Camera trap delights (4 Viewers)

[Tree Sparrow]

Wildcat hybrid

Haven't had my camera out for ages but set it up a couple of weeks ago and got the usual fox/badger/hare shots then checked it again today and had this interesting looking cat. It's rather blurry but I reckon there has to be a bit of wildcat blood in there.

 

[delia todd]

That's a nice one for your new start Fiona.

I think you could be right, judging by that tail - well done.

 

[Farnboro John]

Haven't had my camera out for ages but set it up a couple of weeks ago and got the usual fox/badger/hare shots then checked it again today and had this interesting looking cat. It's rather blurry but I reckon there has to be a bit of wildcat blood in there.

Rings don't look quite straight - they are separate though - so I agree its a hybrid, but one with a good bit of wildcat in it. Bravo!

John

 

[Tree Sparrow]

Thanks Delia & John. It certainly adds a bit of excitement knowing it's about. Would be good to get a clearer shot, preferably in daylight when the camera takes better photos. I'd like to see the markings on the body which either aren't showing because of the poor photo or may not be there at all!

 

[Farnboro John]

Thanks Delia & John. It certainly adds a bit of excitement knowing it's about. Would be good to get a clearer shot, preferably in daylight when the camera takes better photos. I'd like to see the markings on the body which either aren't showing because of the poor photo or may not be there at all!

I suspect it's the night photo. You can see leg stripes but the body stripes contrast much less and might well not show up. There is a reassuring absence of white on paws and ventral body.

BTW the seeming dorso-ventral narrowing of the rings might just be the camera angle and the droop on the tail.

I look forward to the next shots of this beastie!

John

 

[Tree Sparrow]

I suspect it's the night photo. You can see leg stripes but the body stripes contrast much less and might well not show up. There is a reassuring absence of white on paws and ventral body.

BTW the seeming dorso-ventral narrowing of the rings might just be the camera angle and the droop on the tail.

I look forward to the next shots of this beastie!

John

It would be nice if you're right. I will certainly post any new shots of it but I don't imagine it will be a constant visitor so we may have a bit of a wait.

 

[snowyowl]

You call it a camera trap (I like the name) whereas I call them trail cam shots but the intent seems to be the same, to see what is wandering around at night. Here are a couple from last night. don't believe the date stamped on them, the camera seems to have reset itself, something it has done several times before. During the last week I've captured fox kits. My camera is set up about 4 metres from the house.

 

[Bird_Bill]

Been trying to capture one of the Southern Flying Squirrels here, using a DSLR and a focus trap feature.
Piece of dead fall drilled and packed with walnuts as bait has raccoons biting, but no squirrels so far.

 

[snowyowl]

Nice picture. What kind of camera?

 

[Bird_Bill]

An old Pentax K20, with an way older tamron 52B 90mm f/2.5 macro. Cant shoot video, or focus trap in burst mode. Use for manual focus lenses & macro because of split prism focus screen in it. My first macro raccoon, darn squirrels wont cooperate

 

[snowyowl]

I just went through this entire thread. Some really interesting pictures on here. I bought my camera last winter while I was in Florida. It's a cheap one, $99 from Wildgame Innovations. I really didn't know what to expect from it and initially I was rather disappointed by the quality, I'm used to the quality from my Canon DSLRs, but I think that I'm probably getting as good as can be expected for pictures at night without a flash.
I wish someone with lots of experience would share some of their techniques for setting up cameras, tricks of the trade etc.
I'm going to post some of my other shots and I hope someone will comment with advice.
Here are couple of Mourning Doves in daylight.

 

[Farnboro John]

I just went through this entire thread. Some really interesting pictures on here. I bought my camera last winter while I was in Florida. It's a cheap one, $99 from Wildgame Innovations. I really didn't know what to expect from it and initially I was rather disappointed by the quality, I'm used to the quality from my Canon DSLRs, but I think that I'm probably getting as good as can be expected for pictures at night without a flash.
I wish someone with lots of experience would share some of their techniques for setting up cameras, tricks of the trade etc.
I'm going to post some of my other shots and I hope someone will comment with advice.
Here are couple of Mourning Doves in daylight.

Hi Dan,

I think first off, if you are going to use it to record your garden birds (and anything else using your feeders) you should mount it rather closer to the target area. These things don't have zooms, and the quality often doesn't allow much (if any!) cropping.

Baiting deliberately in front of the camera is definitely not cheating!

John

 

[pppppvvvv]

Pimp My Camera Trap

With fieldwork currently underway for a NE Scotland Mammal Atlas, we've been experimenting a bit to see if we can use camera traps to get distribution records of small mammals by less invasive means than Longworth trapping. We sometimes see rodents on cameras set conventionally but often not identifiable with certainty. So, following things read elsewhere, we tried attaching a lens from a cheap pair of reading glasses over the camera lens (to reduce focal distance) and taping over the flash (to reduce "whiteout" images). Finally we taped the camera to a length of old drainpipe, placed it in long grass or under a fallen tree trunk and sprinkled a little bird seed in the pipe.

Have tried this the last three nights, different location each time, and on each occasion the set-up has been instantly discovered by Wood Mice. No voles yet (and I imagine there might also be potential to attract shrews, Stoats or Weasels) but seems at least like a easy way to get new tetrad records for the mice.

Not the clearest of the videos obtained but this one shows just how successful the approach is.

Images of the pimped camera trap below

Many thanks for posting this.. It gave me enough inspiration to get off the ground with my trail cam (which was bought with high hopes, but was starting to get neglected with a lack of opportunities, or decent results)..

Attached is my set up, which has a perspex roof to let in natural light whenever possible. The big advantage is that you can hide it completely in the undergrowth or under a bush, so a low risk of it being stolen.



and my best result so far:

http://youtu.be/8loE2pOaOio


Also, I swapped the trail cam for my DSLR, which I left running remotely for 30 mins, and got much better quality results..

http://youtu.be/dKBY3ZSeN6c

Peter

 

[nicklittlewood]

Many thanks for posting this.. It gave me enough inspiration to get off the ground with my trail cam (which was bought with high hopes, but was starting to get neglected with a lack of opportunities, or decent results)..

Attached is my set up, which has a perspex roof to let in natural light whenever possible. The big advantage is that you can hide it completely in the undergrowth or under a bush, so a low risk of it being stolen.

View attachment 504604

and my best result so far:

http://youtu.be/8loE2pOaOio


Also, I swapped the trail cam for my DSLR, which I left running remotely for 30 mins, and got much better quality results..

http://youtu.be/dKBY3ZSeN6c

Peter

Hi Peter,

Glad you've had success with this too. Our design has developed to a box identical to yours, and we have also used a clear plastic tube. As you say, both allow natural light for colour daytime footage. Great for just sticking out in roadside verges, etc. We've also replaced the reading glass lens with a +4 dopter close focus camera filter (e.g. this sort of this).

Recently we've had a masters student comparing this set-up with Longworth trapping for sake of studying indices of activity. It obviously wouldn't be suitable where there is a need for mark-recapture or other studies where handling is required (or where there are a greater number of potential confusion species than we have here) but might be a less-invasive way of comparing between sites, or over time, in at least some situations.

As well as Wood Mice, Bank and Field Voles, we also get shrews (though not always possible to dientify to species - this one, unexpectedly, appeared to be eating the seeds) and had the odd Weasel.

Latest camera trap highlight was a Water Shrew at a site where we had not recorded the species before (though not on the modified camera in the box).

Cheers

Nick

 

[snowyowl]

Hi Dan,

I think first off, if you are going to use it to record your garden birds (and anything else using your feeders) you should mount it rather closer to the target area. These things don't have zooms, and the quality often doesn't allow much (if any!) cropping.

Baiting deliberately in front of the camera is definitely not cheating!

John

Hi John;
Birds are not the objectives of my trail cam., they are accidental. I'm a long time bird photographer using my DSLRs. My (limited) experience with trail cams appears to show me that the camera is most effective at about 18' from the object being photographed. The camera manual supports that.
This is the reason that I have the trail cam. set up by the feeders. The song says that "Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors" but I think that it is also true that most people have no idea what goes on outside their doors at night.

 

[nicklittlewood]

Water Shrew camera trap footage

Got some nice Water Shrew cam trap footage today near Aberdeen, using the modified small mammal camera set-up: https://en-gb.facebook.com/photo.php?v=589256251190576&set=vb.465483193567883&type=2&theater

Nick

 

[Tree Sparrow]

Got some nice Water Shrew cam trap footage today near Aberdeen, using the modified small mammal camera set-up: https://en-gb.facebook.com/photo.php?v=589256251190576&set=vb.465483193567883&type=2&theater

Nick

VERY impressed with that footage. I admit to not having been that interested in trying to capture the small mammals but if I get another camera I may have to give it a go.

 

[pppppvvvv]

Got some nice Water Shrew cam trap footage today near Aberdeen, using the modified small mammal camera set-up: https://en-gb.facebook.com/photo.php?v=589256251190576&set=vb.465483193567883&type=2&theater

Nick

That's brilliant footage

 

[Steefo]

The close up videos of these small critters are amazing. I'm definitely going to have to try it out here.

I recently came across a zebra carcass and managed to get some brown hyena, spotted hyena, leopard, hippo and genet footage. The last time I tried this the vultures cleaned the carcass in less than 3 hours. Luckily the cameras don't have smello-vision yet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIZ33fGvW0w&list=UUr1FLAFgF4u56ZvhqTeLkTQ

 

[Mike Richardson]

The close up videos of these small critters are amazing. I'm definitely going to have to try it out here.

I recently came across a zebra carcass and managed to get some brown hyena, spotted hyena, leopard, hippo and genet footage. The last time I tried this the vultures cleaned the carcass in less than 3 hours. Luckily the cameras don't have smello-vision yet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIZ33fGvW0w&list=UUr1FLAFgF4u56ZvhqTeLkTQ

Fantastic. Don't often get to see footage of Brown Hyena on a kill. Interesting behaviour by the genet.