Camera Trap Education

My new camera trap has not been running right. The problem has not been hardware -- perfect on that score. The problem has been -- cough-cough -- "operator error."

My first mistake was placing the camera too high. Wrong idea. The camera needs to be at ground level or perhaps up 8-10 inches and pointing slightly down for fox, raccoon, possum, squirrel, ground-feeding birds, etc.

My mistake was that I had the camera about two feet up on a pole and was getting nothing but brush movement. I knew critters were coming, however, as I was losing bait (a simple combination of dog food and bird seed scattered on the ground).

Yesterday evening, I took the camera off the pole and put it on the brick foundation of the greenhouse. Bingo. My first red fox picture. Fat little thing isn't it? I treat my garden fox very well. There is no war on foxes going on at this house.

I think putting the camera up a foot and pointing it slightly down may also reduce some of the glare from the flash. I also clearly need to dispense with my old fox feeder tube -- it just makes for an ugly bit of kit in the background and is not needed. I am also going to take the date and camera number off (there's only one camera, and I do not care what the date is), but leave the time code on.

I notice that the camera trap experts often place bait on a log or rock forcing the critter up to a defined location higher than the surrounding grass and leaf line. I may not need to do that, but it's something to think about.

I have beaver castoreum to attract critters, but I have not yet mixed it up with catnip, as I could not find glycerin (the thinning agent) at the drug store. I will try a health food store today. I may not need a scent bait at all, as fox and raccoon are, I think, pretty well accustomed to coming to my back yard for the occasional snack.

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