By Eric Fetters
Herald Writer
www.heraldnet.com
Monday, December 19, 2005

Creating snow and fog is fun, but one of Gary Crawford's latest innovations may one day help farms, airports and others control nuisance birds.

Crawford said he's modified a special effects haze machine and come up with a grape concentrate-based solution that irritates birds without permanently harming them.

As birds breathe it in, they cough and feel irritated, warding them away from nesting or roosting in the area.

The solution, however, does not bother other animals or people. In fact, some test clients have found the grape scent is pleasant.

The Guardian Birdhaze machine emits a transparent, nearly invisible, haze that lingers in the air for up to four hours in an enclosed area. Outside, it spreads out over an area quickly, but still lasts.

Tests on farms, in produce processing plants and other places where birds or their droppings are a problem have shown good results, Crawford said. With the growing threat of bird flu, he expects interest to grow.

CITC has worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the system's development, and now is talking with potential clients, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which uses cannons and other devices to scare birds away from runways, where they can get sucked up into jet engines.

"What I like is we've always done things that made people happy, and now we're doing something that really helps people," Stephany Crawford said.

More information about CITC's new Guardian Birdhaze system can be found at www.birdhaze.com.

Eric Fetters