O'Hare Airport Uses Kool-Aid to Stop Bird Strikes
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Originally Posted by Chicago Tribune
Wildlife experts at O'Hare International Airport hope the grape flavoring used in Kool-Aid will encourage pesky birds that endanger planes to satisfy their appetites elsewhere.
Not far from steel traps baited with live pigeons to catch raptors on airport property and propane cannons used to scare away bird flocks, a series of hazing machines borders the 105-acre water retention pond known as Lake O'Hare.
The devices, part of the newest experiment to control animal populations on the airfield, spray a grape-scented mist that was distinguishable even in the wind Wednesday from the strong odor of jet fuel vapors.
Aircraft emissions don't cause birds to fly the coop, mainly because O'Hare's 7,800 acres are a tantalizing dinner platter.
But the nerve endings in birds' nasal passages are easily irritated by the grape extract contained in a chemical cocktail called methyl anthranilate, according to Richard Dolbeer, national coordinator of airport wildlife services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The grape flavoring acts as a repellent, like a bird tear gas," Dolbeer said. "Methyl anthranilate is actually a non-toxic food flavoring that is used in grape Kool-Aid and grape bubble gum, but birds find it very aggravating.
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Strangely, after usage began, the number of African Americans getting sucked into engines on the O'Hare tarmac went up ten-fold.
