As promised Hartford Rep. Kevin “Coach” Christie has introduced the Vermont Drone Bill H.540 which proposes to regulate the use of drones known as unmanned aerial vehicles. The bill seeks to permit law enforcement agencies to use a drone only if the agency obtains a warrant or if “emergency” circumstances exist. Various reporting requirements – including documenting frequency of use and cost – are also featured in the proposed bill. And drones would not be allowed to be equipped with weapons. Drone use by persons other than a law enforcement agency would follow and comply with FAA requirements and guidelines according to the bill.  

Not to go looking for problems where none exist but an article in Modern Farmer, of all places, has left me wondering if Rep. Christie or some of the 24 co- sponsors of Vermont Drone Bill H.540 might want to take a quick review of the state’s hunting laws. Wild boar or hogs are no small problem and are causing immense damage to farmland and property across the country. Says Modern Farmer: “we are well on our way to a global pig crisis.” Vermont has passed legislation this session making it illegal to own, import, or possess wild boar – because once they get established in an area, boar are next-to-impossible to “eradicate”. And this brings it back to drone regulation.  

In their free time from work at high-tech defense military-drone contractor Raven Research and Development, two Louisiana engineers Cy Brown and James Palmer are putting drones to use hunting wild hogs. The two-man team uses a remote control airplane armed with a thermal imaging camera, called the “Dehogifier”:

Brown and Palmer send their drone buzzing around a piece of farm property. When they spot a pig on the live video feed, Palmer – a crack shot – uses a rifle with a night vision scope to kill it clean. It’s sleek, fast, reliable – and not what you’d call sporting.

Vermont’s hunting regulations must already cover this use (right?), and for the time being we may be safe from Modern Farmer’s global pig crisis …  but conditions change. The Louisiana “Dehogifier” team is already enthusiastically looking to refine its system:

Brown said the only other way to increase its efficiency would be to affix a gun directly to the drone (a terrifying thought). “It would be so easy to rig it with a gun, it’s trivial,” he said. “But a lot of people would have no sense of humor whatsoever about that sort of thing.”

Right, defense engineers marketing a rifle-armed remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle. Who wouldn’t get a laugh out of that?! Funny thing, humor.