had invaded his El Toro gas station.

First he put artificial snakes and owls on the station’s red-tile roof, under which about 150 birds had made their home. When that failed to scare them away, Huffer tried to seal off entrances to the eaves with chicken wire. The pigeons soon found loopholes in his patchwork and managed to gain easy access to their roost.

In frustration, Huffer bought an air pistol. But the pigeons remained unfazed by the shooting and, in fact, increased in numbers. Huffer conceded defeat to the birds--”the dumbest creatures that God ever made.”

Huffer’s prayers were answered two months ago when a pair of red-tail hawks and a horned owl moved in and decimated the pigeon population, leaving less than a dozen survivors. But Mother Nature’s intervention came a little late for Huffer: He recently received notice from Unocal officials that they were going to sell the property at Ridge Route Drive and Muirlands Boulevard, and would have to terminate his lease. After 19 years, the gas station closes on Tuesday.

Still, Huffer marvels at the scenes he has witnessed.

“Mother Nature works in some wonderful ways,” Huffer said. “I lost the war (against the pigeons), but she took care of the problem in a matter of weeks. We just sit back, look at this drama and say, ‘Wow!’ ”

For years, Huffer said, he wondered why the pigeons had flocked to his Unocal station instead of the Chevron station across the street. Both stations have the same red-tile roofs.

The tiles on the Chevron station, however, are capped at the eaves, while the Unocal tiles are open, allowing access to space beneath the roof and the ceiling. The pigeons breed beneath these tiles.

Over the years, the pigeons have been a constant source of embarrassment for Huffer.

“You would not believe how many times I’ve had to apologize to people who are (splattered on) or to people who almost fell after slipping on (droppings),” Huffer said, with a wry grin on his face.

Not long ago, one of Huffer’s loyal customers pulled his spanking-new Mustang convertible into the station and was swiftly greeted with guano on his white leather seat, Huffer said.

But now the pigeons are few.

A big red-tail hawk perches in a tall eucalyptus tree, swoops down to knock a pigeon from the roof to the ground, then pounces on it and flies away with his meal.

Other times, the hawk makes a strike in mid-air. Recently, as Huffer waited on a customer, a shower of feathers fell near the pumps. The hawk had struck again.

A few days ago, a frantic pigeon took refuge in the garage bay. Huffer shooed it out, and the pigeon disappeared over the neighborhood rooftops, darting this way and that, with the hawk in hot pursuit. A smaller hawk perches on the station’s vent pipes and nails young pigeons that may be venturing out for the first time.

Huffer said he was sad about leaving the station, and acknowledged that he would miss the “drama” involving the pigeons.

“You see things here that you only see on those documentaries in television,” Huffer said. “But you don’t want to be a pigeon out here, ‘cause you’ll be a sitting duck.”