of the photograph. Cable the lock box or camera to a tree about 0.3 meters off the ground. To avoid false triggers due to motion, choose trees with a large enough trunk to prevent movement caused by wind. By aiming your test beam at your lure site on the ground, this will enable the photo capture animals, small and large. If possible, have your camera facing north, so as to be less susceptible to false triggers caused by shadows and direct sunlight. However, it is sometimes worth trying a site that does not have optimal orientation, if its other characteristics are favorable. Remove some waving grasses, small saplings, and over-
hanging branches from the immediate sensing area of the camera to avoid false triggers. Try to minimize the amount of clearing you do so as to limit habitat disruption. If you opt to clear very little, the tradeoff will be having to delete false triggers before you share the latest pictures with students. Check the battery level every time you monitor your cam-
era. Turn the camera on and confirm settings. Use camouflage duct tape to further secure the site if needed. Place the camera in live mode, wait for the time out period to expire and the camera to trigger and capture the first picture. Set up your lures while the camera is in live mode so you can confirm that it is working before you leave the site. Close the lock box over the camera, and lock it with the padlock.
Lures?
Made from animal glands or secretions, smelly oils, and urine, lures are designed to attract animals to a particular site. As you prepare to set up your cameras, consider if you want to attract animals to your site and/or rely on finding active animal trails. You will have the most success by doing both. Currently, baits and lures used in small amounts are allowed in Minnesota, as long as no hunting is conducted at the site. Check your state or provincial regulations and contact local wildlife conservation officers before setting up your camera site. If you are not allowed to use lures, optimize your chances of success by locating cameras near active animal trails. Lures are available from hunting and trapping companies.
Students get pretty excited about using lures, so it’s important to explain that they have a responsibility to use a minimum amount, so as not to change the feeding habits of wildlife. Generally, the amount is used for a lure is between the size of a dime and a quarter. I consulted many trappers, each of whom have a favorite
lure, but many recommend applying a combination of small predator attractants, such as Hiawatha and Violator 7, to a small piece of lambs' wool. If you suspect the schoolyard presence of certain species, ask the supply source for their recommendations for lures designed to attract those species. Apply your lures to lambs’ wool and add a paste of corn, pow-
dered acorn, or other grain. This will give you an opportunity to attract a range of species without habituating wildlife to a new food resource. If you find that grain remains at the site when you next return to check your camera, reduce the amount of grain used. The scent from the lure will be quite potent initially, but the smell will fade as it is exposed to the elements. Optimal attraction will occur in the first couple of days. If you attract a species that you would prefer to avoid bringing into the schoolyard, discontinue using that particular attractant and move the camera to a new location.
How do we retrieve and analyze images?
Retrieve images once a week throughout the monitoring pe- riod. If you remove the cameras for weekends, you can check each Friday and return the camera to its site on Monday. Upon arriving, walk in front of the camera and trigger the camera. The resulting picture will verify that the camera is working and serve as a reference for the date and time. Turn off the camera, and replace the memory card with the empty spare one. To reset the camera, clean the lens and motion sensor if needed, turn the camera on, confirm settings, and refresh lures. Place the camera on live mode, then secure and lock it. Review captured images before sharing them with stu-
dents. Delete false triggers due to movement or light and all but one picture of each bird species to serve as a voucher. Record all mammal captures, and every week, show students the “best-captures”, and compare those to best-captures recorded previously at the protected area. Develop Excel spreadsheets to record data each week of the
captures during the previous week. Before voting on whether to move the cameras, analyze captures to date by species and by time of day broken into 4 categories: sunrise-noon, noon-4 pm, 4 pm-sunset, night. Compile a list of species that were captured and compare this list to the list of species predicted to be captured. (See Figure 5.) Allow students to nominate and vote on new camera sites. When the final week of data collection is complete, update graphs of frequency and time of day captures. Consider variables that you may want to address in class
and as you retrieve images. Develop your spreadsheet to ac- commodate these variables and continue entering data each week. This will avoid a data-entry marathon at the end of your 10-week monitoring period. As you build analyses from year to year, think about additional variables that you may want to analyze.
Enrichments for more advanced students. Provide guidance but allow them to set up and move cameras themselves. Help students build graphs by themselves (instead of focusing discussion on already completed graphs).
GREEN TEACHER 89
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Taking Action Opportunities
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