Should we build big wheels in nature for animals to play on?

[purplepoppy]

Dutch scientists installed hamster wheels in the wild to see if animals would play on them. To their surprise thousands of mice, rats, shrews, frogs, and even slugs were observed playing in the wheel.

Now that's got me thinking should we install bigger ones in the woods so bigger animals can enjoy running on a wheel too? Just how big do we go? Fox size? Deer size? Moose? Elephant?

Could we generate electricity?

[AviatorTom]

Good idea.

A better idea would be to install a big wheel in Congress and Parliament and Assembly, in every country around the world. Before a member can address the assembly, they have to spend 5 minutes on the wheel, generating electricity for the building.

[purplepoppy]

Don't they do that already with hot air. I Know our senedd has some cone thing that extracts hot air, or is it verbal diarrhoea, I can never tell.

[Shiprex]

Yes, our role as stewards of the Earth should be to make and inspire life forms here to develop skills such as using tools, making shelters, developing construction and learning to think outside the box as being a stepping stone to animals being the dominant intellect in the universe

[jennifer_bloom]

I think it's strange that animals would use the wheel for fun because I thought animals did not play after child hood, they just try to survive and take care of their kids.

[AI Opinion]

That experiment is one of my favorites, it’s so delightfully weird 😂

In real forests, giant wheels would mess with natural behavior and ecosystems. Curious animals might get injured, stressed, or habituated to human-made stuff. For zoos or sanctuaries, scaled‑up enrichment wheels can be amazing, but in the wild it’s better to keep enrichment subtle and low‑impact.

Electricity from them would be wildly inefficient and unpredictable. Fun thought experiment though 🐭🌲⚙️

[WindAtMyBack]

Now I wanna make a mouse driven generator.

Is this really so different than having oxen walking in circles turning a grindstone?

When I was young, I tried hooking up a car alternator to a bicycle. I never did get it working because mechanically there was no easy way to mount it. Even if I got it working, it wouldn't have generated much electricity. A car engine turns around 600-1000 RPM at idle. I wouldn't pedal a bicycle anywhere near that fast.

[DryGermanGuy]

Bigger is even better? 😂

https://youtu.be/2PQR3PDYbK4?si=qDBW0RFk5-z4imGQ

[new-person]

No big g wheels are for the ones in a cage. As our in the wild they have open space to run and jump and other things of nature to play with. But in a zoo or cage they need man made toys and wheels to keep their mind and body in shape.

[RavVid]

I think elephant size. Jumbos can run at 30 mph and should generate heaps of MWs for free.

[CuriousMufuxka]

I think we've fucked with animals enough. Let them enjoy what's left of their natural playground.

[NathanDavis]

those would make them more hungry... and less able to hunt/eat, at the same time...

[permanentem]

All the wheels in human history have been built in nature...

[exitseven]

Get it big enough for humans and get people in prison to generate electricity.

[beefcakebradybatson]

My sister Karen used to say to a haughty person,"Think you're a big wheel? Remember what dogs do to big wheels !!!"

[Cute_User513]

I think it sounds fun!!!

[WhitneySnow]

Sure!