An emotional scene from a 2019 movie is being used to scare off wolves at local farms.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a tense scene between Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver in the film “Marriage Story” is being used by the United States Department of Agriculture.
The agency is playing audio from the scene on a loudspeaker over farmlands across the West Coast to scare off the wolves who have been attacking livestock.
An official with the USDA said the audio was chosen to illustrate to the wolves that humans are to be feared.
“I need the wolves to respond and know that, hey, humans are bad,” said Paul Wolf, a USDA district supervisor in Oregon, to the outlet. He has led operations for a federal study of wolf hazing with drones since 2022.
Other methods being used include using a drone and playing AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” fireworks and gunshots.
The WSJ reports that endangered gray wolves “are terrorizing livestock herds across the American West.”
The owners of Prather Ranch in Macdoel, California, told the publication that wolves killed about 40 of their calves.
Drones were deployed in Oregon’s Klamath Basin after 11 cows were killed by wolves in 20 days, the WSJ said. When drones were on patrol “over the nest 85 days,” only two were killed.
Since 1995, wolves have been allowed back into Yellowstone National Park, which has increased the attacks on cattle and sheep. However, due to the wolves being endangered, ranchers aren’t able to harm them.