As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Sunday, 17 August 2014

Nutley to target bird population with grape-scented aerosol fogger

AUGUST 11, 2014 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2014, 9:05 AM
BY HASIME KUKAJ
STAFF WRITER
NUTLEY SUN

Thousands of birds, mainly starlings, roost along Wilson and Milton streets in Nutley.

Nutley will be overnight "fogging" in and around DeMuro Park next week in an effort to control the bird population, the township announced Monday.

The Bird Doctor Nationwide plans to apply the Thermal Dyna Fogger between Monday, Aug. 18, and Saturday, Aug. 23, in an area bordering Bloomfield, Margaret, Van Winkle and Wilson avenues. DeMuro Park will be closed from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. those evenings.

The fogger contains a methyl anthranilate aerosol, which the township states is environmentally responsible. The EPA has classified the chemical as a naturally occurring flavorant, and the FDA has labeled it "generally regarded as safe." It is also used in grape gum.

Nutley Parks and Recreation Commissioner Mauro Tucci recently said that the application would not kill the birds but would make them "not like the area anymore."

According to a township announcement:

The method is a pain stimulus in the trigeminal nerves which are found in the throats and mucus membranes of the beak and eyes. Almost all animals have these nerves, yet only birds have a negative response to methyl anthranilate. Birds "feel" it as pain, while mammals, including humans, perceive it as a grape scent.

Birds inhaling the aerosol immediately respond to the discomfort, evacuating the location without delay.

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