It’s not easy to bust poachers for hunting a protected species or out-of-season buck without letting them actually shoot a protected species or out-of-season buck. Unless, of course, you happen to have a remote-controlled zombie decoy.

Taxidermist Brian Wolslegel of Custom Robotic Wildlife makes just such a trap. He takes corpses, dries the pelts, and stitches the skins over polyurethane bodies. The head, tail, and limbs of each animal are then wired to servomotors controlled by a remote joystick. All that gear is concealed inside hidden compartments in the animal’s neck and legs — places hunters don’t usually aim. (Next year Wolslegel will even roll out a deer with CO2 cartridges that make puffs of steamy breath.)

Vigilante conservationists use the bots in four-person sting operations. One remotely controls the cyborg decoy, one videotapes infractions, and two tackle wrongdoers, who can expect stiff fines or even jail time.

Custom Robotic Wildlife’s menagerie includes coyotes, deer, elk, antelope, and bears. In addition to supplying conservationists, the company also sells bots to law-abiding hunters seeking decoys or targets, homeowners looking to scare off bothersome geese, and other people with a pressing need for an animal-skin- covered robot.