Dutch company trains birds of prey to catch drones

In the battle of technology versus nature, one Dutch company is putting all of its money on nature — and using birds of prey to take down drones.

An estimated one million drones could have been sold in the U.S. over the holiday, so it’s probably safe to say that it won’t be long before a civilian drone strays into a situation — let’s say hovering over the White House lawn — that might require its hasty removal.

However, as TechCrunch points out, companies making civilian-operated drones don’t yet provide a way to electronically take over the devices, leaving law enforcement agencies scrambling to find a way to take control.

Dutch company Guard From Above is bypassing the whole “technology” part of the equation and using birds of prey like eagles and falcons to simply pluck wayward drones out of the air with their talons.

“Two of the most impressive characteristics of birds of prey are their speed and their power,” points out Guard From Above co-founder and COO Ben de Keijzer in a press release. “They use their strength and speed when they hunt: they are the masters of the air.”

According to the company’s website, they work mainly for “national and international governmental security agencies,” and are pairing up with the Dutch National Police for a test run to see if the whole scheme might actually work.

But Guard From Above isn’t the only drone catcher in town. Researchers from Michigan Technological University’s HIRoLab are working on shooting “drone catcher” net, and Tokyo police have already developed a net-based drone catching system.

Technological solutions aside, de Keijzer probably puts it best: “Sometimes the solution to a hypermodern problem is more simple than you think.”