If anything, I'd say he was trying to hang the lantana from the top of the Nest to cover the camera. In my experience, rubbery gloves like that have good grip.Someone said that lantanas have a sticky residue, perhaps it was so he could get a better grip on the camera. Those gloves may have poor grip/ be slippy?
But TBH, I don't think he really planned to cover the camera with a porous bunch of lantana.