by William M. Welch, USA TODAY
AVALON, Calif. – For years, this island harbor town has had serious tourism problems: Its beaches were consistently rated among the most polluted on the West Coast, and its waterfront was crowded with aggressive gulls that harassed visitors and stole food off their plates.
All that has changed, and leaders are giving much of the credit to a group of environmental enforcers they hired – Larry the hawk, Chin the falcon and Big Al the owl.
