Drones blasting AC/DC scare wolves away from cattle

For centuries, people have tried to keep wolves away from livestock with fences, dogs, and guns. Near the California-Oregon border, biologists are adding a very 21st-century tool to that list.

The experts are flying drones at night that spot wolves with thermal cameras and blast AC/DC, movie clips, and live human shouts through a loudspeaker until the predators back off.

The idea comes from scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The goal isn’t to harm wolves, but to interrupt hunts – scaring packs off cattle long enough to prevent a kill.

Noise rattles wolves at night

A preliminary study in 2022 showed that pairing drones with human voices can rattle wolves in the dark, when they’re most active. On recent patrols, pilots have documented hunts that stopped mid-chase the moment the machines swooped in and the speakers lit up.

“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,” said project lead Dustin Ranglack.

The approach is deliberately noisy and unpredictable. Operators cycle through preloaded clips – gunshots, fireworks, guitar-screaming tracks like AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” and even the explosive argument between Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in the film “Marriage Story.”

If that doesn’t do it, they improvise: barking commands through a mic, or queuing up the heavy-metal cover of “Blue on Black” by Five Finger Death Punch. As one line from the song blares – “You turned and you ran” – wolves often do exactly that.

Night flights shadow wolve packs

At night, USDA pilots launch drones fitted with thermal imagers and a downward-pointing spotlight. From a few hundred feet up, a wolf’s heat signature stands out against the cooler ground – easy to track across open pasture.

When a pack approaches cows, the pilot dives the drone, blasts the audio, and watches for a retreat. If wolves break off, the aircraft shadows them until they leave the area.

This summer, the agency extended operations along the Oregon-California line and south into the Sierra Valley, focusing on ranches that have seen repeated conflicts.

The work rides alongside a broader comeback. Gray wolves were nearly exterminated across the American West by the mid-20th century. Since reintroduction to Yellowstone and Idaho in the 1990s, populations have rebounded: hundreds now roam Washington and Oregon, dozens have settled in northern California, and thousands live around the Great Lakes.

With recovery has come friction. In 2022, wolves killed roughly 800 domestic animals across ten states, and in some areas where non-lethal deterrents fail, officials still authorize lethal control.

Wolves spooked by new sounds

Will wolves just get used to the racket? It’s a fair worry. Across Europe, herders string flapping flags (“fladry”) along fence lines to spook packs, but over time wolves learn the flags aren’t dangerous.

The drone program tries to dodge that habituation by keeping the stimulus varied: different sounds, different approaches, different timing, different ranches.

“Wolves are frightened of novel things,” said Amaroq Weiss from the Center for Biological Diversity. “I know that in the human imagination, people think of wolves as big, scary critters that are scared of nothing.” The hope is that, by constantly changing the cues, the fear stays fresh.

There’s also the simple fact of proximity. A speaker on a quadcopter can get much closer, much faster than a vehicle or a ranch hand on horseback – close enough that the “novel thing” is loud, immediate, and overhead.

High-tech deterrents are costly

The system isn’t cheap. A drone with a good thermal camera and a rugged speaker runs around $20,000 before you pay for professional pilot training. Dense forest can block both signals and sightlines, reducing effectiveness. For many producers, those hurdles put the tech out of reach.

That’s why USDA teams are flying on behalf of ranchers with the heaviest losses. Some on the ground say it’s working – at least so far.

“I’m very appreciative of what they did. But I don’t think it’s a long-term solution,” said Mary Rickert, who runs cattle north of Mount Shasta.

She worries wolves will eventually realize the drones are all noise and no bite. In the meantime, even near-misses have costs that don’t show up in compensation claims: stressed cows can miscarry, drop weight, and produce tougher meat.

Rickert says if hazing loses its edge, she may be forced to shutter a business she’s run since the 1980s. She wants permission to shoot wolves actively attacking her animals – or to remove wolves that return after repeated incidents.

Noisy path to coexistence

The drone teams are realistic about the tradeoffs. They’re not pitching a silver bullet, or a replacement for guard dogs, range riders, fladry, or electrified fencing.

The experts are adding a flexible tool that, in certain landscapes and seasons, can stop a kill in the moment and give both wolves and livelihoods a little breathing room.

Sometimes the fix is as simple as a voice in the night. Paul Wolf – fittingly, the USDA’s southwest district supervisor – described an early test when a wolf seemed more curious than concerned by the incoming drone.

The pilot tried the mic. “He said, ‘Hey wolf – get out of here.’ The wolf immediately lets go of the cattle and runs away.”

If costs fall and training spreads, the tactic could migrate from government patrols to ranch-run deterrence. For now, it’s a promising proof of concept: a way to turn sound and surprise into space – for people, for predators, and for a West where both still have a place.

The study is published in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation.

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