No, this is not Scrappleface. Hat tip: View through the windshield
Organizers of a vintage car rally in New Zealand have hired karate experts to protect vehicles from marauding native parrots, a news report said Friday. About 40 members of a karate club have been enlisted to protect some 140 classic cars due to visit an alpine village near Mount Cook on New Zealand's South Island on Sunday, the New Zealand Press Association reported. The karate experts will protect the cars from Keas, sharp-beaked native parrots which have been known to damage vehicles in their search for shiny items, NZPA said.
Denis Callesen, manager of the nearby Hermitage Hotel, said bird lovers needn't be concerned the karate experts would use martial arts moves on the parrots, which are a protected species. Their job would simply be to scare the birds away, he said.
Local wildlife ranger Ray Bellringer said the karate masters are unlikely to deter the Keas. "They will fly around and laugh," he said.
The best method to prevent Keas from damaging vehicles is to squirt them with shotguns water pistols, he added.
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