The critically acclaimed drama Marriage Story won multiple awards, including an Oscar, but this is one accolade that director Noah Baumbach likely did not intend. The film follows the story of a divorcing couple, played by Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, who are engaged in a custody battle. Their on-screen arguments are apparently so upsetting that even wild wolves want nothing to do with them.
Audio from the film is being used alongside other recordings to deter wolves that get too close to livestock in Oregon. According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) district supervisor in the state, the department has been deploying drones to monitor for wolves near livestock at night using thermal cameras. When a wolf is spotted, the drone shines a spotlight on it and blasts audio over a loudspeaker to scare it off. In addition to recordings of the shouting arguments from the film, the drones play firework and gunshot sounds as well as the song “Thunderstruck” from AC/DC.
“I need the wolves to respond and know that, hey, humans are bad,” the USDA spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal. And it appears to be working. The drones were deployed in the Klamath Basin after wolves killed 11 cows in the region over a 20-day period. Over the following 85 days when the drones were active, only two cows were killed by wolves in the area.
