Alice and Bubba, hawks trained to keep other birds away from SoFi Stadium, stolen during Rams game
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Any Rams fans whose attention was diverted Sunday at SoFi Stadium by an aerial assault of bird droppings should know whom to blame.
Not the birds. They were just doing what they do (do).
Blame the thief who stole two trained hawks tasked with keeping the skies above the stadium free of other birds, so that the only airborne objects would be tight spirals off the right hand of Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
But the hawks — who have names: Alice and Bubba — were stolen at 2:22 p.m. by a suspect the Inglewood Police Department described as a “male Black adult wearing a black jacket with a white stripe going down the shoulder, black pants and black shoes.”
Tutu Atwell was confident he could still be a game-changer for the Rams, and he proved it with an 88-yard touchdown catch in a 27-20 win over the Colts.
Police said the key was left in the ignition of the Kawasaki Mule UTV that housed the hawks. The thief drove off with the maroon two-seater and hadn’t been caught as of Friday afternoon. The vehicle was found in a South L.A. neighborhood but the hawks are still missing. Crime stoppers has offered a $1,000 reward for their safe return.
“Affixed to the bed of the UTV were two Harris’s Hawks ... housed in green containers,” the police said. “These Hawks are used during the games by a Falconer in order to deter other birds in the area.”
The falconer is Redlands police officer Charles Cogger. The trained birds are Harris’s hawks, also known as the bay-winged hawk, large and lanky raptors that breed from the southwestern United States and throughout South America. They are known for hunting together as a team with vision eight times better than that of humans.
It’s a shame Alice and Bubba weren’t there to see the gorgeous 88-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Tutu Atwell in the fourth quarter that gave the Rams a 27-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
