Trail camera suggestions?

kittychick · Dec 4, 2013

I've seen alot of people refer to trail cameras ----something I'd never heard of. And I did a little research last night - sounds like one could be useful outside to see feral activity - and maybe to bring in periodically and catch which of our indoor guys is having "accidents" in our basement rec room. Seems like it could be an amazingly useful little tool!

I'd love to hear more about how they work and suggestions on which kind and where to buy. Things like....can they be left out in all weather? Do they all work off night vision/infrared type shots at night or do they use flash (which seems like it would really frighten the animals)? What are they tripped by?

Any info is appreciated! Sounds like it might make a good Christmas gift from santa

shadowsrescue · Dec 4, 2013

I have an outdoor wireless IP camera. It can record all night or be set to snap pictures and send them to your email when motion activated. I choose the motion activated emails. It is to be used outside and this will be my 3rd winter with the cameras. I do add an additional cover for them as it helps protect them from the rain/snow. They work with very cold temps. Sometimes when it is below zero, they flicker a bit and also sometimes when it is above 90, they shut off. I have both a regular lens and a wide angle lens. Here is a link to the regular lens (Foscam 8905).

The 8904 is the wide angle lens. You do need to have an electrical outlet and they work best when the wireless connection isn't too far away. I love mine especially when I am away from home. I can check to be sure everyone is ok.

susank521 · Aug 31, 2014

I would really, really like to get a trail camera but I know nothing about these things and the volume of choices is overwhelming. The prices range radically, I don't want to waste money by buying a cheap one if it won't do the job, but obviously don't want to spend more than necessary, either.

I'm looking for something to use at the feral feeders, so no wireless connection or electrical source is available. It would have to take still photos to a card, silently and in low light, motion-activated, color. Weather proof, of course.

Any and all suggestions and advise would be greatly appreciated!

shadowsrescue · Aug 31, 2014

I borrowed on last year It was easy to use, battery operated, 3 sensitivity settings for pictures and video too. I had problems because I had too much light for clear night vision pictures. One of my neighbors has LCD spot lights that shine in my yard. It took awesome day time shots. I would go out each morning and remove the SD card and bring it inside to view. The SD card does not come with this camera.

susank521 · Aug 31, 2014

Thank you for the info and the link, ShadowsRescue (you're always so kind and helpful

).

That looks like just what I need and I like the price. I didn't realize how large the cameras were until I watched that video. I had originally thought of putting a camera inside the feeder (I use deck boxes with holes cut in them for cat doors), but the camera looks too large for that. Next option I guess would be on a tree facing the feeder entrance. Is the quality of pictures taken at night good enough that you can tell color and markings (and clipped ears)?

shadowsrescue · Aug 31, 2014

ondine · Aug 31, 2014

This looks like something I might get. I wonder, though, how you get the images from the SanDisk to your computer? (Can you tell I am not that tech savvy?)

susank521 · Aug 31, 2014

What a clear picture that is! Maybe I could figure out some way to mount it inside of the feeder box for close-ups. But it would be very dark inside there. Do you know if the camera makes any noise when taking photos?

Ondine - unless you have a really old computer it should have a disk reader. A narrow slot about 1" wide.

ondine · Aug 31, 2014

I have a Toshiba laptop with Windows 7, so it may be too old. I am good with software but not so good with hardware.

I do have the Geek Squad, so I may take it in and ask them. Thanks, Susan!

shadowsrescue · Aug 31, 2014

Ondine said:
This looks like something I might get. I wonder, though, how you get the images from the SanDisk to your computer? (Can you tell I am not that tech savvy?)

I use a SanDisk card reader that hooks to my ipad. The reviews are terrible, but it works just great for me. I have an ipad 2 and it works every time. When I take pictures with my digital camera, I pop the SanDisk out, put it in the card reader and connect to my ipad. All of the images are transferred. I also used this when I borrowed the trail cam.

I do not believe it makes a sound, but it does flash. There will be a glowing red light that you can see, but it is not supposed to bother animals. I am not sure you would want the camera any closer than 6 feet to the subject. It's just something you need to play around with for proper positioning and sensitivity.

ondine · Aug 31, 2014

My techie grandson gave me some advice, so I will buy the camera and a SanDisk reader soon. I plan to use it to film around my enclosure. The neighbors behind us cleared away a lot of trees, so now the back of the enclosure is open to the street. Just taking precautions. It would be too easy for someone to get back there. I will plant more trees on our side in the spring.

Thanks!

Norachan · Sep 3, 2014

I've got a LTL Acorn 5210. It takes great pictures even in complete darkness and has survived being left out over night in typhoons and heavy snow. The only problem with it is that the casing is quite fragile. One of the plastic clips that holds the back of the camera in place snapped off and the flap that holds the batteries in broke, so I now have to tape it shut. It still works, but I doubt that it's still waterproof.

I bought the cheapest one I could find but I wish I'd gone for something sturdier now. They're really useful. I love spying on my cats.

jaosf · Sep 3, 2014

That's a nice image from the Primos Truth camera. And a good price for night vision.

I spy on my ferals with a permanently borrowed

Bushnell 8MP Trophy cam from a hunter cousin. Looking it up it seems to run about 2x as expensive as the Primos camera. $150! But it works great and is as sturdy as you could ask for. The last two winters were so cold, often -25F overnight, and the camera just kept doing its thing. So did my poor kitties out in that horrible weather. I swapped batteries to nickel-metal hydride ones in the winter, Tenergy brand NiMH ones to be exact, and in those very low temperature winter days they would keep a charge for 5 or 6 days of recording kitties. And skunks, and raccoons, and mink, and one black bear!

Good luck with your new camera when you get it. Mine has been invaluable helping to catch some of my more skittish kitties, and cluing me in to the presence of others that only came to eat in the depths of night. I thought I was feeding 3 cats when really I was feeding 5!

Norachan · Sep 4, 2014

jaosf said:
That's a nice image from the Primos Truth camera. And a good price for night vision.

I spy on my ferals with a permanently borrowed

Bushnell 8MP Trophy cam from a hunter cousin. Looking it up it seems to run about 2x as expensive as the Primos camera. $150! But it works great and is as sturdy as you could ask for. The last two winters were so cold, often -25F overnight, and the camera just kept doing its thing. So did my poor kitties out in that horrible weather. I swapped batteries to nickel-metal hydride ones in the winter, Tenergy brand NiMH ones to be exact, and in those very low temperature winter days they would keep a charge for 5 or 6 days of recording kitties. And skunks, and raccoons, and mink, and one black bear!

Good luck with your new camera when you get it. Mine has been invaluable helping to catch some of my more skittish kitties, and cluing me in to the presence of others that only came to eat in the depths of night. I thought I was feeding 3 cats when really I was feeding 5!

Wow jaosf, where do you live?

I've only ever seen cats, one fox and something called a palm civet on mine, though I know the forests around here are full of monkey and wild boar.

jaosf · Sep 4, 2014

Too far north, Norachan. Northern conifer forest bordering a large lake. When it freezes and the boreal winds come screaming across, it gets so cold.

The ferals have insulated shelter, but I get so worried about them every winter. Beyond every day worrying about them, you know. One of them had kittens in November one year, and it snowed three weeks later. I caught some but not all.

It's probably a good thing if the monkeys and pigs aren't coming to your feeding stations, I imagine they could do a lot of damage! Is the civet a regular? I don't know anything about them but they're neat looking animals.

Norachan · Sep 5, 2014

jaosf said:
Too far north, Norachan. Northern conifer forest bordering a large lake. When it freezes and the boreal winds come screaming across, it gets so cold.

The ferals have insulated shelter, but I get so worried about them every winter. Beyond every day worrying about them, you know. One of them had kittens in November one year, and it snowed three weeks later. I caught some but not all.

It's probably a good thing if the monkeys and pigs aren't coming to your feeding stations, I imagine they could do a lot of damage! Is the civet a regular? I don't know anything about them but they're neat looking animals.

That sounds a lot like my neighborhood. I live half way up Mount Fuji. we get around two meters of snow every winter. I've only ever seen the palm civets in summer, I've no idea how they get through the cold weather. They don't like cat food, I've never seen them eat any of it. Maybe they're vegetarian?

I worry about my ferals too.It's amazing how so many of them get through the winter

lisa1950 · Jul 21, 2015

I bought the camera and have used it at the colony. have to tie it to a post I put in the ground because there are no trees near the bush feeding station. how to psition the the camera and how far away from feeding station on the ground?how far off the ground would I need to place the camera? still learning how to position the camera.

shadowsrescue · Jul 21, 2015

lisa1950 said:
I bought the camera and have used it at the colony. have to tie it to a post I put in the ground because there are no trees near the bush feeding station. how to psition the the camera and how far away from feeding station on the ground?how far off the ground would I need to place the camera? still learning how to position the camera.

You just have to play around with it. That's the hard part. You want it off the ground, but you will have to try it out and see if it's in the right position as well as the sensitivity settings. Just set it up and then walk in front of it for awhile and see what happens. It's kind of a pain since you will need to take out the SD card to view, but it's all part of setting it up. It took me quite awhile.

lisa1950 · Jul 21, 2015

thanks for your reply. you are right. trial and erra till I get it right .

Trail camera suggestions?

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