Mechanical squirrels, robot lizards jump into research

Associated Press Writer ^ | Sat May 3, 7:26 AM ET | STEPHANIE REITZ

[skinkinthegrass]

AMHERST, Mass. - One gray squirrel, its bushy tail twitching, barked a warning as another scrounged for food nearby. It was an ordinary spring day at Hampshire College, except that the rodent issuing the warning was powered by amps, not acorns.

[skinkinthegrass]

....taste of the news, in the "Land of Fruits/Nuts" (from the East Coast)

[Kirkwood]

ROFLMAO!!!!! This isn't going to fool any squirrel unless they were drunk.

[ryan71]

Bill Murry would call that, "Squirrel Kong".

[6SJ7]

Researchers at the Free University of Brussels, for instance, found that fake roaches doused in familiar pheromones became so accepted among their cockroach compatriots that the real bugs succumbed to the interlopers' peer pressure to move out of dark areas into the light.

Great. A giant cockroach army under cyborg control.

[skinkinthegrass]

This isn't going to fool any squirrel unless they were drunk.
or a Swimmer *HIC!* Kenne(drunk)y...."deer don't, horses have only four feet....(and not six :)...Jermiah Johnson (will greer)

[freedomlover]

Looks like a squirrel in a mink coat!

[skinkinthegrass]

...as in Mimic...the giant roach movie?

[maine-iac7]

"The real issue from a scientist's point of view is, 'Can I come up with a robot that will help me answer a question that I couldn't answer otherwise?'"

Little Red says - "Stupid humans...like we don't know the difference"

This is the feistiest of my little friends from the red squirrel group = he comes and tells me everything - and I get to observe them running around my property, interacting with one another, running their tree-top railroads, gathering/stashing, etc...Same with my grays - birds, etc...hummingbirds eat out of my hand, have had many sessions in the wild where, by being still and unobtrusive, I'm accepted by the 'locals' - like beavers, deer, Canadas, - and get to watch them going about their business.

All it takes it being still and quiet long enough and consistently - and then you can watch them interacting normally with each other - not a robot.

I have another friend who basically lived in the forest as a Maine Warden for 30 years. He's also a great wildlife artist - and catches the essence of each animal as he knows, from observation of them in their habitat, their personalities, etc.

These people with their robots are clueless...

[Kirkwood]

My home is one of the last places for hummingbirds to stop in the fall before they cross over the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently I get tens of thousands of hummers stopping in for a last meal. I’ve noticed that some of them are very tame and used to being around humans, while others are the exact opposite and will head for a tree if they see a human. The tame ones will come up and land on my head or shoulder or sip sugar water out of my hand as long as you make no sudden movements. Some like to look through the windows and chirp to get my attention when the feeders run empty. They are really very smart little birds and have amazing abilities.

[maine-iac7]

tens of thousands of hummers! Envy envy!

I wrote one of columns a couple years ago on my hummers - I called it “The Fight of the Humming Birds” - they can be mean little buggers to one another!

[Kirkwood]

I buy a lot of sugar in September and October and I’m constantly filling the feeders and chasing away the stray cats! Older male ruby throated hummers are very territorial and will stake a claim to about an acre of territory, but once the migration season starts, they don’t fight that much. They actually wait in line to take turns at the feeders.