Japanese rail companies have equipped some of their high-speed trains with speakers that blast the sounds of barking dogs and snorting deer to prevent catastrophic wildlife collisions.

A closer look

Japanese rail companies have equipped some of their high-speed trains with speakers that blast the sounds of barking dogs and snorting deer to prevent catastrophic wildlife collisions. When deer hear a train coming, their natural instinct is incredibly flawed; they just stand perfectly still on the tracks, which inevitably leads to messy and expensive delays. Engineers figured out that playing the sound of a deer's natural predator, combined with a frantic warning snort of another deer, terrifies the animals enough to finally get out of the way. This bizarre audio trick reduced wildlife casualties by nearly half, saving the rail lines thousands of hours of cleanup and maintenance. It is a brilliant, highly effective solution that must be absolutely terrifying for anyone living near the tracks, wondering why a massive, high-speed pack of mechanical hounds is screaming through the countryside at midnight!