Slashdot Mirror
Theme Park Deploys Trained Crows To Collect Litter (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes the Guardian:
Six crows trained to pick up cigarette ends and rubbish will be put to work next week at a French historical theme park, according to its president. "The goal is not just to clear up, because the visitors are generally careful to keep things clean" but also to show that "nature itself can teach us to take care of the environment", said Nicolas de Villiers of the Puy du Fou park, in the western Vendee region.... The birds will be encouraged to spruce up the park through the use of a small box that delivers a nugget of bird food each time the rook deposits a cigarette end or small piece of rubbish.
"There's an easier way to get rid of all the cigarette butts," suggests one anonymous Slashdot reader.
"Just train the crows to attack smokers."
"There's an easier way to get rid of all the cigarette butts," suggests one anonymous Slashdot reader.
"Just train the crows to attack smokers."
... they be trained to deliver parcels?
They can't be any worse than most courier companies.
Do these cows need nicotine patches if they aren't deployed for a while?
--- Mercutio was right.
> "There's an easier way to get rid of all the cigarette butts," suggests one anonymous Slashdot reader.
> "Just train the crows to attack smokers."
Chances are the training they have already given to crows will inadvertently have trained them to target smokers, just give it some time.
That's what I thought too. The crows will eventually learn that small rocks and sticks will trigger the system.
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Hopefully they learn to take cigarettes from the people actively smoking them, and then go offsite to get more, and teach others crows this behavior, and finally the ash-hole problem will be solved.
-Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
"I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
Not in the discussion. WTF? Is editordavid making up shit out of whole cloth to disguise a personal bias? And, it appears that this "anonymous Slashdot reader" is not only ignorant of French culture, but one of those extremely intolerant Antifa members.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
Christ, I'm fucking worthless some days.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Here, arm yourself with some knowledge, for a change: The park is in France.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
That's an excellent way to get nicotine addicts to start killing crows.
"Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
who made a good point that there are several animals (Dolphins, Raccoons) that have nearly human level brains but that their limited bodies (no arms/thumbs) means they're probably stuck at a dead end. My first thought was the Uplift series of books.
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How long until they are swooping cigarettes from the mouths of those still smoking ? or bumming them verbally from other people. Hey Buddy gotta smoke I can bum, I need a crow pellet fix :)
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Yes they are smart, how long before they figure out how to fool the system and submit false cigarette butts or fake false small pieces of rubbish or go get them straight from the factory or the from local trash drop off or from the ashtrays?
In the city where I live, most businesses lock their outdoor ashtrays so the homeless people don't come pick through them. Watch those crows! They will figure out a way to unlock them! Jackpot!
Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
Jackpot!
Nicely done!
(For those who don't know, a jackpot is called so because of the jackdaw, a member of the crow family, being notorious for stealing shiny things. So a jackpot is a nest full of shinies.)
I believe it was the Apostle Paul who once said, "In all of your undertakings, settle not for a half-assed job. Instead, thou should endeavour to use both cheeks."
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"unattended consequences"
I HATE unattended consequences. They're even worse than unintended consequences.
Are you paying attention?
Paying attention? Obviously not, because he is not attending the consequences. :-P
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Crows are surprisingly intelligent.
And rooks, which is the crow family member here, especially so.
Probably too intelligent for this system to work for long, because they'll quickly figure out how to deposit the same loot twice, or what else can be substituted that's easier to find, how to raid other sources, or something else we haven't anticipated.
You apparently have a poor imagination. There are absolutely reasons to smoke.
For instance, the number one reason is because you want to.
True, but if you just have to smoke in public and can't be bothered to get a cheap, reusable, portable ashtray, and instead choose to conveniently litter, then you are a huge asshole. And no, you don't get to justify it by complaining that there are no ashtrays around; just because society stopped catering to you does not make you the victim.
What complete bullshit.
I am a smoker, and as such I spend a lot of time around fellow smokers. I regularly see people standing a meter from a bin flick their butts into the gutter. I regularly see people flick butts out of their cars despite a good percentage of vehicles on the roads having ashtrays in them. And every time I see it, I tell these dipshits "you realise there is a bin literally right there don't you?", to which at best I get a shrug, and at worst I get told to fuck myself.
My biggest motivator to quit is to not be associated with these assholes. And it's not just a smoker thing. These are the same spanners that will drop rubbish a meter from a bin, throw a bottle out of the car window, spit gum out onto a footpath, and otherwise demonstrate them selves to be completely ignorant of keeping the environment in which they live clean. I have a small screw top jar in my sidebag for situations where there is not a bin, and if I don't have my sidebag, my butt goes back into the pack till next I am near a bin.
How dare you make excuses for such basic behaviour. More bins is not the answer. Teaching people to not act like 5 year olds who think it is everyone else's problem to clean up after them, is.
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For instance, the number one reason is because you want to.
Most smokers do not want to smoke, and wish they had never started.
The number one reason for smoking is addiction.
Most smokers want to quit, and have tried multiple times
But let's not forget they're not all arseholes.
I never met one yet that thought twice about throwing the butt on the floor when there's no ashtray within eight inches.
No sig today...
The number one reason for smoking is addiction.
Quitting is easy, I have done it many times.
My biggest motivator to quit is to not be associated with these assholes.
You could always switch to vaping, and be associated with a different group of assholes...
Teaching people to not act like 5 year olds who think it is everyone else's problem to clean up after them, is.
Best of luck with that, which I mean simultaneously sincerely and sarcastically.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"