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better than half our interns (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 3 months ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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Twitter post from Moonlit Sentences Arizona DOT installed a wildlife camera at Route 87's pedestrian crossing outside Payson last September. Standard deer migration count. After six months, they had footage of zero deer and 147 clips of the same coyote pressing the crosswalk button with its paw at sunrise. The animal waits for the walk signal. Steps into the road. Crosses at a trot. Every single time. Biologists believe it learned by watching hikers at the adjacent trailhead. "It's not random," said the lead researcher. "That coyote understands cause and effect better than half our interns." DOT voted unanimously to keep the camera running. The coyote hasn't jaywalked once.
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[–] 28 points 3 months ago (6 children)

Chat, is this real? Because I want it to be real.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago (2 children)

    Just because the image is made up doesnt mean its impossible. I have witnessed on several occasions different stray dogs walking down the footpath and using pedestrian crossings to cross the road after looking both ways.

    If livestock can figure out gate latches from watching people its not completely unreasonable that a coyote might have concluded "The humans do this and I've never seen a splattered human on the highway" and m I mimicked the behavior.

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