Given the insane progression in the Home Depot Halloween displays I estimate it’s about two years off - twenty foot tall animatronic skeletons are now table stakes.
Karelian Bear Dogs are a better way to manage bears. For example the National Park Service uses them and the Wind River Bear Institute has Karelian Bear Dogs on call.
And they are awesome dogs…bread so you can trust your life to one.
Pros and cons. I believe in Romania, where brown bears are very prevalent, aggressive dog breeds are used to protect sheep... But they are so aggressive that they pose an overall greater risk to humans than the bears themselves: https://romania-mountains.com/shepherd-dogs-in-romania-what-...
KBD’s are a hunting dogs. They hold bears in place with personality and it is common for them to work alone.
In North America, they are used to “shepherd” bears away from human habitats.
For example in the US Park Service link, you can see a single dog riding with a single park ranger.
That's why they're called lifestock guardian dogs. Romanians don't have a proper word for it, they're called "shepherd dogs". Bad description. Shepherd dogs like Border Collies herd sheep. The lifestock guardian kind fend off bears, wolves and hikers alike. They're very territorial and their territory is wherever the livestock happens to be at that point in time. The native breeds are usually manageable, while the Caucasian Shepherd and the Kangal are not, at least not without shouting, stick waving and throwing rocks at them. The Carpathian "Shepherd" Dog is now exported to Italy to fend off wolves.
Whatever happened to Akitas? Weren't they used to fend off bears in Japan? This one looks quite similar but lower mainenance, less aggresive, more independent. Looks like a more versatile lifestock guardian dog, capable to ocasionaly pull a sled, herd some moose or destroy vermin.
On a sidenote, I have no idea why people get Akitas as pets in urban environments. They were used to fend of bears, have close to zero friendliness. Even the Karelian Bear Dog is a better pick. Maybe Hachikō is to blame.
Plott hounds also will square up with bears[1]. My childhood dog was a plott hound we adopted from the shelter and we quickly realized he could not be allowed near any other non human animal if we wanted that animal to still live.
Luckily we were in the sticks and had a decent plot of land so he could be out and exercise without putting anyone else’s pets at risk.
My first rescue hound was a Plott Hound. She had been pretty badly broken because of previous owners not treating her right. The only reason we knew her history is that she would frequently run away and was known to most of the dog officers within a 10-mile radius of her places of living.
We knew that Coonhounds had to be introduced to cats in a very carefully because they frequently confuse them for prey, and we succeeded. She integrated nicely into a household with five cats.
It's been decades since she's passed and I still miss her very much. I grew up with Black and Tan Coonhounds and had blues and Black and Tans as an adult. I miss them all.
We just kinda gave up after he burst out of the door one morning and caught a bird before it could lift off and then went full slavering rage mode when he saw another dog. We could have possibly introduced him to other animals but felt like it would stress him out, add danger to the other animals, and we had the space to let him be a dog without it becoming an issue.
Most of his interactions with other animals was the local coyote pack coming to see if he was easy pickings yet. The last 2-3 years of his life I would follow him on his nighttime bathroom breaks with a bat ready to help my old man in his last battle. Luckily it never came to that and he died peacefully in his sleep on my lap.
The story on this is that it has 50 sounds that it makes; competing units with less than about 50 sounds, the animals get used to and don’t view the wolf as threatening after a while. However with 50 sounds the animals do not get used to it and they are scared away.
Interested to learn about the encroachment into bear territory. Disappointed this article didn't dig more into exactly why this is becoming an increasing problem. Since Japan's population is declining and most younger people moving into larger cities like Tokyo in search of jobs, my assumption would be that there would be less development in more rural areas, not more.
> Scientists speculated that the uptick in attacks has been driven by a growing bear population, coupled with the year's bad acorn harvest, USA TODAY previously reported. These conditions created an area "overcrowded with hungry bears," driving the large animals to populated areas in search of food.
Perhaps, because there are less people living in the rural areas, the bears are emboldened to roam more freely, thus increasing the frequency of encounters with the human occupiers.
Eh, I don't think there is much active encroachment happening any longer. Japan is no longer growing into its rural areas so much as receding from them.
Also, under certain constructions of the word "territory," (including the legal one) all territory in Japan is human territory. The bears are allowed to live on some of it but it is at the sufferance of the Japanese people.
the fact that young people are moving has meant that money, attention and labor is missing, these days in rural sections of aging and developed countries the expertise and interest in forestry or wildlife management simply isn't there any more. I spent a few months in rural Japan a few years ago and it affected all kinds of jobs. Agriculture, pest control, or even much more mundane repair work. I knew a couple that moved there enticed by low property prices but they had to wait months to get the roof fixed.
People living in rural areas were capable of fixing most of their houses by themselves. When I grew up I spent most summers in a mountain village where people were self-resilient, I had all sorts of woodworking tools in the shed and other than electricity there was nothing my grandpa was not fixing himself and it was the same for all our neighbours.
Now a couple moving from a city to a rural area needs to learn to do this work or not move to a village. The population decline in most places makes it clear that availability of services is only going to get worse.
It's hard work. It's dangerous. Many areas get heavy snowfall in the winter which interferes with work. Summers are brutally hot. Many customers in rural areas are living on fixed income, so you are limited in how much you can charge. Commutes to job sites can be long.
My roof was damaged in heavy snowfall this winter and I needed to wait 3 months to get it repaired. And I'm not even really in a rural area. The guy who did the repairs looked to be in his 60s - I don't think many young people are looking to get into this business.
I think most contractors would do better in more densely populated areas where lots of new construction is happening.
With AI seemingly coming for my job, I've been thinking about what I want to do for the next phase of my career. Today I have found the answer - Monster Wolf builder!
Japan's firearm regime let to near extinction of hunters. Bears have mostly forgotten that humans are fear, pain and death, doubt these things would change that.
It's actually more of a social issue rather than a legislative issue.
The vast majority of hunters live out in aging, rural areas. Areas where young people are moving from to more urban cores like Tokyo, Nagoya, or Osaka.
Additionally, hunting isn't seen as a "leisure" activity here; it's seen as a job. One that doesn't pay that well either.
Getting a gun license here isn't hard, takes a couple of months, mostly of just waiting, at worst. The police will do mental health screenings, financial reports, social screenings, and a few other risk vectors, which take a bit.
The waiting period for a rifle is 10 years though? And there are amateur hunting clubs, but you're right, it's the combination of anal licensing and social rejection.
Pretty much every mountainous region in the mainland of Japan, except for Chiba prefecture, has bears. Most people do not live in the mountains, which is why bear sightings tend to be limited to the areas with (a) significant human population, (b) proximity to mountains.
They do. My parents live in a mountain village in Japan and never step outside without bear spray and a bear bell. There have been some grim local stories — bears taking pet dogs out of yards. For people up there, it's a daily fear, not an abstraction.
I was kinda hoping for Bladewolf from Metal Gear Rising but no. Still pretty scary though, and it makes a variety of intimidating noises like a GEKKO unit!
Because bears and wolves could compete for resources, bears might avoid areas that were commonly occupied by wolves, and young bear cubs have been documented to fall victim to the occasion wolf pack here and there, albeit the Japanese wolves were the smallest of the common wolf breeds.
I am not trying to say that Japanese wolves would solve the problem entirely, but I do think it is important to not try to sway ecological systems too much. Our interactions with nature can sometimes have unpredictable downstream effects.
If Japan were to be rid of bears, then I imagine their next problem would be sika or wild boars.
A friend who lives there sent me this photo of a bear roaming an Aomori building from a few days ago. https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/general-news/2026051... (https://archive.ph/Z6llc https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/attachment/327729/)
I know how this ends; with robot bears fighting off robot wolves whilst we cower underground.
Are there any good robot animatronics for Halloween? I want a wendigo to walk around my yard.
We have something close, but unfortunately not at the halloween decoration price point - https://www.satyress.com/
The face and eyes with the chainsaw looks so satire. Is that how you got the name? Hope you are getting enough sales as it does look useful.
Oh hey here's a terrifying robot. Let's give it GIANT FUCKING CHAINSAW HANDS.
I’m going to make this guy skulk around and scare the children https://mangdang.store/products/mp2
You could put a chainsaw in the front and get a robot Pochita! [0]
[0]: https://chainsaw-man.fandom.com/wiki/Pochita
Hmm, maybe a low-buoyancy floater is better? Helium and a quadcopter.
I'm looking at the "air reservoirs" in the chest and body that you can apparently fucking shoot or stab to force an E-stop.
They literally say you (could) shoot the thing as an actual emergency stop to brake all the actuators.
Wild.
Otacon: To stop the unit, you have to access the control panel on its back and manually input the override code—
Snake: No time! I'm gonna try shooting it.
Otacon: That'll work too. I put that in as a failsafe.
I'm reminded of the fact that the Japanese built literal giant humanoid mechs for the purposes of... teleoperated train powerline repair: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/04/japan-...
Satyr.. I assume this is satire?
Given the insane progression in the Home Depot Halloween displays I estimate it’s about two years off - twenty foot tall animatronic skeletons are now table stakes.
Why? Because farmers will buy robot bears to attack each other's farms?
Cant we just invent robot elephants?
Karelian Bear Dogs are a better way to manage bears. For example the National Park Service uses them and the Wind River Bear Institute has Karelian Bear Dogs on call.
And they are awesome dogs…bread so you can trust your life to one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelian_Bear_Dog
https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/view.htm?id=97DA9C58-7976-4D...
https://beardogs.org/
Pros and cons. I believe in Romania, where brown bears are very prevalent, aggressive dog breeds are used to protect sheep... But they are so aggressive that they pose an overall greater risk to humans than the bears themselves: https://romania-mountains.com/shepherd-dogs-in-romania-what-...
KBD’s are a hunting dogs. They hold bears in place with personality and it is common for them to work alone. In North America, they are used to “shepherd” bears away from human habitats.
For example in the US Park Service link, you can see a single dog riding with a single park ranger.
That's why they're called lifestock guardian dogs. Romanians don't have a proper word for it, they're called "shepherd dogs". Bad description. Shepherd dogs like Border Collies herd sheep. The lifestock guardian kind fend off bears, wolves and hikers alike. They're very territorial and their territory is wherever the livestock happens to be at that point in time. The native breeds are usually manageable, while the Caucasian Shepherd and the Kangal are not, at least not without shouting, stick waving and throwing rocks at them. The Carpathian "Shepherd" Dog is now exported to Italy to fend off wolves.
Whatever happened to Akitas? Weren't they used to fend off bears in Japan? This one looks quite similar but lower mainenance, less aggresive, more independent. Looks like a more versatile lifestock guardian dog, capable to ocasionaly pull a sled, herd some moose or destroy vermin.
https://www.dog-learn.com/breed-vs-breed/akita-vs-karelian-b...
On a sidenote, I have no idea why people get Akitas as pets in urban environments. They were used to fend of bears, have close to zero friendliness. Even the Karelian Bear Dog is a better pick. Maybe Hachikō is to blame.
Plott hounds also will square up with bears[1]. My childhood dog was a plott hound we adopted from the shelter and we quickly realized he could not be allowed near any other non human animal if we wanted that animal to still live.
Luckily we were in the sticks and had a decent plot of land so he could be out and exercise without putting anyone else’s pets at risk.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plott_Hound
My first rescue hound was a Plott Hound. She had been pretty badly broken because of previous owners not treating her right. The only reason we knew her history is that she would frequently run away and was known to most of the dog officers within a 10-mile radius of her places of living.
We knew that Coonhounds had to be introduced to cats in a very carefully because they frequently confuse them for prey, and we succeeded. She integrated nicely into a household with five cats.
It's been decades since she's passed and I still miss her very much. I grew up with Black and Tan Coonhounds and had blues and Black and Tans as an adult. I miss them all.
We just kinda gave up after he burst out of the door one morning and caught a bird before it could lift off and then went full slavering rage mode when he saw another dog. We could have possibly introduced him to other animals but felt like it would stress him out, add danger to the other animals, and we had the space to let him be a dog without it becoming an issue.
Most of his interactions with other animals was the local coyote pack coming to see if he was easy pickings yet. The last 2-3 years of his life I would follow him on his nighttime bathroom breaks with a bat ready to help my old man in his last battle. Luckily it never came to that and he died peacefully in his sleep on my lap.
I wonder how the bears would write this headline
"TIDE TURNS AGAINST HUMAN TERROR-BOTS"
Pretty sure I’m going to be seeing that robot wolf in my nightmares…
The story on this is that it has 50 sounds that it makes; competing units with less than about 50 sounds, the animals get used to and don’t view the wolf as threatening after a while. However with 50 sounds the animals do not get used to it and they are scared away.
Thought I was in r/nottheonion for a moment
Title is click bait.
It is a electronic scarecrow.
Maybe one that moves soon, but even then still not something I would call a robot wolf.
> The robot scarecrows are used to ward off bears in rural areas
Two thoughts on this captioned image: (1) holy $&!# that is horrifying (2) if its designed to ward off bears, isn't it a scarebear?
Interested to learn about the encroachment into bear territory. Disappointed this article didn't dig more into exactly why this is becoming an increasing problem. Since Japan's population is declining and most younger people moving into larger cities like Tokyo in search of jobs, my assumption would be that there would be less development in more rural areas, not more.
> Scientists speculated that the uptick in attacks has been driven by a growing bear population, coupled with the year's bad acorn harvest, USA TODAY previously reported. These conditions created an area "overcrowded with hungry bears," driving the large animals to populated areas in search of food.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2026/05/13/super-m...
Perhaps, because there are less people living in the rural areas, the bears are emboldened to roam more freely, thus increasing the frequency of encounters with the human occupiers.
Not just perhaps, this is the prevailing theory here.
But then it’s stated oddly. It’s more like bears are encroaching on human territory rather than people expanding into bear territory.
Eh, I don't think there is much active encroachment happening any longer. Japan is no longer growing into its rural areas so much as receding from them.
Also, under certain constructions of the word "territory," (including the legal one) all territory in Japan is human territory. The bears are allowed to live on some of it but it is at the sufferance of the Japanese people.
See also headlines that refer to “shark infested waters” instead of “human infested waters”.
the fact that young people are moving has meant that money, attention and labor is missing, these days in rural sections of aging and developed countries the expertise and interest in forestry or wildlife management simply isn't there any more. I spent a few months in rural Japan a few years ago and it affected all kinds of jobs. Agriculture, pest control, or even much more mundane repair work. I knew a couple that moved there enticed by low property prices but they had to wait months to get the roof fixed.
People living in rural areas were capable of fixing most of their houses by themselves. When I grew up I spent most summers in a mountain village where people were self-resilient, I had all sorts of woodworking tools in the shed and other than electricity there was nothing my grandpa was not fixing himself and it was the same for all our neighbours.
Now a couple moving from a city to a rural area needs to learn to do this work or not move to a village. The population decline in most places makes it clear that availability of services is only going to get worse.
> had to wait months to get the roof fixed.
In economic theory, that's an obvious business opportunity.
In the real world.., might you know what barriers a small roofing repair business would face in rural Japan?
It's hard work. It's dangerous. Many areas get heavy snowfall in the winter which interferes with work. Summers are brutally hot. Many customers in rural areas are living on fixed income, so you are limited in how much you can charge. Commutes to job sites can be long.
My roof was damaged in heavy snowfall this winter and I needed to wait 3 months to get it repaired. And I'm not even really in a rural area. The guy who did the repairs looked to be in his 60s - I don't think many young people are looking to get into this business.
I think most contractors would do better in more densely populated areas where lots of new construction is happening.
The barriers are that none of your customers have any money, and nobody wants to do the work for the prices the customers can afford.
That's what life in an economically declining/dying area is like.
With AI seemingly coming for my job, I've been thinking about what I want to do for the next phase of my career. Today I have found the answer - Monster Wolf builder!
Japan's firearm regime let to near extinction of hunters. Bears have mostly forgotten that humans are fear, pain and death, doubt these things would change that.
It's actually more of a social issue rather than a legislative issue.
The vast majority of hunters live out in aging, rural areas. Areas where young people are moving from to more urban cores like Tokyo, Nagoya, or Osaka.
Additionally, hunting isn't seen as a "leisure" activity here; it's seen as a job. One that doesn't pay that well either.
Getting a gun license here isn't hard, takes a couple of months, mostly of just waiting, at worst. The police will do mental health screenings, financial reports, social screenings, and a few other risk vectors, which take a bit.
Source: Actively going through the process.
The waiting period for a rifle is 10 years though? And there are amateur hunting clubs, but you're right, it's the combination of anal licensing and social rejection.
Certainly the current firearm regime is an improvement, historically speaking.
Japan has bears and they’re dangerous? Why not use bear spray?
Pretty much every mountainous region in the mainland of Japan, except for Chiba prefecture, has bears. Most people do not live in the mountains, which is why bear sightings tend to be limited to the areas with (a) significant human population, (b) proximity to mountains.
They do. My parents live in a mountain village in Japan and never step outside without bear spray and a bear bell. There have been some grim local stories — bears taking pet dogs out of yards. For people up there, it's a daily fear, not an abstraction.
Weapons in general are far more highly regulated in Japan, and of course the citizens don't have the right to bear arms.
Makes sense that there's a lot more bears out there when citizens don't have a right to have their arms.
When I read a story like this it makes me think: man, Japan really needs to get its act together.
America knows exactly what to do when bears are attacking and we're out of robot wolves.
Are these uniquely effective compared to drones, RC cars, etc?
I was kinda hoping for Bladewolf from Metal Gear Rising but no. Still pretty scary though, and it makes a variety of intimidating noises like a GEKKO unit!
I wonder if Japan would need robot wolves had they not wrongfully drove their native wolf species to extinction?
How would native wolves prevent bears from coming down to human settlements?
Maybe there would be fewer bears? I honestly don't see the connection either, though.
Without typing up a long comment, fewer bears indirectly, yes. I am curious of that would happen.
The wolves would come to town to get supplies for their friends, the bears?
Because bears and wolves could compete for resources, bears might avoid areas that were commonly occupied by wolves, and young bear cubs have been documented to fall victim to the occasion wolf pack here and there, albeit the Japanese wolves were the smallest of the common wolf breeds.
I am not trying to say that Japanese wolves would solve the problem entirely, but I do think it is important to not try to sway ecological systems too much. Our interactions with nature can sometimes have unpredictable downstream effects.
If Japan were to be rid of bears, then I imagine their next problem would be sika or wild boars.
They wouldn't have had to worry about bears or wolves if they had driven them both to extinction like many parts of the world
It seems these really are just scarecrows, in that they are rooted to the spot. It's not a robot if it can't move.