Warning: That $200 drone I bought on a whim is now a tree ornament

Back in 2022 I grabbed a DJI Mini 2 because I thought I'd film cool hiking videos. First real flight at Red Rock canyon and I tried to dodge a juniper tree. That thing is still 40 feet up there, blinking red every night like a reminder of my bad decision. Anybody else got a drone rotting in a tree or a lake somewhere?

2 comments

2 Comments

sam_anderson2d ago

Haha, "tree ornament" is the perfect way to put it. One angle I never see people talk about is how these things mess with local wildlife. I let my buddy fly his over a pond near my house and a great blue heron went ballistic, swooped right at it. Luckily he pulled up in time but I bet there's a lot of drones that end up as bird snacks or tangled up in nests. Birds see them as these giant angry insects and it stresses them out way more than people realize. Did you ever check if that juniper had any nests in it before you flew?

charlesowens2d ago

Feel you on that. Mine's somewhere in a lake upstate, still gives me a little knot when I drive past and see the water. Hope your tree blinks out soon so you don't have to look at it every night.