Livestock breeders speak to wolves by exploding AC / DC “Thunderstruck” or in films dialogue: “I can’t stand that anymore!

But a team of biologists working near the border with California-eargon, and they use them to explode AC / DC “Thunderstruck”, cinema clips and living human voices in Apex predators to keep them away from cattle in an in progress experience.

“I can’t stand that anymore!” The actor Scarlett Johansson shouts in a clip, from the 2019 film “Wedding Story”.

“With what? Can’t I talk to people? ” The Co-Star Adam Driver is shouting.

The gray wolves were driven almost out of extinction in the West United States by the first half of the 20th century. Since their reintroduction in Idaho and Yellowstone National Park in the mid -1990s, they have proliferated to the point that a population in the Northern Rockies has been removed from the list of endangered species.

There are now hundreds of wolves in Washington and Oregon, dozens of others in northern California, and thousands of people wandering near the big lakes.

The convalescence population has meant increasing conflicts with breeders – and the increasing creative efforts of the latter to protect livestock. They turned to electrified fences, wolf alarms, duty, horse -drawn patrols, trapping and moving and now drones. In certain areas where non -lethal efforts have failed, officials regularly approve killings, including last week in Washington.

Gray Wolves killed some 800 domesticated animals in 10 states in 2022, a previous review of the Associated Press data from state and federal agencies found.

Scientists in the Inspection Inspection Service of USDA animals and plants have developed techniques for drone hazing wolves while monitoring them using the night imaging cameras, when predators are the most active. A preliminary study published in 2022 has shown that the addition of human voices through a rigged speaker on a drone can panic them.

The team documented successful interruptions from Wolf Hunts. When Dustin Ranglack, USDA’s principal researcher on the project, saw one for the first time, he smiled from one ear to the other.

“If we could reduce these negative impacts from wolves, it will be more likely to lead to a situation where we have coexistence,” Ranlack said.

Preloaded clips include music recordings, shots, fireworks and voices. A drone pilot begins by playing three clips chosen at random, such as the scene “Story Story” or “Thunderstruck”, with its cries and its electric guitar shots.

If these do not work, the operator can improvise by shouting through a microphone or playing a different clip that is not part of the randomized presets. A favorite is the blanket of “Blue on Black” by The Heavy Metal Band of Five Finger Death Punch by “Blue On Black”, which could explode the lyrics “You Turn and You Ran” while the fleeing wolves.

USDA drone pilots continued the cattle protection patrols this summer while looking for answers to the wolf in ranchs with high conflict levels along the Oregon-California border. The patrols spread to the south to the Sierra valley in August for the first time, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

It is not known if wolves could get used to drones. Breeders and wolf hunters in Europe have long dissuaded them with long suspended lines with beating fabric, but wolves can possibly learn that flags are not a threat.

However, environmental defenders are optimistic about drones, because they make it possible to scare wolves in different ways, in different places.

“Wolves are afraid of new things,” said Amaroq Weiss, a wolf defender at the Center for Biological Diversity. “I know that in human imagination, people consider wolves as great frightening creatures that are afraid of anything.”

There are also drawbacks to technology. A drone with night vision and a speaker costs around $ 20,000, requires professional training and does not work well in wooded areas, which makes it impassable for many breeders.

Breeders from northern California who have hosted USDA drone patrols agree that they have reduced cattle deaths so far.

“I am very grateful for what they did. But I don’t think it’s a long -term solution, “said Mary Rickert, owner of a cattle ranch north of Mount Shasta. “What I’m afraid of is that after a certain period of time, all of a sudden they go:” Wow, it won’t hurt me. It’s just a lot of noise. “”

Breeders are paid if they can prove that a wolf has killed his cattle. But there are unpaid costs to have stressed cows, such as lower birth rate and harder meat.

Rickert said that if drones do not work in the long term, it may have to close the business, in which it has been involved since at least the 1980s. She wants permission to draw wolves if they attack her animals or if they come to her property after a certain number of attacks.

If the technology is effective and the costs fall, one day breeders could simply ask the wolves to disappear.

Paul Wolf, based in Oregon, – Yes, Wolf – is the supervisor in the southwest district of the USDA and the main fan of the Five Finger Death Punch among drone pilots. He recalled a first meeting in which a wolf at the beginning seemed simply curious at the sight of a drone, until the pilot speaks to him through the speaker.

“He said:” Hey Wolf – Get out from here “,” said Wolf. “The wolf immediately lets go of the cattle and runs away.”