For millennia humans have tried to scare wolves away from their livestock. But most of them did not have drones.
Now, a team of biologists working near the California-Oregon border does and is using them to blast AC/DC's Thunderstruck, film clips and live human voices at the predators to shoo them away from cattle.
"I am not putting up with this any more!" actor Scarlett Johansson yells in one clip, from the 2019 film Marriage Story.
“With what? I can't talk to people?” co-star Adam Driver shouts back.
Grey wolves were hunted to near-extinction throughout the western US by the first half of the 20th century. Since their reintroduction in Idaho and at 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 endangered species list.
There are now hundreds of wolves in Washington and Oregon, dozens more in northern California and thousands roaming near the Great Lakes.
The recovering population has meant increasing conflict with ranchers – and increasingly creative efforts by the latter to protect livestock. They have turned to electrified fencing, wolf alarms, guard dogs, horseback patrols, trapping and relocating, and now drones. In some areas where non-lethal efforts have failed, officials routinely approve killing wolves, including last week in Washington state.
Grey wolves killed about 800 domesticated animals across 10 states in 2022, a previous Associated Press review of data from state and federal agencies found.
Scientists with the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service developed the techniques for hazing wolves by drone while monitoring them using thermal imaging cameras at night, when the predators are most active. A study released in 2022 demonstrated that adding human voices through a loudspeaker rigged to a drone can disturb them.
The team documented successful interruptions of wolf hunts. Dustin Ranglack, the USDA’s lead researcher on the project, recalls the first time he saw wolf in he wild with much pride.
“If we could reduce those negative impacts of wolves, that is going to be more likely to lead to a situation where we have coexistence,” he said.
The clips include recordings of music, gunshots, fireworks and voices. A drone pilot starts by playing three clips chosen at random, such as the Marriage Story scene or Thunderstruck.
If those do not work, the operator can improvise by yelling through a microphone or playing a different clip not found among the randomised presets. One favourite is the heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch 's cover of Blue on Black, which might blast the lyric "You turned and you ran" as the wolves flee.
USDA drone pilots have continued with cattle protection patrols this summer while researching wolf responses at ranches with high conflict levels along the Oregon-California border. Patrols extended south to the Sierra Valley this month for the first time, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
There is a possibility the wolves might become accustomed to the drones. Herders and wolf hunters in Europe have long deterred them with long lines hung with flapping cloth, but the wolves can eventually learn that the flags are not a threat.
Environmental advocates are optimistic about drones, though, because they allow for scaring wolves in different ways, in different places.
“Wolves are frightened of novel things,” said Amaroq Weiss, of the Centre for Biological Diversity. “I know that in the human imagination, people think of wolves as big, scary critters that are scared of nothing.”
There are also drawbacks to the technology, however. A drone with night vision and a loudspeaker costs around $20,000, requires professional training and does not work well in wooded areas, making it impractical for many ranchers.
Farmers in Northern California who have hosted USDA drone patrols agree that they have reduced livestock deaths so far.
“I’m very appreciative of what they did. But I don’t think it’s a long-term solution,” said Mary Rickert, the owner of a cattle ranch north of Mount Shasta. “What I’m afraid of is that after some period of time, that all of a sudden they go, ‘Wow, this isn’t going to hurt me. It just makes a lot of noise.’”
Ranchers are compensated if they can prove that a wolf has killed their livestock. But there are uncompensated costs of having stressed-out cows, such as lower birth rates and tougher meat.
Ms Rickert said if the drones do not work over the long term, she might have to close the business, in which she has been involved since the 1980s. She wants permission to shoot wolves if they are attacking her animals or if they come on to her property after a certain number of attacks.
If the technology proves effective and costs come down, someday ranchers might merely have to ask the wolves to go away.
Oregon-based Paul Wolf – yes, Wolf – is the USDA's south-west district supervisor and the main Five Finger Death Punch fan among the drone pilots. He recalled an early encounter during which a wolf at first merely seemed curious at the sight of a drone, until the pilot talked to it through the speaker.
“He said, ‘Hey wolf – get out of here,’” Mr Wolf said. “The wolf immediately lets go of the cattle and runs away.”
