If you've got a wolf at your door, there's now a novel solution: Rock & roll.
Yes, really. Wolves are a problem with ranchers in places in the American West, including Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. Some wolves have been reintroduced into those areas in schemes that, frankly, don't seem to have been thought through. And some wolves have spread naturally, back into their old ranges. But the United States Department of Agriculture, in a series of tests run on the Oregon/California border, is finding out that wolves don't like AC/DC.
Hell’s bells!
Researchers are preventing marauding gray wolves from mauling herds of cattle out West — by blasting tunes by Aussie rockers AC/DC from drones.
US Department of Agriculture biologists are finding that the classic rock group’s hit tune “Thunderstruck” and sounds from Hollywood flicks can leave the wolves shaking all night long — and away from valuable livestock near the California-Oregon border.
Now, some folks might think that harassing wolves with hard rock is All Screwed Up, but the ranchers are glad to be Back in Business, now that the wolves don't plan to Stick Around. And better that the wolves leave on their own, rather than prompting the ranchers to engage in some Ruff Stuff.
Turns out it's not just AC/DC that works.
“Wolves are frightened of novel things,” said Amaroq Weiss, a wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, to the Associated Press. “I know that in the human imagination, people think of wolves as big, scary critters that are scared of nothing.”
Not so, the researchers found — and it’s not just Angus Young’s riffs that shoo the wolves away.
Other tunes, human voices, and clips of Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver from the 2019 hit film “Marriage Story” have the wolves fleeing in fear.
Personally, if I heard Scarlett Johansson's voice, I'd be more inclined to go towards it, not away, but that's just me.
As for Amaroq Weiss's comment, that's actually correct. Wolves are formidable apex predators, but many apex predators - the big bears being a notable exception, at least at times - are on the cautious side. Even a mild injury that a domestic dog would recover from in a short time could be fatal for a wolf if the injury prevents them from hunting or keeping up with the pack. Wolves and big cats in particular are apt to err on the side of caution, and anything unusual will have them heading for the horizon.
Read More: Thrown to the Wolves: Colorado Ranchers Appeal to Trump for Help
Malcolm's Memories: The True Story of an Unusual Wolf, a Pioneer in the Wild
If this works, though, I'd say it's a good solution. But the advocates for wolves should accept the fact that it's just one part of an overall management plan, and yes, part of that plan will and should always be the option to kill wolves that are particular troublemakers.
As I've noted in the past, we have wolves here in Alaska. In fact, right in our area, there is a local pack of about seven animals. We don't see them often, but we see their tracks, and once in a while, especially on dark, cold winter nights, we hear them singing in the big tract of borough and state land behind the house. We like having them around - but we aren't raising cattle or sheep, and that's a big, big difference.
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