"They’re taking really fun technological toys out into the desert and experimenting and trying new things, and basically screwing with ravens—which is a hilarious concept."

"We just have to change the cost-benefit ratio inside the bird’s head, so that it chooses somewhere different, away from tortoise habitat. Very cautious optimism is how I feel. After a lifetime of observing this thing that was falling apart, the work we’re doing has injected an element of hope.... We just have to change the cost-benefit ratio inside the bird’s head, so that it chooses somewhere different, away from tortoise habitat.... The idea is just to make the haunted landscape where there’s just no relief from the surprises, and all the surprises are bad."

From "Can You Save One Species by Annoying Another? In 'Eco-Hack!,' the filmmakers Brett Marty and Josh Izenberg document a conservation biologist’s novel strategy for rescuing the desert tortoise: booby traps" (The New Yorker). I'm quoting filmmaker Brett Marty in the post title and conservation biologist Tim Shields in the text of the post.

On behalf of the tortoises, they are tormenting the ravens. The "booby-traps" include "laser emitters on terrestrial rovers" and "3-D-printed fake tortoises laced with artificial grape flavoring." There are also drones that spray oil on the ravens' eggs, which I wouldn't call a "booby-trap." It's not a trap. The animal doesn't fall for it. It's a simple attack on the unborn. But it's okay — isn't it? — because ravens bad, tortoises good. And are we to have fun watching men having fun carrying out this anti-bird agenda? Does the pro-tortoise purpose give license?

I was interested in the term "booby-trap," especially with regard to a bird, because a booby is a type of bird. From Wikipedia:

The Spanish word bobo translates to "stupid, daft, naïve, simple, fool, idiot, clown, funny man, one who is easily cheated" and similar pejorative terms....

In approximately 1590, the word began appearing in the English language as booby, meaning "stupid person, slow bird". The seabird in question was the genus Sula, with their common name being boobies. These birds have large flat feet and wide wingspans for marine habitats but are clumsy and slow on shore making them easy to catch. The birds are also known for landing aboard seagoing vessels, whereupon they have been eaten by the crew....

The phrase booby trap originally applied to schoolboy pranks, but took on its more sinister connotation during World War I. The term "booby trap" gives rise to the idea that an individual with the misfortune to be caught in the trap does so because the individual is a "booby," or that an individual who is caught in the trap thereby becomes a "booby."

We're not just trapping the thing caught. We are regarding it as stupid for falling into the trap. But ravens aren't boobies. They are unusually smart. The tortoise protectors are trying to teach the ravens not to think of tortoises as easy prey. We'll see what the ravens figure out.