Bad Bird News Briefs

In two parts of the world with not much else in common, people are being victimized by hawks, and by the laws we've put in place to protect them:

-Protective hawk takes over Tampa school's campus

This parking lot at a university in Florida looks like a crime scene - except the idea is to prevent a crime, a red-shouldered hawk that's nesting in the trees:

"They sent out an email about a week ago warning everyone who’s on campus," said Kristen McMillen, a Nova Southeastern student. "There’s some kind of attack bird up in a tree who has had multiple incidents with people walking through the parking lot, they warned us stay clear of the roped off area when you come to campus." 

According to school officials, at least one hawk dive bombed a few students who got too close to the nest.

 As usual the species is protected, so the bird can't be evicted, and yellow tape is all they can do to protect the students.

-Peregrine falcon cuts off mobile phone signal for thousands

THOUSANDS of mobile users in Southampton could be without a signal for months – because a rare bird has made its nest on a phone mast.

Vodafone engineers trying to track a fault that has left people across the north of the city frustrated found a peregrine falcon squatting on the transmitter in the Highfield area.

They cannot repair it because strict wildlife laws ban them from disturbing the creature.

Bird experts have warned that it could be at least June before the fledglings leave the nest.

The phone company is "looking at alternative contingency plans" and trying to convince people that they should be happy:

“While this is inconvenient for our customers, it is great news that the falcons are nesting in the city.”

We ask: where are the laws to protect us from these feathered hooligans?