Endangering wildlife

[didouglog]

[MOD EDIT] Merged the referenced video with the subsequent discussion...

 

[Pegasus]

Please take note and report anyone doing this kind of filming.
The Problem Behind a Viral Video of a Persistent Baby Bear

Thanks

 

[AeroJ]

Yeah it's a difficult video to watch once you realise why they're trying to go up the mountain Good article, and something we should all consider when flying...

 

[YuKay]

Yes, extreme care needed, even in our back yards! (Although my cat is fascinated by my drone and the horses 50ft away are totally unconcerned by it.) For every critter we can see, there are hundreds we can't who may be terrified by our drones. Perhaps we need some research into how sensitive different animals are to drones. But if we really care, why aren't fireworks banned? I have seen many pet dogs reduced to quivering wrecks for days by a local firework show.

And notwithstanding what the bear experts say, I'm not convinced that any of the trials and tribulations of the bear cub or its mother were caused by the drone. Plus, I would like to think that had the cub got into serious peril the drone pilot would have raised the alarm - which he couldn't have done if he hadn't been flying by.

 

[AeroJ]

h my cat is fascinated by my drone and the horses 50ft away are totally unconcerned by it.

Yes, my cat is also fascinated by my drones - instinctively knows to keep a safe distance, but always comes to watch if I ever launch in the back field.
Horses I find are a mixed bag - some don't appear to care, and others get very frisky and can even bolt. Sheep tend to hold their ground unless one of them decides to run, and then they all do ! Cows seem largely oblivious.

I'd hope we'd all respect the wildlife and not harass it with our flying machines, but at the same time it infuriates me that so many local councils and parks authorities use 'disturbance of wildlife' as one of the reasons they won't allow drones over the common land they regulate, even though dogs, very few of the ones I see of which are ever on leads, are allowed to run rampant doing whatever they like, all year round, disturbing all sorts of things on the ground ! I've lost count of the times I've seen dogs chasing rabbits, deer, sheep, squirrels etc

 

[YuKay]

Pixie likes to get close. I was doing some settings tests at my front gate and she parked on top of the gate for the whole time - even when this shot was taken as the drone came in to land less than 10 feet from her. Maybe she's trying to figure out if it's edible.

 

[AH-1G]

@YuKay My cat hears my footsteps and runs, later he comes on the couch to be petted.
We adopted him and think previous owner may have been cruel. B&W just like yours, I call him cat.

 

[Santa]

Saw this video on the news the other day. Commentators had no comment on how the pictures were captured (no mention of drones) just talked about the situation between mother and cub. I agree that we all must respect the needs of wildlife and it simply boils down to being responsible pilots, using common sense and following the rules. A lot of folks I know fly around the dog park and walking trails without any adverse incident.

 

[AH-1G]

Agrree @Santa, some people just have no common sense,
But I do have to give the cub kudos for being persistent!

 

[Rogerson]

To be honest, I'm against using drones to capture animals

 

[Eslader]

I'm not convinced that any of the trials and tribulations of the bear cub or its mother were caused by the drone.

You might have a more convincing argument if the drone operator hadn't zoomed toward the bears right as the cub was about to make it to the top. It's obvious the mother is reacting to the drone speeding toward her face at that point.

 

[DoomMeister]

I agree that we should refrain from harassing animals with our aerial cameras, but by the same line of logic so should the naturalists that use manned aircraft to conduct their research spooking wildlife in the process.

Pet owners should also follow leash laws and keep their pets tethered and under control in parks, nature trails, etc.

As the saying goes, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

[FlushVision]

I've been booked to do a roof and high gutter inspection of a church including it's tower. I did an initial pre-flight site survey on Tuesday morning and I noticed several crows flying in and out of the tower. This made me comment to the client that I had some concerns about the presence of birds that were obviously in residence of the tower ( also had an issue with a particular tree that may have posed a problem with VLOS, but that tree was chopped down on Wednesday...poor tree).

The church is only about 200 mtrs away from where I live so I advised the client that I would delay the flight for a week or so, so that I could monitor the bird situation...to determine times of the day when they are not present. Depending on my findings, I may decline the job.

By the way, the client was telling me that in the past they have employed a company that used scaffolding to do high gutter and roof inspections at a cost to the church of £4000. Prolly why they are desperate to use my services instead...my fees for that job are just a tenth of what they have been charged in the past!

 

[AH-1G]

Are you worried about crows attacking then drone? Do they?

 

[FlushVision]

Are you worried about crows attacking then drone? Do they?

Dunno if they do actively go after drones. My worry is the number of them that I saw on Tuesday and the likelihood of disturbing them or suffering a bird strike because of the number of birds. Think Hitchcock's 'The Birds'. Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit there, but there were quite a few flying to and from the tower. I suspect, though, that the number of them was linked to the time of day I was there since I've noticed that at other times there are non to be seen. That is why I didn't decline the job there and then opting to monitor the situation for a week to determine the best time of day for the operation. The client (a man of God you might say) is happy for me to delay the operation while I monitor the situation.

 

[Good time Charlie]

Are you worried about crows attacking then drone? Do they?

There's crows all over my place and I've never seen one bother one of my drones. If a crow did decide to fight with a TH it'd definitely come out the loser. They're not like a large hawk in the ability to take down flying prey.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

LOL
Guess you have never seen crows do a barrow roll at a UAV. I have seen it many times. They are very protective of their nesting area. Last week waiting for my son to get out of school i saw two crows take down a raven twice the size of the crows. It ended up on the schools football field looking like WTF just happened. Some busted props might not be the best out come for the TH.

 

[Warlocc]

Oh good. More laws incoming.

 

[FlushVision]

LOL
Guess you have never seen crows do a barrow roll at a UAV. I have seen it many times. They are very protective of their nesting area. Last week waiting for my son to get out of school i saw two crows take down a raven twice the size of the crows. It ended up on the schools football field looking like WTF just happened. Some busted props might not be the best out come for the TH.

One solution I'm thinking about is to bring out of retirement an elderly Phantom 2 Vision, one that I can afford to lose to a bird, and fly it up to the tower to see what the birds make of it. That aircraft hasn't flown since August 2016 but I know the batteries are good since I still use them on my P2V+.

 

[Pegasus]

One solution I'm thinking about is to bring out of retirement an elderly Phantom 2 Vision, one that I can afford to lose to a bird, and fly it up to the tower to see what the birds make of it. That aircraft hasn't flown since August 2016 but I know the batteries are good since I still use them on my P2V+.

Try it with a scary face on first and then without, providing it's still in one piece.