Why did scientists paint eyes on hundreds of cattle butts? To save lives, study says

[Potoooooooo]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-did-scientists-paint-eyes-221215993.html

For four years, researchers painted fake eyes on hundreds of cattle butts for the sake of science. What seems like a silly prank, the “eye-cow technique” proved lifesaving for the animals as it made predators rethink their attack, choosing another meal instead.

The scientists say their method is a more humane and “ecologically sound” alternative to lethal control and fencing used to separate cattle from carnivores. The team even theorizes the technique could be used to prevent human-wildlife conflicts and reduce criminal activity, according to a news release. A study was published Aug. 7 in the journal Communications Biology.

 

[skepticalbip]

It looks like they stole the idea from the honey gatherers of the Sunderbans. Their greatest peril was being attacked by bengal tigers. Many decades ago they began wearing lifelike masks on the back of their head so that a tiger stalking them would see a face staring at them. Tiger attacks dropped dramatically.

 

[Tigers!]

Occasionally seems to repel magpie swooping attacks too when walking or riding.

 

[Gun Nut]

I saw a social experiment where they had a "lemonade stand" like display in public square. The stand had a large, wide-mouth jar full of paper money with a sign that said "Free Money"
They did 3 experiments...

1) They attended the stand and attempted to get people to come over and take a bill.. just one per customer... no catch.. just take a dollar.
People were highly suspicious.. walked away without taking... some who would take a bill out of the jar acted like they were being pranked... very conservative behavior.

2) They then tried it with nobody attending the stand... just a sign that said "free money - please just take one each" or something like that, with the jar of bills sitting there.
They money was gone in 5 minutes. Hidden cameras showed people walking up and taking fistfulls of bills.

3) finally, they repeated the second experiment. Except this time, in addition to the sign and the jar of money, with nobody attending, there was a picture hanging up in the background, behind the stand.
Nobody approached the stand or took a single bill.

The picture was simply a pair of eyes.


I tried to find it on youtube but apparently there are a whole lot of "free money social experiments" out there.