USDA Uses “Marriage Story” Argument and AC/DC to Scare Off Wolves

Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson have an interesting side hustle—fighting off wolves. Sort of.

In one of the strangest but most effective forms of wildlife management you’ll hear about today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is using drones, loud music, and… Hollywood drama to protect cattle from wolf attacks.

Specifically, they’re blasting the infamous fight scene from the 2019 film Marriage Story to send a very loud message to predators: humans are loud, chaotic, and best avoided.

It’s all part of a method called “wolf hazing,” which involves scaring wolves away from livestock using drones equipped with thermal cameras and mounted speakers.

When the drones detect a wolf, they blare unsettling sounds—fireworks, gunshots, and yes, that intense Adam-vs-Scarlett yelling match. If that doesn’t work, the wolves also get a dose of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck at full volume.

And while this might sound like the weirdest Spotify playlist ever, it’s actually working. In one Oregon hotspot where 11 cows were killed in just 20 days, hazing efforts cut the number of wolf kills to only two over the next 85 days.

A USDA official summed it up best: “I need the wolves to respond and know that, hey, humans are bad.”

Hollywood drama, classic rock, and thermal drones: it’s not exactly what you’d expect from the USDA, but it’s oddly effective.