Dear All We got some encouraging responses to our post with some great ideas and solutions to try. Thank you all for chipping in and offering your experience and knowledge. We thought it is a good idea to share the feedback with the community. Here is a summary of (what we find to be) the most useful points next to each original issue.
Please remember that these points came from different individuals and institutes and it is only a compilation of excerpts and does not represent the full answers we got. We thank you again for all your valuable help Issues and replies: Amcrest camera - overexposed images due to the harsh desert sunlight (ISO was set to low). When placing the camera try not to have it facing directly East or West (e.g. not into the rising or setting sun). Bushnell Trophy Cam HD, had this camera out when there was direct sunlight on the white landscape (in Antarctica). We set the ISO to automatic (letting it pick what it thought best), and it adjusted for a direct hit of sunlight to the camera. Instead of turning the images all white with no detail it turned it green, but all the detail was still very much visible. To reduce overexposure of camera trap images (for night images, taken with IR flash) you can turn the flash intensity down in the camera settings (although not all cameras have this setting), or alternatively I have had some success with reducing over exposure in camera trap images by placing adhesive tape or masking tape over the camera flash. Amcrest camera - capturing thousands of images due to the leaves and grass movement in the wind. Bushnell Trophy Cam HD do pick up leaf movements (when we tested them before the field), however, there is a setting to not take images after a time interval if you have similar movement. So this cuts down on the non necessary images, but you need to know the habits of your animals to know how long you can set the time limit for. These cameras also have a feature to just take an image/video for whatever time interval you set. This avoids the grass movements but may miss picking up your animals, but you get a nice time laps. I found that I needed to trim away the vegetation directly in front of the camera in order to minimize false triggers in the wind. We needed to maintain the vegetation whenever we downloaded images. A simple bread knife was sufficient to trim most plant types. To minimize false triggers due to vegetation moving in the wind, I have always had to do some vegetation modification within the immediate vicinity of the camera trap, such as pulling grass out, cutting grass shorter or removing small branches. Here is Australia, it is very common to do some sort of vegetation modification to reduce false triggers and most people I know that use camera traps do this. Some cameras you can set so they won't take another photo for a given time interval after taking one. Moultrie camera - not capturing images. I have found that the performance of Moultries varies widely by model. Some are terrible; I hear the newer ones are better. Any recommendations, based on experience, for different camera models. I've used, and was happy with, Reconyx PC900. They are on the pricier side, but they last a long time and Reconyx has a great customer service office that can help with any issues or can program cameras specific for your needs. We used Bushnell Trophy Cam HD, because they are made for extreme weather. They actually held up quite well in the below freezing temperatures and are made to withstand a wild fire, so I am sure they would do well for your study sites. In my work, the Moultrie cameras actually worked best, I was using Moultrie M999i. www.cabelas.com <http://www.cabelas.com/> would have a lot of different kinds of cameras. Personally, I use Reconyx HC600 Hyperfires - they are research-grade but they are pricey ($600US each). Almost as good are Bushnell TrophyCam HD, which are only about $200US each. I have colleagues who have used recent ScoutGuard models with good success - they are only about $80-125 each. Rather than a long list of the pros and cons of various models, I'd refer you to TrailCamPro.com <http://trailcampro.com/>. That's where I order almost all my cameras, and they do a great job comparing the performance and features of various cameras. They also offer a bulk discount to researchers. I recommend Bushnell which is what I use but I've tried Reconyx and they are the Cadillac's of camera traps according to my experience. Of course, they are expensive but last a long time in the field and are super rugged. Is there a camera that can transmit images from the field via a data network? I believe some models of Reconyx brand cameras (and maybe Bushnell) have this function. http://www.reconyx.com/product/PC900C-Cellular-HyperFire-Professional-Covert-IR <http://www.reconyx.com/product/PC900C-Cellular-HyperFire-Professional-Covert-IR> Bushnell looks like they have a wireless one so you can connect to it via the Bushnell website to look at your images/videos, however it looks like the wireless range is only for the US. https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-Aggressor-Wireless-Camera/dp/B01D0JTRGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505234900&sr=8-1&keywords=bushnell+wireless+trail+camera <https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-Aggressor-Wireless-Camera/dp/B01D0JTRGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505234900&sr=8-1&keywords=bushnell+wireless+trail+camera> Links to cameras that transmit images through cell or wifi - https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-Aggressor-Wireless-Camera/dp/B01D0JTRGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505189928&sr=8-1&keywords=bushnell+game <https://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-Aggressor-Wireless-Camera/dp/B01D0JTRGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505189928&sr=8-1&keywords=bushnell+game> http://www.reconyx.com/product/PC900C-Cellular-HyperFire-Professional-Covert-IR <http://www.reconyx.com/product/PC900C-Cellular-HyperFire-Professional-Covert-IR> You might want to consider a moultrie modem which tackles the cellular issue - http://www.moultriefeeders.com/moultrie-mobiletm-wireless-field-modem-mv1 <http://www.moultriefeeders.com/moultrie-mobiletm-wireless-field-modem-mv1>. How to power a trail camera for extended periods of time? It depends on how long of a period you are expecting. I found that using lithium batteries (camera must have set up for them, but most do) my cameras could last 6 months (programmed at the highest sensitivity and most number of photos possible). You can further extend the battery life by reducing the number of photos the camera takes when triggered (e.g. 1 or 3 instead of 5+). Bushnell Trophy Cam HD, has the ability to hook up to an exterior battery source. So if the AA batteries don’t last long enough for your project, they have adapters you can get to hook it up to an external battery. You can get solar panels that plug into some camera traps and will extend the life of the camera battery and hence the period over which the camera can be deployed. Without a solar panel you should still be able to get a couple of months worth of photos in a single deployment, but to a large degree, this is dependent on how you have programmed the camera (1 photo per trigger Vs 5 photos per trigger Vs 5sec video per trigger Vs 30sec video per trigger). I use lithium AA for everything now, and get very good performance. I buy them in bulk from BatteryJunction.com <http://batteryjunction.com/>. Some camera units can run off a car battery, which itself can be powered by a solar panel. Reconyx and TrailCamPro may have more info on these rigs. They probably require some electronic expertise on your parts, rather than being "ready to go" from the box. Other ideas I invest a fair bit of time and resources in setup hardware - I use lockable ball-mounts designed to hold home stereo speakers. They are made by Panavise (model 105108B) and are about $22 each, but I can mount them to a tree, post, metal stake, etc. They work for "english" or metric screw mounts in the back of the camera unit. Here's info: https://www.panavise.com/index.html?pageID=1&page=full&--eqskudatarq=53 <https://www.panavise.com/index.html?pageID=1&page=full&--eqskudatarq=53> Usually, camera traps have settings that correspond to the surrounding temperature. I use Bushnell Essential/Aggressor(not wireless) which have an auto setting for large temperature fluctuation. That auto setting usually compensates for the leaf and grass movement. New at Mongabay, this system created for hummingbirds may be applicable to other such creatures: To solve the logistical challenge of filming hummingbirds, researchers have developed a mechanical camera trap trigger system that separates the camera from the sensors that detect an animal’s movement or heat. The independent positioning of multiple sensors enables users to detect small, fast-moving animals before they reach the camera and to adapt to immediate surroundings, such as vegetation that can trigger unwanted photos. The do-it-yourself nature of the circuit, powered by AA batteries, keeps it low-cost, long-lasting, and easy to recharge for those with some knowledge of wiring and electronics. Read about this team’s findings in their “Ecology and Evolution” article and see pics of the system here - https://news.mongabay.com/wildtech/2017/09/rethinking-camera-traps-for-small-fast-elusive/ <https://news.mongabay.com/wildtech/2017/09/rethinking-camera-traps-for-small-fast-elusive/> A way to process the data collected from the trail cameras: Our project has been using a program called Camelot to process camera trap photos (https://gitlab.com/camelot-project/camelot <https://gitlab.com/camelot-project/camelot>; http://camelot-project.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ <http://camelot-project.readthedocs.io/en/latest/>; https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/camelot-project <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/camelot-project>). This java-based program runs in a web-browser and assists in organzing and tagging photos with species IDs. Multiple species and numbers of individuals can be tagged in each photo. It is built to export a variety of CSVs to programs like PRESENCE and the CamTrapR package in R. I have not yet started analysis, but we've tagged ~70,000 pics of our >80,000 for the year, and thus far it seems to be really useful in organizing and tagging pics. The support for the software is also excellent, with really fast fixes for bugs encountered. I also like that multiple users can tag photos at once. There are more functionalities that I haven't used yet and so won't describe here, but so far I'd recommend the software. Dr. Aspa D. Chatziefthimiou Ecologist, ESA Certified Research Scientist / Consultant Tel: 5516 5426 Research Gate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aspassia_Chatziefthimiou> Richer Environments <http://richerenvironments.com/team/> TiDE Network <http://tidenetwork.org/Chatziefthimiou> MetaSUB <http://metasub.org/people/>
