Snapshot Serengeti Talk

Question about camera traps

  • Helice by Helice

    Hello all, just a random question about the camera traps: do you get the data wirelessly or do you not get it until the SD card has been retrieved? IE if the camera gets messed up three days after being tended you won't know for weeks?

    Posted

  • dms246 by dms246 moderator

    Hi Helice - Here's an excerpt from one of Ali's blog posts, which I think answers your question 😃

    "Yeah, that’s right. I’ve discovered that hyenas are like big ugly
    puppies – the world is their chew toy. However, unlike your neighbor’s
    cute, squirmy blue heeler, hyenas have no responsible owner to say
    “No! No demolishing the $200 camera trap!” Last year alone, hyenas ate
    nearly $8,000 in cameras. I would arrive at my excruciatingly selected
    camera site to find bits and pieces of plastic, the stray LED, a
    fragment of circuit board…just no camera. Elephants took down about
    $5,000 in cameras, but with minimal destruction. They typically ripped
    the offending trap from the tree and flung it out of site. Those
    cameras usually worked, with some minor case modifications. But the
    hyena victims? Beyond repair."

    http://blog.snapshotserengeti.org/2012/12/31/it-begins-again/

    And from @kosmala :

    "The cameras are spread out over about 1000 square kilometers in the
    Serengeti; it takes Ali up to 4 hours to get to the ones that are
    farthest away, all off-road. It takes several weeks of full-time
    effort to visit them all and grab the images off of them..."

    http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/boards/BSG0000009/discussions/DSG00009y5

    Posted

  • Helice by Helice

    Ouch! Thanks. 😃

    Posted

  • Veegee by Veegee

    Do the cameras click when they take photos? I always wonder when I see an animal, especially the Tommys, who seem
    to be staring right at the cameras. Wonder if they hear a click click click as it snaps their photos?

    Posted

  • dms246 by dms246 moderator

    I'm pretty sure the cameras must be making a small noise when they go off. Have a look at this reaction shot - I can't see any other reason for this cheetah to react the way it did! 😃

    Cheetah reacting to camera

    ASG0000ezr

    Posted

  • Veegee by Veegee

    wow, cool photo, I have seen a few Tommys do something similar, the spread leg stare, the next photo the slight turn of the body,
    and the final photo the bolt lol

    Posted

  • BlindOracle by BlindOracle

    And then they start posing later! I see lots of animals that seem to be posing.

    Posted