Shoot 'em with a Camera!
A pinyon jay comes in for a landing in early morning, triggering the camera trap.
For many wildlife photographers, a knowledge of camera trapping is a great tool in the box. In my case, I use two different types of cameras. I have a Browning trail cam that is ideal for scouting whether or not an area warrants further effort and I have a DSLR set up with a Cognysis system of trigger, camera control and flash for those times and situations when I am trying to make a printable image. The pinyon jays, above, were captured with the more elaborate set-up.
I admit that part of the reason I enjoy camera trapping is curiosity about what is going on when no one is watching. It is a fact - animals behave differently when humans are around. And there are some animals that are almost impossible to capture on camera any other way. Kangaroo rats are incredible desert mammals that only come out at night and they are quick to duck into their holes when they sense a threat. I captured a very short video of one moving on the landscape one night that led me to set up the DSLR trap to see what I could get.
In these few seconds, you get a clear sense of one of the reasons these rodents are named as they are. Their strong back legs and oversized hind paws allow them to move quickly and efficiently, especially if they are being pursued by a predator. A second marsupial-like characteristic is that they have pouches - although the rats’ pockets are in their cheeks and are used for hauling seeds and blossoms back to their burrows to be stored for future consumption.
Ord’s Kangaroo Rat outside its burrow late at night. The trigger and flash of the DSLR system allow a quality photo even without the presence of a photographer.
Some people have suggested that capturing an image when the photographer is not present is not a legitimate way of making an image but I assure you there is a very long learning curve that leads to getting any kind of usable shot. Just knowing when and where to set up a camera is a matter of studying animal behavior extensively.
The video, above, is rather long as it is a compilation of a number of clips. Long ago we piped up a natural spring on our property far away from the house and fitted it with a trough so the wildlife could get a drink in the otherwise dry landscape. Over the years I have captured elk, pronghorn, coyotes, mule deer and more drinking from the trough but this golden eagle apparently decided to use it as his personal bathtub (skip to 1:09 and 2:45 for the full immersion shots)! This footage was captured on the Browning Trail Cam.
The elk that winter on our land spook easily and are hard to get close to but the trail cam gives me a close up view I couldn’t capture otherwise. I don’t know why they are behaving the way they are. They seem concerned at the beginning of the clip but it is not clear why. It has been suggested that they are just burning off excess energy.
I have discovered that elk, in particular, like to scratch themselves on cameras and, for some reason, they seem to really enjoy licking and nuzzling the lens every chance they get. That means that when I am trying to photograph the huge ungulates, I need to check the camera often because chances are they have knocked the whole thing askew or they have slobbered over the lens!