By indicating to farmers who are operating heavy equipment where deer might be hiding and resting in their fields. Many deer are killed instantly or lose limbs when they’re run over by farming equipment, by farmers who have no idea they’re there. What a wonderful use of drones! Video Link. It’s a Swiss TV news… READ THE REST
Eh - is this really a problem? Maybe they are rarer in Switzerland, but around here their number are increasing and becoming more of a hazard on highways every year. While I don’t want to see a baby deer run over by a combine - it seems to me using a drone to scout out a field is just a little over the top.
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If a deer resting in a field doesn’t notice a big piece of farm equipment powered by a noisy diesel engine coming for it, maybe it’s time for natural selection for that deer.
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I am guessing that these incidents probably also cause damage to the farm equipment.
Darwin, anyone?
Cruelly.
In no time we will all want drones everywhere, b/c innocent and cute.
Solent fawn, it’s bambiiiiiiiii
There are more problems, it is horrible when the deer isent killed but very hurt and if you dont notice you get deer parts in the silage where bacteria can grow and give the cattle botulism poisoning.
Deer calves cant flee from predators and their instinct is to hunker down while waiting for the scary noise and smell to go away. It is helpfull to irritate the does to move their calves the day before harvesting.
Does leave fawns nestled down in high grass or forest hollows while they scout an area. The fawns will not move at all until the doe returns. You can walk right up and touch them (but you might get a painful surprise if the doe returns without warning). It’s a survival strategy that works for the deer - as somebody pointed out, their number are increasing - because the fawn’s unlikely to be able to outrun a predator or be able to navigate effectively without its mother. It’s best bet is absolute motionlessness, because most deer predators will home in on motion.
Sometimes the doe will get run off in some other direction while scouting, and won’t come back for a day or more. The fawn will not move until a doe finds it, but I don’t think it has to be the actual mother, any doe will probably do.
As several insightful people have pointed out, the hazard is not all for the deer. Running over a fawn with a combine can’t be good for the machinery or for the crop, a cheap drone could be a worthwhile investment.
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