'Summary' hunters poached by robotic beasts

A deer with big horns standing on the edge of the forest suddenly arrived at a truck. When the deer turned its head, a gun barrel appeared. Suddenly there was a loud cry: Release the gun! This is a wildlife protection staff. Two wild animal security guards jumped out of the bushes to make the poachers dumbfounded, and the robotic deer still had its feet still.

In 2006, US Forest Rangers caught up to 50 poachers by such fake animals. This is a tool to catch very good guys. Colonel Jeff Gray of the New Hampshire State Department of Fish and Wildlife Protection is a regular customer of the Custom Robotic Wildlife Company, a company that produces animals that look exactly like the real engine in the head and Their tails move.

20-pound robot deer (Photo: zdnet.com)

In addition to the deer, he ordered 6 robot turkeys. Each robot deer costs $ 1,300. Although the price is quite high, but when they help catch a poacher, the military must pay a fine of hundreds of dollars, so, according to Colonel Gray, the government will recover the money very quickly.

If we find a loaded reload gun in a car in hunting areas where the owner does not have a hunting license, the fine can be up to $ 1,200. For more serious offenses such as illegal hunting at night, the fine is up to $ 2,400. Colonel Gray said that human resources and resources for the Department of Fish and Wildlife Protection are limited, so these fake animals help him a lot in public service costs.

At the company's facility, the company specializes in the production of automatic robotic Custom Robotic Wildlife in Mosinee, Wisconsin, Brian Wolslegel and the assistant worker Mike Kleman saw the horns off a deer's head. Then, the pair of horns is attached to the body of the animal made of polyurethane foam and wrapped in the outer skin.

The finished, engine and battery are attached to allow the animal's tail to move with a remote control. Here, Mr. Wolslegel is trying a fake mink with a motor. No one could hear the small squeal coming from the engine, unless one stood just a hand away from it.

Since 1993, Mr. Wolslegel's company has produced these movable pseudo animals for museums, shops selling prey, and for private customers, but customers who order the most are still government animal protection agency. 'We give them 60 white-tailed deer, 40 turkeys and dozens of deer' - Wolslegel said.

Punished poachers complained that using fake animals is an act of trapping them for a crime. However, David Youngquist of the Wisconsin State Department of Natural Resources said that using these animals is to protect the legal and ethical safety of hunting.

One morning, Mr. Youngquist and a wild animal guard are bringing a robotic deer from another place in the protected area, which is called Donald, after the name of the first poacher that helps. catch. This area in Wisconsin is full of poachers.

The robot deer Donald was shot 15 times and 15 times it helped the authorities to snatch the poachers. And for a moment, this robot deer will start work again. Mr. Youngquist and the group of wild animal protection staff were ready to rest, waiting for the moment of modern high technology to hand, helping solve a long-standing evil.

Dan Ko