Deer tracks own coordinates on Google Earth

Posted March 30, 2008 at 07:11 PM by Debbie Cook

Section: Gadgets / Other, GPS/Navigation, Miscellaneous, Web, Websites, Google

Thor, the deer has been “geo-hacked” and undergone an interesting experiment, all in the name of science. Valery Hronusov, a developer of numerous geo-hacks, actually thought up the blog posting deer scenario. Using his tips and ideas, ‘Siberian’, a Google Earth Community member, figured out how to track a deer by attaching a cell phone (to send emails) and a GPS device (to track the movements) of Thor (the deer) throughout a suburban area in Pennsylvania. During Thor’s travels the GPS device sent back tracking coordinates every five minutes. The ingenious automated system used all free services, some tech gadgets, and a spreadsheet to publicize nearly every move Thor makes.

I assume that the tech laden collar is worth saving and I hope that Thor is too. Aside from being a neat project, all of this makes me wonder why anyone would want to track a deer like this, except for the obvious, “because I could” mentality that you find among many geeks. Of course the more official reason why is because “they are studying deers living in suburban areas in Pennsylvania.”

Read [Wired] Via [Google Earth Blog]