Teen Builds Complex Rube Goldberg Machine to Feed Squirrels in Crazy Video
A 17-year-old YouTuber, Cree Ossner, has shared an eye-popping video of the chain reaction machine he built to feed squirrels in his New Jersey garden.
The contraption, also known as a Rube Goldberg machine, was designed to be set off by a squirrel, with the end goal of feeding them fruit and nuts. Ossner filmed the result on a 360-degree camera and has received plaudits for the footage, which he posted to YouTube and Reddit.
In his machine, which rivals the contraptions Kevin McCallister built in Home Alone, nuts are strategically taped to a domino—tempting the squirrel and starting the whole thing. After the dominoes tumble, Jenga pieces are knocked over, balls roll down a gutter, beads pull down a ball that lands in a basketball hoop and toilet paper tears. About 40 seconds and many tricks later, seeds and nuts are scattered around the garden for the animals.
According to Ossner, he spent 14 hours simply waiting for a squirrel to arrive and set it off. "Instead of waiting inside for the squirrels to knock over the dominoes, I had to hide in the bushes to make sure the birds or chipmunks didn't trigger the machine instead. Birds landed on all parts of this machine," he wrote on YouTube.
Rain and wind added extra levels of difficulty. "Every trick of this machine needed to be wind-proof, which made the tricks less exciting. I would run out from my hiding spot to stop the machine when gusts of wind set it off early," he added. "Some of my materials could get damaged in water, so I needed to remove them from the machine and put them inside when it rained."
Viewers can thank Ossner's use of two GoPro cameras for the unreal angles in the video, including the adorable shots of the animals at the end. His plan may have been to feed a squirrel, but birds, chipmunks and even a raccoon seemed to enjoy the treats too.
This is not Ossner's first Rube Goldberg machine. In 2017, the young inventor constructed a much simpler version, which took only four seconds from start to squirrel food, and posted it on Instagram. He has gained a lot of experience since then, building various contraptions and filming them for his YouTube channel's 171,000 subscribers.
Ossner also posted his latest video on Reddit, where it amassed over 89,000 votes in just 10 hours after being shared to the "Next F****** Level" group.
"So worth the effort and the wait! Those little guys are adorable," wrote one Reddit user.
"This is the best thing I've seen in a long time. Feeding the wildlife was a nice touch. Love animals. What an amazing Rube Goldberg machine," added another.
Newsweek has contacted Cree Ossner for comment.
