Recently, officials in Ocean City, New Jersey decided enough was enough when it came to seagulls stealing food from beachgoers. To combat the problem, they hired birds of prey to scare off the seagulls. NJ.com set out to see how effective these raptors were.

But instead of ducking and covering like most do, I spent the muggy afternoon trying to see if the city’s $2,100-a-day program to scare away the seagulls by flying falcons, hawks and owls overhead was actually working.

The city hired East Coast Falcons to use a fleet of birds to keep away the aggressive gulls and plan to use them through the end of the season. I was there earlier this month with photographer Tim Hawk (no relation) to see the debut.

That “(no relation)” kills me.

Previously in animals scaring off other animals: Bird Bouncer