High-Tech Squirrels Trained to Conduct Espionage 269
Pcol writes "In the July 20 issue of the Washington Post, columnist Al Kamen reports that the BBC has translated a story headlined 'spying squirrels,' published in the Iranian newspaper Resalat on the use of trained animals to conduct espionage against their country: 'A few weeks ago, 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems of foreign intelligence services were captured by [Iranian] intelligence forces along the country's borders. These trained squirrels, each of which weighed just over 700 grams, were released on the borders of the country for intelligence and espionage purposes.' According the story the squirrels had 'GPS devices, bugging instruments and advanced cameras' in their bodies. 'Given the fast speed and the special physical features of these animals, they provide special capabilities for spying operations. Once the animals return to their place of origin, the intelligence gathered by them is then offloaded. . . .' Iranian police officials captured the squirrels before they could carry out their assignments."
Squirrels? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Squirrels? (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, wait a minute. That was to spy on Boris and Natasha.
Never mind.
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rd
They actually tried this with cats. (Score:4, Informative)
I believe the original test subjects were released in NYC and were dead within 24 hours. See, one of the requirements for the plan to be fruitful was a high population density to increase the chance of picking up something interesting... unfortunately the level of traffic in these areas is not healthy for stray kitties with no street experience. The surgery also included a type of disabling of the cat's hunger response so that it would stay in the vicinity of the area it was released and not go running off immediately in search of food.
Here is one link to info, but I am not familiar with the site or their specific version of events: http://mprofaca.cro.net/spycats.html [cro.net].
The NPR archives should turn something up as that is where I first heard of project 'Acoustic Kitty.'
Regards.
Re:Squirrels? (Score:4, Informative)
Those responsible for sending the squirrels have been sacked.
Re:Squirrels? (Score:4, Insightful)
But if your target complains about being spied on by a trained squirrel, people will laugh at them for being paranoids.
Re:Squirrels? (Score:4, Insightful)
It is well known the CIA did this with a cat in the 60s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acoustic_Kitty [wikipedia.org] I would be quite reasonable to expect them to have moved on to smaller animals by now. The CIA has an overwhelming need to spy on Iran. Sure this story is funny, but not really all that unlikely.
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Thats a big "if".
I had a squirrel get lose in my house once (it fell down the chimney) and let me tell you the LAST thing it did was "sit there".
That squirrel was PISSED. It completely wrecked the kitchen, broke many dishes, was on top of the cabinets, the sonnabitch ripped drywall from the walls and ceiling. There was much screaming and telling the kids to "get in their room and close the door" whilst I bravely ran away from the enraged cr
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My bad, no question that you're right about that.
I think... (Score:5, Funny)
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DeadSquirrel.com [deadsquirrel.com]
These guys have already been on top of this kind of stuff for years....
Is it April 1 already? (Score:2, Interesting)
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http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/05/0
Responds fairly predictably to pain/pleasure and various stimuli = controllable.
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Bad propaganda works. Remember the more than sixteen thousand weapons of mass destruction sites and the bit about London getting hit by missiles from Iraq with only a warning of a few minutes. In Russia there was the magic British spy rock with cameras, microphones and a transmitter (at least a little more credible but it wasn't there), so now from Iran we have acoustic kitty revived as secret squirrels for propaganda. Silly but not completely impossible - we saw with
The Onion wants their article back (Score:5, Funny)
If only they wait... (Score:2, Funny)
And wow, this has really gone all lengths through getting reported; As it stands now I am commenting on an article in the Washington Post, which reports that the BBC reported... yet another report by an Irani reporter.... Too much reports for today.
Re:If only they wait... (Score:4, Funny)
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You get the feeling that everyone's trying to cover their backsides. The story is too unbelievable to be true; so if it _does_ turn out to be false, everyone can say, "They said it!"
Squirrel-Bots (Score:4, Funny)
You know (Score:4, Funny)
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CIA (Score:5, Funny)
Pistachio nuts (Score:4, Funny)
Nothing special, if you ask me. (Score:2)
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As to smaller stuff, you already have micro drones [microdrones.com], and you can imagine smaller models that are top secret.
Here's a 33 centimeter model [bbc.co.uk] and that's from 3 years ago.
The real question (Score:4, Funny)
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I've discovered how it all went down: (Score:3, Funny)
Aziz [holding a video camera, slobbering all over himself, and muttering audibly]: Ahhh yeaaaah... you go for that nut, sugar... go get it... go get it!
Squirrel [climbs tree, gets nut, eats]
Aziz [now muttering noticeably louder]: Yeah.... eat it... yeah.... that's what I'm talkin' about... ohhhhhhh yeaaaaahhhh.
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Troll my ass. That was hilarious.
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William Hanna Was a Visionary (Score:4, Funny)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Squirrel [wikipedia.org]
Broken link (Score:2)
MSNBC [msn.com]
Wired [wired.com]
it's a small small world (Score:2)
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Well, we do have Goofy in the Whitehouse.
The Other Animals Are Agin' Us (Score:5, Funny)
By Tim Bedore 2003
URL: http://www.vaguebuttrue.com/genius.htm [vaguebuttrue.com]
Did you see that in the paper the other day about those carp in the Mississippi River jumping into boats and bonking fisherman in the head? It's true. They're called big head carp, they're from Asia and they're attacking and severely injuring many fisherman.
Biologists claim the roar of boat motors agitates and excites these carp and they jump towards the sound but I think these biologists are naively missing an obvious connection. Fish are attacking fisherman. For the fish it's get them before they get you, kill or be killed. Even if these fisherman are practicing catch and release, that's a very painful, embarrassing experience for any fish and apparently they have had it.
What about the increase in mountain lion attacks? Great White sharks moving closer to shore? Moose have been showing up in towns and stomping on people. A squirrel was in my living room last spring. Am I the only one that sees a pattern here? People, wise up! The other animals are against us. It doesn't take a genius to see there's an inter-species conspiracy to thwart the urban expansion of man.
How do the squirrels fit in? Surveillance. They spy on what we people are doing in the cities and report back to the bigger species out there on the front lines.
And taken together these other species represent walking, we hope not yet talking, scratching, biting weapons of mass destruction. And if these other species can convince the insect world, for example a well known anti-human group like the killer bees, to join up our way of life and our democracy could be history.
The skeptical may ask why would these other species want to hurt us? Obviously, they hate us. They are jealous of our way of life. We swim in chlorinated, safe environment pools, then towel off and have an adult beverage. They are stuck eating sludge in the Mississippi, a river polluted by guess who: their mortal enemy man. And to top it all off we eat them.
This invasion of Asian carp is no accident. This is stage one of their well planned attack. We ignore the obvious at our own peril.
We can no longer sit back and wait for them to attack us. It's time we adopt a new doctrine regarding these other animals. We have to wipe out any and all species who are a lined against us, wherever they are. We can not rest until every big head carp, great white shark, mountain lion, moose and squirrel and any other species that associates with them are defeated.
If the U.N. wants to get involved fine, if not we can do it alone. Of course the British will show up, they always do, but we will fight to protect our way of life. And if you don't agree, you're an unpatriotic idiot who hates America.
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Seagull becomes crisp shoplifter
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/690 7994.stm [bbc.co.uk]
A seagull has turned shoplifter by wandering into a shop and helping itself to crisps.
The bird walks into the RS McColl newsagents in Aberdeen when the door is open and makes off with cheese Doritos
The bird first swooped in Aberdeen's Castlegate earlier this month and made off with the 55p crisps, and is now a regular.
Once outside, the crisps are ripped open and the seagull is joined by other birds.
i think we gotta have a look at social economic state of the animals and look at the collapse of moral's within the animal kingdom, spying squirrels, dorito stealing seagulls and man eating badgers in basra what's next hoodie hamsters, graffiti gerbils, please wont someone think of the children.
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Which are filled with woodland creatures.
Ok, maybe it'll be safer where I am...
Obligatory (Score:3, Informative)
And can someone please tell me if this post is a joke or if Iranians really think US is using squirrels, or if Iranians made this up for propoganda? Who's going to believe this...
Iranian news mistook satire for truth before (Score:3, Interesting)
Two years ago, a iranian news agency found this fake interview and thought it was a reliable news source. They broke the story and there was a big bruha in Iran. The german consulate in Tehran even had to issue an official denial
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That's still nothing compared to when the Beijing Evening News translated and reprinted an Onion article about Congress going on strike and threatening to move to another city because they wanted a retractible dome, better seating and parking, and more concession stands and bathrooms for the Capitol Building, complete with illustrations. They had to issue a formal retraction.
Hey Rocky! (Score:5, Funny)
Bullwinkle: Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat.
Rocky: Again?
Bullwinkle: Presto!
Ahmadinejad: ROAR!!!
Bullwinkle: Oops, wrong hat.
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But I still laughed out loud.
Wrong Creature. (Score:2)
Man-eating badgers in Iraq (Score:5, Funny)
Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic.
But several of the creatures, caught and killed by local farmers, have been identified by experts as honey badgers.
The rumours spread because the animals had appeared near the British base at Basra airport.
UK military spokesman Major Mike Shearer said: "We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area.
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Man-eating badgers. How nuts do you have to be to think that a badger could eat a man?
Everybody knows that a small child aged four to five years old, six at the most, is their limit.
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That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! ... Look, that badger's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!
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Translation: We don't need no stinking Badgers.
Well of course they are denying it. Those Badgers were told if captured we will disavow any knowledge of you or your activities.
The real trick is teaching these Badgers to eat only insurgents.
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this and put it on youtube.
http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/ [badgerbadgerbadger.com]
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Hunter Thompson pointed out that one of the most effective techniques in politics is to make your opponent take time to respond to outlandish rumors: "I am not, nor have I ever been, a pigfucker."
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"Badgers subsist primarily on a diet of stoats, voles, and marmots. In a pinch, badgers have been known to eat woodpeckers."
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But me and Suad don't go out no more because of those things.
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It's one of the few times I actually believe what a military spokesman says
What? No moose? (Score:2)
You should have bought a SQUIRREL! (Score:4, Informative)
But seriously, the CIA tried something like that with a cat: http://mprofaca.cro.net/spycats.html [cro.net] "They tested him and tested him. They found he would walk off the job when he got hungry, so they put another wire in to override that."
And there have always been rumors about the Navy training dolphins. Given how capable trained dolphins are, that wouldn't be too surprising to me.
But squirrels? Can squirrels be trained? Why mess around with trained squirrels when they can use paid humans?
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Mailboxes Etc in Beverly Hills [mailboxesb...s90210.com]
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I also recall news stories about dolphins used to clear mines from the Persian Gulf several years ago.
Ah, wikipedia to the rescue, lots of solid references listed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dolphins [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Navy_Marine_Mamm al_Program [wikipedia.org]
Mmmm (Score:4, Funny)
Sounds like the CIA Spy Cat (Score:2)
the Iranian newspaper Resalat (Score:3, Funny)
On Resalat and more.... (Score:5, Informative)
I occasionally read those when I was in Iran and believe it or not they are FoxNews-made-in-Iran. Anyway, try not to take them serious.
just thought someone might be interested!
They shoulda used their noggins (Score:2)
If necessary, they could also indoctrinate the squirrels with rumors of 72 virgin squirrels awaiting them in the afterlife.
Re:They shoulda used their noggins (Score:5, Informative)
If necessary, they could also indoctrinate the squirrels with rumors of 72 virgin squirrels awaiting them in the afterlife.
They tried, but:
1) Squirrels are better at math than jihadis. They spot the 72 virgin con easily.
2) Squirrels aren't all that picky about the virgin thing anyhow.
Actually, we have had problems with suicidal squirrels around here. Every once in a while the power will go out and they'll find a very crispy squirrel near a chewed-on power cable. I don't think that tiny little bomb vests would add much to the effect.
Sending in secret ninja squirrels to rescue the American hostages in Iran [ocregister.com] is sadly more likely than any other forceful action to get them released.
Nice catch, Boris... (Score:5, Funny)
Same with flies. (Score:2)
What's next? (Score:3, Insightful)
You think this is something wait for 2.0 (Score:2)
What the article doesn't tell you... (Score:2)
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My search is over (Score:2)
Real life Secret Squirrels! (Score:2)
Wait til we unleah Morocco Mole! (Score:2)
For all you acting like this is a joke (Score:2)
They even have pictures of the little spies:
http://img.fark.com/images/squirrel.jpg [fark.com]
Wow. Never thought I get to use that pic and be ontopic.
I hear they are teaming the Squirrels (Score:2)
Clearly (Score:2, Funny)
Rocky and Bulwinkle (Score:2)
This is nuts. Literally. Trained Squirrels? All they'll find is nut stashes along the border and maybe get some squirrel p0rn.
Do they really think these Squirrels will run around with little binoculars searching for WMDs? Someone has been watching too much Rocky and Bulwinkle.
Homing squirrels? Is it Iranian April Fools day?? (Score:2)
Those weren't squirrels (Score:2)
Wiki article covers technology (Score:3, Insightful)
Source? (Score:3, Interesting)
Poor Squirrels (Score:3, Interesting)
Although the UK had some rather nasty ideas of their own:
"A thousand pigeons, each with a two ounce explosive capsule, landed at intervals on a specific target might be a seriously inconvenient surprise."
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Re:It's hard to believe (Score:5, Funny)
Everybody knows they can keep secrets.
Anybody think seriously about this? (Score:3, Interesting)
Not to say I think it is real; however, its not unrealistic. A great deal of brain research is performed upon rodents and there is a lot of military related funding on technology of interest and its not impossible to have even a decade lead on some t
Historical Precedent. (Score:2)
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Re:It's hard to believe (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I don't know (Score:5, Funny)
Correct terminology (Score:3, Funny)
Since these squirrels no doubt came from Asia, this clearly should be called a Redundant Array of Independent Dremomys [wikipedia.org].
(Yes, I spent too much time researching what became a very lame joke. :P)
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Re:It's hard to believe (Score:4, Funny)
Squirrels must maintain radio silence. Otherwise the Iranians could get a lock with their anti-squirrel missiles. It is a major investment of time and money to train a squirrel for espionage, and even if one doesn't care about the lives of these brave little critters, that investment must be protected.
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I knew it!
Veruca Salt has a hand in this!
It's obvious she was thrown into the garbage chute because she was going to interfere with their real work. Cracking open the nuts was just a diversion.
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