I want to set up a motion-detecting camera trap in my back yard. Is it possible at a reasonable price?
I want to document as many bird and mammal species as possible.
Ideally it would connect to our house’s wifi, so the pictures would automatically be sent to my laptop and/or phone.
Any and all suggestions much appreciated!
I played with this a bit during lockdown. I can’t call myself a long time camera trap expert but I can at least say my cost analyses are recent. I used two methods: A trailcam, and a Pluto trigger hooked up to an old DSLR with an inexpensive kit lens on it. The trailcam is a longer term solution and has infrared flash built in, and the old DSLR is just to leave out for a few hours in good weather and see if you catch anything cool before the battery runs out. I picked Pluto trigger because I can hook up other sensors to it, so I can do stuff like use multiple motion sensors to reduce false readings, or use a flex sensor to tell if a mammal brushes past a twig, or a water level sensor to detect when someone disturbs the water in a pond.
If you aren’t utilizing existing equipment, in USD I would expect to pay $75 on the very low end and $500 on the very high end, average would be $100-$200. Add the maintenance cost of batteries if you go the trailcam route.
Your big question here is “how are you going to power it?” Do you want to hook up to household power (look at home security cameras if so), run for a month or two on non-rechargeable batteries (look at trailcams and expect to pay a lot for batteries), or a day or so on a charge (the DSLR option, or you may be able to repurpose an old smartphone)?
If you get a trailcam, definitely look for infrared flash. This allows night photography without any disruptive visible light flashes, so you’ll see many more shy mammals. It’s a common feature on trailcams and hard to get otherwise.
If there’s a window where you can place a camera looking over the yard then you might have more options because you wouldn’t need weatherproofing.
Think about placement. If you put a wide angle lens overlooking your whole yard from a high angle you will catch more medium to large mammals, but you won’t be able to identify smaller mammals and birds. Also, smaller mammals at a distance may not set off your motion sensor. If you put the camera lower and closer to a specific area of interest, you can get close up pictures of smaller creatures but you will miss things happening in other areas of the yard.
Be aware that wind in vegetation will trigger a motion sensor, sometimes excessively. It is the single biggest problem with my camera traps - I live in southern CA in a very windy area. Wind triggering can happen due to several different causes:
Can’t recommend a trailcam that connects to the household wifi and sends pictures, because I didn’t manage to find one! It may be easier with a home security system. I have no outdoor electrical outlets so that wasn’t an option for me.
Not quite what you’re going for, but I lived in a place that had a motion-detecting security camera system. When some red foxes moved into the neighborhood, we started getting photos of them during the night trotting down our driveway. Very cool. At the time, I wasn’t able to persuade the owner to aim the camera on the birdfeeders instead of the driveway, but I imagine it could have been done.
So when you’re looking for equipment or price points, don’t ignore systems that are marketed for a different purpose. The system I’m thinking of was indeed tapped into our wifi, and saved photos to a laptop for review. Hope that helps.
Awesome ideas! Many thanks!
Very helpful! Many thanks!
We were surprised and delighted when our doorbell cam (in a condo, no less) caught a bobcat the first night! It also got a bird catching a bug right in front of it. Then, raccoons, squirrels, and opossums made the scene. This in addition to the daily hummingbirds and the nighttime patrols of the neighbors’ cats.
A bobcat? Whew! Talk about all downhill from there.
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