Camera Traps
If you are interested in mammals, then go get a camera trap! A camera trap, or trail camera, is a camera which is triggered by a combination of movement and body heat. They can be used for a variety of reasons from security, through hunting, to wildlife watching. So, let’s be clear, this short article is about wildlife watching!
Many animals, notably mammals, are difficult to spot in your garden and camera traps are a great way to see what is there when you are not looking...and not disturbing...the animals. I’ve used them in our garden for the last 8 years, strapped to trees or other posts, and use them usually to take short (10 second) videos.
The camera stores the videos on an SD card that you can remove and watch the footage on a PC or TV in the comfort of your own home. We now know we have roe deer, muntjac, foxes and badgers in our garden frequently, although we only rarely see them with the naked eye.
Camera trap
Male muntjac
Small Mammals
Recently I’ve caught some lovely videos of small mammals too – wood mice, bank voles, common shrews and water shrews (near our pond). To do that I had to modify the camera trap and also placed it in a box (see photo) with some bait so that the little critters came and sat in the right place.
Most camera traps will focus too far away for this, so I simply stuck a couple of lenses from a cheap pair of reading specs onto the front with Blu Tack – and was amazed that it actually worked!
Bank vole
Camera trap box with water shrew
‘False’ Triggers
It is difficult to avoid ‘false’ triggers from cats, people and even branches moving in the breeze on a sunny day. But you will soon learn good places to set the camera up to minimise these and you’ll get a wonderful sense of anticipation as you click through the videos to see what you have captured.
You will also learn the habits of the animals, often using certain routes through the garden, in order to get good images of them, both day and night.
Buying a Camera Trap
It is difficult to recommend particular cameras. New models are produced all the time and prices vary from £50 to £500. I’ve bought four over the years in the £100-150 range and get good quality videos with those. I leave them out in all weathers but find they partially, or totally, break down after a couple of years. I’m sure cheaper models would be fine as a place to start, but maybe don’t leave them out in the pouring rain.
I’ve recently bought my latest from Nature Spy (www.naturespy.org). They are a non-profit company and use the money they make to support wildlife projects – Sarah Fraser of Limpley Stoke works for Rainforest Concern (www.rainforestconcern.org) and Nature Spy recently supplied camera traps for their projects in Ecuador and Chile. They also guarantee their cameras for two years.
One you won’t catch – Puma by Rainforest Concern
So do give it a try. Especially if you are interested in mammals, they can enable to you see so much more in your garden than you would ever be able to in person!
Article by Steve Best