Tips From The Pros

ANIMALS ON THE FIELD

It’s probably been happening ever since we first started playing sports in stadiums: animals running on the field during games. We have all seen the stories, and with social media, it just gets ramped up. If you have managed a stadium or ballpark field, you’ve surely seen it.

I suppose field managers are the logical ones to deal with an animal running, crawling, hopping, or slithering across the playing surface. For player and animal safety, we can’t just play through.

Over the years, we have seen just about everything run onto a field, including squirrels, dogs, birds, geese, cats, deer, rabbits, hawks, alligators, bats, and even pigs. It can make for a funny moment for fans and media, but maybe we should start thinking about a better approach to these common situations.

Currently, it’s pretty much a silly exhibition enjoyed by fans and media, where well-intentioned grounds crew members try to herd the animal off, get it in a bucket, or even grab the animal and carry it off. Never a good idea to handle a frightened animal, in my opinion, but we see it often. The animal can get hurt, and people can get bitten or scratched.

Maybe what we need is a set of industry guidelines based on advice from animal control experts. It may be time for field and stadium managers to begin designing a policy or set of procedures for dealing with these types of incidents. Surely some stadiums have discussed and planned for this, but from what we see, maybe not enough.

Turf Tips 101: Some Ideas on Managing Animals on the Field

Again, I have no expertise in animal control, but I do have a few ideas on where to start planning for this eventuality.

First, this should be a stadium-wide coordinated plan involving administration and perhaps even legal counsel. The first goal has to be keeping fans, players, and working staff as safe as possible, I would think. The welfare of the animal in question should also be considered.

The hard part of any plan seems to be not only what to do, but also how to account for the many different kinds of animals we might see on a field during a game. You probably can’t have the same response to a feral cat as you would to a swarm of bees.

Your plan probably starts with contacting a qualified expert on animal control to get some basic training and guidance on generating an “Animals on the Field” plan. Depending on your location and facility, local animal control departments or private animal control firms may be able to provide ideas on how to safely deal with animals on the field at a stadium or sports facility.

One idea of mine, again I have no expertise in this area, just experience, is to maybe have some kind of opaque shield, like a riot shield, to slowly close a wide circle around the poor critter and direct it to an exit. Maybe use nets on some types of animals. I don’t know. Maybe stadium PA announcements or a pre-packaged set of video-board announcements would help fans understand what is happening, similar to severe weather threats.

I can’t imagine this occurs often enough to have an expert on staff. And unlike a hazardous material response team, I don’t believe anyone can find such a response team for critters on the field. It just doesn’t often rise to that level of seriousness, in my opinion.

Anything has to be better than the silly show it can sometimes become. And while I offer no perfect solution here, maybe this blog can serve to get the topic on the sports turf industry discussion table.

Resource of the Month

Wildlife Animal Control has a useful resource website on dealing with wild animal removal, with tips on different animals and information to help find an expert in your area.

Humane World for Animals also has helpful guidance on choosing a wildlife control company, including what to ask, how animals should be handled, and why humane techniques are important.

End Quote

“Crocodiles are easy. They try to kill and eat you. People are harder. Sometimes they pretend to be your friend first.”

— Steve Irwin