Some of my best photos come my trusty trap (trail) camera. I try to conceal the camera as best I can but I am surprised that how many birds and animals seem to be aware of it’s presence such as the examples below.
Many animals, especially nocturnal and crepuscular ones can see the IR from the camera, in large part due to the cameras using a cheap filter approach to making the IR light. In conservation there are some efforts to use IR lighting using lights that actually only emit in specific frequencies and have less bleed into other frequencies, and as such are less noticeable to wildlife.
At the last IPS conference I attended in Madagascar there was a group selling hand-lights made with way because many of the lemur species in Madagascar are nocturnal and are very sensitive to the standard IR lighting and behave differently when observed when illuminated by it.
A long while ago I worked in South America and in many of the camera trap photo the animals imaged were very obviously disturbed by the camera and looking straight at it.
Which reminds me, I was helping another student with their field study. They had multiple camera traps placed around different areas of a game reserve in South Africa. I was helping him to retrieve them and check sightings before reloading batteries and SD cards. We got to one site and the area had been trampled. The tree the camera trap was meant to be on - a small tree - was not there. We followed the wreckage of branches and leaves and found the camera trap crushed on the floor.
Fortunately, my friend was able to extract the SD card and view the images. The series of images was hilarious. After lots of small animals and nothing, suddenly a herd of elephants pass through the area. One large elephant sees the camera trap. There were a series of images of the elephant walking towards the camera trap, and then eventually reaching out with its trunk. The next few images were of the sky.
I found it hilarious. The other student, less so (at the time), as he had lost quite a bit of data, and the equipment was quite expensive. So funny!
I would like to nominate the observation ( I and another identifier made the ID) in iNaturalist which has a video link as well: You know that the Mule Deer “know” they are on (trail cam) camera - to the point of playful chasing - seems to be showing off; and in one segment - the stotting behavior - and a turn-around to show off some more. Awesome! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/335267426
I agree with your choice (I’m happily jealous of how animal behavior is picked by colincroft’s observations and trail cam videos - see my pick - re: Mule Deer “playing” chase in front of the camera (they act like they ‘know’ its there)
I don’t know if this is just with regard to trail cameras–if that’s the case, I can delete this response. Deer often see me and the camera. Here are two:
I was standing within a few feet of both. I usually enjoy seeing them up close. This past summer though, I was out for a walk when a fawn started following me. I kept walking away from it, but I think it was just curious. Suddenly, mama crashed out of the brush, halted her fawn, and then decided to run me off. I have never been chased by a deer before and would’ve felt it was my own fault and deserved it had I been trailing the fawn, but I was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I used to screen photos from trail cams in our local parks in Northeast Ohio. I think the animals that live in an area where a camera is located notice that something is different. They know their area. There were multiple photos where a squirrel or other subject was inspecting the camera.
Suggest you have a look at Meek, P. D., Ballard, G. A., Fleming, P. J., Schaefer, M., Williams, W., & Falzon, G. (2014). Camera traps can be heard and seen by animals. PloS one, 9(10), e110832.
From abstract: “We conducted laboratory based investigations to test the audio and infrared optical outputs of 12 camera trap models. Camera traps were measured for audio outputs in an anechoic chamber; we also measured ultrasonic (n = 5) and infrared illumination outputs (n = 7) of a subset of the camera trap models. We then compared the perceptive hearing range (n = 21) and assessed the vision ranges (n = 3) of mammals species (where data existed) to determine if animals can see and hear camera traps. We report that camera traps produce sounds that are well within the perceptive range of most mammals’ hearing and produce illumination that can be seen by many species.”
I know from experience that some models have an audible click when switching over from day mode to night recording with IR illumination.
