Why you need a wildlife camera
Whose backyard is it, anyway? When a wildlife camera is on duty, with its heator motion-triggered shutter at the ready day and night, the answer can be startling.
Sally Naser calls the animals recorded on the dozens of cameras she monitors for The Trustees of Reservations in Massachusetts “our wildlife neighbors.” At home, in our gardens, we may call them cute — or our herbivorous enemies. But more often than not, we don’t see them.
“There is wildlife all around us, whether you live deep in the woods or on an urban edge,” said Naser, conservation restriction stewardship director for the Trustees, the nation’s first preservation and conservation nonprofit, with more than 26,000 public acres and another 20,000-plus private acres under conservation easements. “In backcountry and in front country, if you want to get this window into the wild, it’s out there for the camera to record.”
In recent years, the quality of wildlife cameras has improved and prices have dropped. Often referred to as “camera traps” — as their main market has long been hunters wanting to locate that big buck — they have become essential tools for scientific research that are used to study animal behavior and assess populations, even in terrain as challenging as the rainforest canopy.
In a garden, a simpler setup can answer more-straightforward questions: Who’s eating those bush beans? Who’s tunneling under the porch? And what’s going on at the bird feeder when you’re not looking?
Most of all, a camera (or a couple of them) can increase the sense of awe, the garden’s most delicious yield of all.
Yes, your backyard photobombers are more likely to be squirrels than bobcats. But you never know, especially when it comes to animals more comfortable moving about after dusk, including the opossum, weasel and fox.
Get ready to be informed and surprised, like the family who spent 40 years in a home before realizing they shared the yard with a bobcat — something they would never have known without Naser’s camera.
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
To navigate the daunting choices of camera brands, models and accessories, start with some simple assessments.
› First: What’s your target species? Did you see a red fox trot across the yard, or is it the bird feeder you want to spy on?
Subjects close to the camera are better served with an interchangeable macro lens, a feature on some cameras that shortens focus to within 3 feet.
Or perhaps someone is knocking over that feeder or the trash cans after dark? If you live in an area where black bears are present, you’ll need a metal security box to enclose your camera, like the ones manufactured by Camlockbox.
› Second: What’s your budget? For conservation work and for private clients who need help setting up cameras and learning to operate them, Naser often uses models by Browning, Bushnell and Suspect. She is always seeking out good values, like a previous year’s model of a quality camera discounted when the latest release arrives.
Cameras can cost $500 or more, but for the beginning backyard-camera trapper, it’s not necessary to spend that much.
Likewise, skip the low end. “It’s probably better to spend a little more,” Naser said, “like $125 to $175 per camera, rather than the $50 models whose results won’t be as satisfying and that aren’t as durable.”
CAMERA FEATURES (AND ESSENTIAL EXTRAS)
The serious, testing-based technical reviews on the Trail Cam Pro website make a good starting point for research.
Features such as trigger speed — the time from motion detection until a photo is taken — can mean the difference between catching the whole animal or just the tip of a tail. The best cameras have speeds of a half-second or less.
Most cameras offer both still and video settings (with a choice of the number of images or the video length per trigger), but some advanced models have a hybrid mode, recording both with each trigger — although you might miss some action in the stills if a 20-second video is taken first.
If nocturnal visitors are your target, consider various flash types that will yield different results. Infrared flashes — red-glow, low-glow and no-glow (which makes for somewhat grainier photos) — produce black-and-white images. White flashes — more startling to some animals, although they may acclimate, and possibly to human neighbors, too — offer color day and night.
Cameras come with a nylon strap for tying them to a tree or stake, but here’s a tip: “Don’t leave the loose part hanging,” Naser said. “Tuck it in. A strap blowing in the wind may cause false triggers, or a rodent may chew it off to use as nesting material.”
In your backyard, a cable lock may not be necessary to protect against theft, but Naser attaches them to all her field cameras.
Don’t skimp on batteries. Naser uses Energizer lithium or rechargeable Ni-MH (nickel-metal hydride) batteries, not alkaline.
And use a Class 10 SD (secure digital) memory card. Storage of 16 gigabytes holds plenty of shots. Cameras with a built-in color viewing screen allow you to check your setup on site without removing and downloading the card. Another convenience is a special card reader that fits your cellphone or tablet, so you can scroll through images in a larger format.
CAMERA SETUP
Learning about your target animal’s behavior will help you figure out where to put the cameras and how to adjust the settings. Field guides, or a website such as Animal Diversity Web from the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, can be useful.
Water of any kind — even a small backyard water feature — is a magnet for birds and mammals. In wilder areas, beaver dams are among Naser’s favorite spots for a camera. She calls them “wildlife superhighways.”
Edge habitat — brushy areas where animals can stay close to cover — are also lively. Stone walls are popular with predators, including barred owls; not coincidentally, they are also a favorite hideout for rodents. A backyard apple tree with fallen fruit or an oak with its acorns are productive autumn locations, inviting everyone from squirrels and deer to blue jays and turkeys.
As for the best height to position the camera, that depends on the target species. Naser puts it this way, with a laugh: “Knee height or below for most wildlife and shoulder to head height for moose.”
For the best images and to widen the field of view, position the camera at a 45-degree angle to the target area, and aim it parallel to the ground. A stick can be used as a shim behind the unit.
Point the camera in a northern direction; south is a good second choice. If it’s directed east or west, Naser explained, “you can get sun triggers at sunset or sunrise.”
REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
This is not 35-millimeter DSLR photography, so don’t expect that kind of image quality, Naser reminds impatient beginners. She also admonishes them not to check the cameras too often, because they’ll leave scent behind.
It’s not studio photography, either, with someone saying “Lift your chin” or “Turn this way a little more.”
“Scrolling through my SD cards, I say to the animals, ‘Oh, please turn around, please,’” Naser said. And then the next shot is another butt. Oops.
Skill comes with experience, she emphasized, including knowing the best places to set up. But luck also “really plays into the equation.”
In the meantime, learn to love those nose close-ups that you get when some curious animal communes juicily with the camera. Naser has a word for them: “Smelfies.”