Game Camera Protocol

Game Camera Protocol

1. Collect materials (memory card and bait): Locate the memory card that is not in the camera (it should be wherever HQ Central with the schedule and sign out board is). Locate peanut butter in pantry. Take a generous spoonful and carry with you.

2. Walk the group to the game camera: Take the spare memory card and spoon of peanut butter with your group out past Minnesota to where we watch the sunset and do Sense of Place drawings. On the knee high concrete block just inside the barbed wire fence should be the game camera, facing out to the open grassy area beyond.

3. Retrieve the old bait: Send one of the students to go retrieve the old peanut butter cup, and replace it with the new cup. The peanut butter should be about 4-8 feet in front of the camera. This is also a good time for any students who want to see themselves on camera to dance in front of it.

4. Note: The camera is usually set to take 10 second videos only every 10 seconds. It also has a slight (1-2 second delay) between being triggered by motion (in the light) or heat (in the dark) and when it starts recording. The panel of red LEDs lights up when it is recording at night, but it is hard to tell if it is recording in the daylight.

5. Replace the memory card: Open the camera up, using the latches on the side. Turn the camera off by sliding the toggle switch all the way down. Remove the memory card by pushing in so it pops out. Replace it with the new memory card, pushing it in until it clicks as it latches.

6. Check batteries, replace if needed: Check that all the batteries are lying flush with their connections, not bulging out. Check that there is still sufficient battery power by pushing the toggle switch halfway up to “Setup mode.” After less than 10 seconds, the screen should show a display, including battery power. If no display comes on the screen, and no light comes from the front of the camera, you may need to replace the batteries.

7. Check the time/date, reset if needed: In “Setup mode,” the date and time should be on the display. These may have been reset to midnight on January 1, 2011 if the batteries have been jostled. Check that the correct time and date are displaying. If they need to be adjusted, hit “Menu,” followed by the right facing arrow button to scroll through the Setup menu. When you see “Set Clock” appear, hit “OK” to set. Use the up and down arrows to change each number, the right and left arrows to highlight different fields, and when you’re done, hit “OK” again.

8. Reset the camera: Set the camera by pushing the toggle switch all the way up to “On.” A red light will flash from the front of the camera for 10 seconds to let you know when it is armed. Generally while it is still flashing, close the camera, and reposition it to ensure the peanut butter bait is in the frame (though this can be hard to judge). This is a good time to record some silly videos for the next group to check the camera to discover.

NOTE: Check that the camera is recording. All kinds of things can make the camera not record. Troubleshoot if the red panels are not lighting up when you dance in front of it. 

9. Return to home base to download videos: Walk back to the home base where the laptop is waiting (may be Minnesota or Learning Center, depending on availability). Insert the memory card in card reader. Open folder.

10. If there are fewer than 30 videos, have the students watch each one. Have them use field journals to record how many videos of each species there is, including “none” for videos triggered by the wind or other unknown causes with no visible animals. Save any with animals (including the best Homo sapiens) in the SkySchool shared folder for Game Cams. Enter the number of videos of each species in the data sheet saved there.

11. If there are more than 30 videos, you may have a lot of wind triggered videos. In this case, you may not have time to watch all of them. Look at the times they were taken. If they are within a minute of one another for hours on end, they are probably wind. Watch the first one to three in a long series, then skip to any obvious time breaks, or spot check randomly or arbitrarily to ensure the sequence is just wind. If a video has 0 MB, then the file was corrupted. Once you have categorized and tallied the videos, save any animal videos, and enter your tallies on the data sheet.

12. Clean up and finish: Once you have saved any videos of animals (you don’t have to save all or even any of the human ones, just any particular favorites), erase the memory card. Put it back where you found it. Throw away the old peanut butter bait.