Citizen scientists use hidden cameras to track urban wildlife

Wildlife gardeners often spend their energy focused on the three B's: birds, bees and butterflies. But most also encounter a variety of other animals in the neighborhoods where we work and play.

Squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and voles are present in almost any Piedmont green space, while deer are spotted – and sometimes battled – in many places, as well.

But what other types of wildlife may be hiding in our backyards?

That's a question Ed Barrows asked after noticing raccoon tracks near a pond behind his home in Holly Springs.

"I could see footprints along the edge of the pond," Barrows said. "So I wondered what else might be coming into the area."

To find out, Barrows signed up to become a citizen scientist with the eMammals program sponsored by the N.C. Museum of Sciences and the Smithsonian. The program engages volunteers to monitor wildlife activity using camera traps – hidden cameras that capture animal images. The weather-proof cameras take pictures when triggered by motion or heat, using infrared photography at night. The goal is to get a better picture of animal behavior in areas where human activity is also present, said Roland Kays, coordinator of the program and a research associate at N.C. State University.

"Basically, we're interested in knowing about everything that is out there," Kays said.

Until recently, information about the movements and habits of urban wildlife has been scarce due to a lack of widespread monitoring data. That data is becoming available with the help of more than 400 volunteers who have participated in the program in North Carolina and five other Southeastern states.

"We generally ask people to set up the camera in their backyards or a nearby woods, or beside their house along the edge of the yard," said Kays.

Unlike typical wildlife gardening, there is no attempt made to lure animals into the area, at least not while the camera is on duty.

"We don't want them to put food or anything out. We want to see what animals are there naturally, on a regular day or night," Kays added.

Barrows took an online training course to learn how to use the camera supplied by the Museum of Sciences. Then he set the trap in his backyard. The first shots captured images of opossums, deer, squirrels, mice, birds, cats and even some curious neighborhood children.

After a while, with permission of the museum staff, he moved the camera to the yards of friends, a spot in Yates Mill Park and then to a more remote area near Harris Lake where he saw "a lot of deer, some that didn't look real healthy; you could see their ribs." He also saw several coyotes, foxes, rabbits and a bobcat.

"The coolest picture was the bobcat because they are so reclusive," Barrows added.

Danielle Losos, another volunteer, has deployed cameras near her home in Chapel Hill, as well as at Duke Forest.

"I'm definitely seeing that neighborhoods are concentrated with deer and the occasional raccoon or squirrel; in the forest, you have a higher chance of seeing foxes, skunks, coyotes – a greater diversity."

Kays said scientists are learning from these photos about the diversity of mammals in the region and how their movements, diet, reproduction and health habits are changing.

In the past, such modifications have taken generations to notice. For example, coyotes were relatively small and fed on mice, rabbits and insects before settlers on the Great Plains eliminated their fiercest competitor, wolves. Now coyotes are the top canines, dining on prey as large as deer. Meanwhile, populations of gray and red foxes – as well as free-roaming domestic cats – tend to diminish in spaces where coyotes flourish.

As more data is gathered, Kays and other scientists hope to gain greater knowledge of the impact that human behavior is having on the habits of wild animals.

Elder: wildlifechatter@gmail.com

Source: Citizen scientists use hidden cameras to track urban wildlife