This playbook provides an introduction to how we’re using using camera traps for understanding species at The Quoin.

(Our experience to date is mainly with terrestrial mammals in the Australian context. Any one of these sections could be expanded upon, and we’re happy to answer questions.)

Put cameras out in the right place, at the right time

Make sure you understand what you’re trying to achieve. What kinds of animals are you looking for? How tall are they? When do they come out? Will they be scared by the camera’s presence?

If placing a camera on a well-used animal trail, try orient it at a 45° angle to the trail rather than at right-angles, or a speedy animal may only get represented by a blur.

If you expect the cameras to get images of animal close to the lens (more likely with low-down deployments for eg Tasmanian Devils and quolls) then turn the flash brightness down, or you’ll get images blown out. Our cameras focus best at over a metre from the lens, so very close animals will be blurry: we’ve had good results using a lens from reading glasses carefully taped in front of the lens.

If you bait the cameras with eg tuna oil, you’ll be more likely to see inquisitive carnivores - but you’ll be altering their behaviour (and in doing so altering their prey’s behaviour) and perhaps getting an unrealistic view of where the animals roam. If you're looking to understand the extant of species in the area rather than accurately sample their behaviour, 100mL of tuna oil bait is a great way to do so, and is a method used by Tasmanian Land Conservancy, University of Tasmania, Bush Heritage, and more.

When are you putting the cameras out? Different species are in the landscape at different times of the year. If you’re doing surveys over multiple years, you’ll want to use the same locations at the same time.

Prep your cameras

Make sure your cameras have fresh batteries, empty SD cards, and have the right date/time and camera settings (including a unique camera ID and the settings for triggers, refresh time etc). A standard setting is to have cameras to take 3 images in a burst, one second apart. It’s a good idea if the SD cards have the same numeric ID written on them as you’ve set in the camera.

Common problems to avoid:

• cameras being triggered by plants blowing in the wind: you may want to trim vegetation if it’s likely to get in the way.
• facing into the sun and getting blinded
• the mounting moving or slipping: this can be because a tree is slippery when wet and is moving in the wind, the pole or star picket moves, or is too thin to get a good grip, or an animal bumps into it. Bring your own star pickets and a way to pound them into the ground, extra strapping and materials like foam (pool noodles work surprisingly well) so you can improvise a solid mounting in the field. If mounting to a tree, select a tree with a thick solid trunk, or one with very little foliage. A bushy tree with a skinny trunk will move under weaker winds than thicker trees or those with less foliage.
• trigger distance: if a camera is aiming straight ahead, it’s going to have foliage in frame unless it’s in a bare field. Also if it’s mounted to a tree, trees generally taper meaning the camera will be angled slightly upwards. We use a piece of stick behind the top of the camera to aim it at a point approximately 2m from the mounting tree/post. That’s also where we put any bait in use.