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At-home trail cameras: Capturing the secret animal reality show in your own back garden

AdminTu August 24, 2024

Hilary Hattenbach

Caitlyn Montgomery A squirrel with a furniture set captured on an at-home trail camera (Credit: Caitlyn Montgomery)

An online community has erupted around people filming wildlife with backyard trail cameras, complete with dollhouse furniture film sets. It’s not just cute: the videos are uncovering animal secrets for biologists.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I mostly ignored nature. “I’m a city person” I’d say to anyone who tried to drag me on a hike. But during lockdown, I noticed finches nesting on my balcony. I hung bird feeders and downloaded an app to ID bird calls, hoping for something to keep me away from doomscrolling.

The finches made for a soothing distraction, but things really changed when I spotted a cute “critter cam” account on social media. People weren’t just feeding birds, they were filming them – even setting out a tiny hot tub for the birds to splash around in.

I became obsessed. I bought a generic trail camera on Amazon to put in my yard. In a matter of days, I’d plunged into the lives of my neighbourhood skunks, squirrels and possums, a nature-made reality show unfolding in the bushes of my own garden.

Depending on where you live, there’s probably a whole parallel universe of animal life right outside your window. All it takes is a little spy craft, and thanks to the proliferation of cheap cameras, a bustling population of critter enthusiasts has emerged online.

LouAnne Brickhouse Some animals that make repeated appearances become social media stars in their own right, such as "Stevie" the coyote (Credit: LouAnne Brickhouse) — Some animals that make repeated appearances become social media stars in their own right, such as “Stevie” the coyote (Credit: LouAnne Brickhouse)

But this growing body of at-home wildlife footage is good for more than a quick hit of cuteness-driven dopamine. The animal videos people are sharing on social media are shifting perceptions about urban wildlife, fostering supportive communities and even impacting conservation efforts.

“My game cams bring me closer to the animals with whom I share this ecosystem,” says Eric Aldrich, who runs an at-home trail camera account from his home in Tucson, Arizona. “And when I share what my cameras capture with others – on social media, in meeting halls, in the desert and the mountains – my human neighbours feel closer, too.”

From online hobbyist to citizen science

On his half-acre of land that borders a dry watercourse, Aldrich has three solar-powered trail cameras. Originally popularised by hunters and researchers, trail cameras have infrared light motion sensors that are triggered, ideally, when an animal walks past. “I set mine to the highest-quality video setting and keep my [motion] sensitivity low because I don’t want blades of grass or a bug setting it off,” Aldrich says.

Once a month, Aldrich reviews the footage and edits together a narrated video that he shares on YouTube, Instagram and in a trail camera Reddit group. The regular cast of characters include packs of peccary – an herbivore that resembles a wild boar, also known as a javelina – deer, rabbits, coyotes, quail and nectar-feeding bats. But it was Aldrich’s footage of a bobcat in a radio collar that cemented his status as an honorary research assistant.

Increasingly scientists are realising that they can get help from avid and careful [amateur] observers, particularly those with a little technology out there – Anne Clark

“Scientists from the Bobcats in Tucson Project saw my footage and said, ‘That’s our bobcat.’ They put traps around my property and captured this bobcat to switch out her collar. I got to hold her and help the scientists with their research,” he says.

While most critter cam enthusiasts will never get to hold a wild animal, collected footage from civilians can be a real asset to conservationists. “We need eyes on the ground,” says Anne Clark, a behavioural ecologist at Binghamton University, New York. “Increasingly scientists are realising that they can get help from avid and careful [amateur] observers, particularly those with a little technology out there.”

A group of volunteers trained through a programme at Mississippi State University did just that in a study that used 1,000 trail cams across the US to monitor the impacts of gentrification and green infrastructure on urban wildlife. One eye-opening finding was that gentrified areas on the east coast, where money had been invested in landscaping and gardens, attracted a larger population of “non-nuisance species” like deer, rabbit and foxes. Meanwhile, underserved urban communities on the west coast with less green infrastructure attracted more “nuisance” species like rats, skunks and raccoons.

Caitlyn Montgomery For one enthusiast, the irresistible draw of anthropomorphisation led to props (Credit: Caitlyn Montgomery) — For one enthusiast, the irresistible draw of anthropomorphisation led to props (Credit: Caitlyn Montgomery)

The study’s co-authors say more research is needed to understand why the regions differ, but scientists agree that when there’s more green space, biodiversity flourishes.

Backyard trail cams can unveil secrets about plants as well, according to Nina Zitani, an assistant professor of biology at Western University in Canada who coined the term “biodiversity gardening“. In many cases, “we don’t know the types of pollinators that plants are dependent on”, Zitani says.

“Trail cameras help us make interesting observations about which animals are eating the fruit and dispersing the seed, which is really important for plant reproduction. We tend to focus on animals, but we won’t have any animals if we don’t have native plants.”

Instagram’s wildest new stars

Of course, not every animal spy wants to be a scientist. Plenty of folks just enjoy peering into a secret world. That’s the case for David and Johanna Kaye in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The couple have two wi-fi-enabled outdoor cameras that make them feel more connected to the world and provide hours of entertainment.

“It’s fun to know who your critter neighbours are, and I’ve given them names,” Johanna says. “The fox is Le Slinkus and the skunk is Le Stinkus. There’s also a calico cat I call The Inspector because it’s always checking everything.”

Anthropomorphising is part of the appeal, especially for Caitlyn Montgomery, a Los Angeles-based photographer. Montgomery initially set up her trail camera to clock who the culprit eating her garden was but came up empty. During the California fire season, however, she set out water in front of the camera. Later, she saw that birds had hopped in to cool off. “These birds were splashing around in the bowls, living their best lives, and it really just brought me joy,” she says.