ACE HAWK PATROLS THE SKIES

THE first port of call is a true celebrity — forget Rafa Nadal or Serena Williams. Rufus the hawk is on site at 5am every day.

The All England Club is just one of Rufus’ illustrious clients, a list including Lord’s cricket ground, Westminster Abbey and Fulham Football Club.

Imagine the scene: a player is serving for the championship, only to be greeted with an unwanted gift from the skies. Pigeons and vermin are scared off by the patrolling Harris’s hawk. ‘Rufus is 15 now but will fly until he’s basically expired. He just loves to hunt,’ says owner Wayne Davis, 59, who with his daughter Imogen has worked at the Championships for 22 years. ‘Pigeons love it in the gullies and drains in the courts but Rufus deals with them. He’s the most famous hawk ever!’

Rufus was once stolen from Davis’s Land Rover when the owner had popped inside and left the window open.

‘He was in a carry-case-like box,’ Davis recalls. ‘I think they thought it was a safe with loads of money in, but they must have opened it later and seen Rufus as they dumped it on Wimbledon Common shortly after. ‘Rufus has had his picture taken with Andy Murray and Rafa Nadal, they all love him. ‘Wimbledon have pretty much adopted him. He has a special bit about him in the on-site museum.’