Thoughts? A good friend who is a orchardist/commercial grower here in town is saying he trialed it this summer and it works.
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I went to the website, it sounds interesting but how exactly does it work?
Itâs a shame that there isnât some kind of data base commercial growers could use to see what technologies are being embraced by other commercial growers. I only know that here in the northeast it is common to see commercial blueberry pick-your- owns with very expensive, completely netted set ups. When an effective alternative arrives I would think word would spread quickly- especially amongst blueberry glowers.
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Sounds like an interesting product.
According to the website linked, the active ingredient is methyl anthranilate, a natural substance found in concord grapes. Here is a quote from their FAQ: âThe active ingredient, Methyl Anthranilate (MA), irritates the pain receptors associated with birdsâ sense of taste and smell. Birds find this compound unpleasant and leave areas and crops treated with it. The unpleasant effect is temporary and does not harm the birdsâ
They claim there is no odor or taste, and it does not affect food crops. Lasts up to 2 weeks, so would need repeat applications.
According to wikipedia, âMethyl anthranilate naturally occurs in the Concord grapes and other Vitis labrusca grapes and hybrids thereof, and in bergamot, black locust, champaca, gardenia, jasmine, lemon, mandarin orange, neroli, oranges, rue oil, strawberry, tuberose, wisteria, galangal, and ylang ylang. It is also a primary component of the essential apple flavor, along with ethyl acetate and ethyl butyrate.â
In addition, " It is also used for the flavor of grape Kool Aid. It is used for flavoring of candy, soft drinks (e.g. grape soda), gums, nicotine products,2 and drugs"
The substance is sold on Amazon as Fog Force, $250 per gallon, I did not see the dilution rate.
Methyl anthranilate is the active ingredient of Liquid Fence Goose Repellent, which costs 39.99, I imagine it is much more diluted.
Methyl anthranilate is in Fog Force for $149 - they claim âAfter several exposures birds will not return for the rest of the seasonâ
Also 1 pint size of Bird-X âFruit Shieldâ for $29.99 but that link states out of stock
Iâm not endorsing any of these products, just looked them up and this is the info I found.
Amadioranch, thanks for posting. Seems like an interesting product and might be worth trying for some fruit crops.
Tested MA on a row of blueberries about 30 years ago. It helped with bird control, but it left a taste on the fruit that was hard to get rid of. Even after washing the fruit, they retained the faint taste of grape Kool Aid
Interesting that it left a flavor on blueberries. Im going to have to get on the phone with these people and find out if it will leave a flavor on stonefruit. We have terrible issues with bird damage. In the past we have netted but with the amount of producing trees we have now and all the different ripening times that is now near impossible.
The new formulations have probably improved a lot since my test a long time ago.
Please share any information from the company that you get.
Like many here, I used to be on another fruit fourm (not GW) years ago. They were talking about Methyl Anthranilate then. Some home growers sprayed their trees w/ plain old grape Koolaid packets. As I recall, they indicated it helped.
Although there is some debate, I think most avian literature indicates most birds canât smell (some can) so the mode of action would have to be some form of irritation of membranes Bear with me refers to.
One of my wifeâs cousinsâ is a lawyer who was doing work for a foreign company claimed to have a very good bird repellent, or maybe it was a startup company, I canât remember which. Supposedly their product smelled like smoke. They claimed it completely eradicated birds at airports, parking garages, etc. They were supposed to start selling it in the U.S., but I donât think they ever did.
Personally Amadio, I like the âangry dancing manâ better than âAvian Controlâ. It would provide much more entertaining reactions from customers. 
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The vampire dancing man would be alot less work too.
Maybe I should just get some grape Koolaid and use that.
I should try it on my Concord grapes, I guess if it did leave a flavor on them it could add to the tastđ
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