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Add this to the long list of problems caused by buzzing drones: Frightening 1,500 elk into stampeding at a time of year when too much stress can be deadly for the animals.
This winter already is one for the books in western Wyoming. More than twice as much snowfall than usual has fallen in many areas, and more than 3 feet has accumulated at the National Elk Refuge in the scenic valley of Jackson Hole.
Typically the National Elk Refuge provides a winter haven for elk. But on Monday, David A. Smart, 45, of Washington, D.C., got a $280 ticket for allegedly launching a drone from a highway pullout and flying it over hundreds of elk resting there.
The device caused the elk to stampede half a mile through the snow. Smart was trying to film the animals and afterward was apologetic, refuge deputy manager Cris Dippel said Friday.
Nonetheless, wildlife managers take animal harassment seriously. The federal crime of which Smart was accused, disturbing wildlife, is punishable by an up to $5,000 fine.
Source: Popular Mechanics
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @01:36PM (2 children)
It's not hard to get cattle running. Many years ago I crossed the country with a group of young people, in a car with a PA horn on the roof and a mic inside. Passing a herd of cattle, one gal had the brilliant idea to imitate a calf in distress, a "lowing" sound at a higher pitch than adult cows. The cows came trotting from all over the field, right up to the fence, might have been a hundred of them. Luckily they didn't go through the fence!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @03:47PM (1 child)
Did you give her back to her conspecifics?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @07:29PM
> Did you give her back to her conspecifics?
No, she wasn't my property to give away...
(ps. Thanks for a new word of the day!)