You’ve seen the videos. BDN Contributor Allie Ladd of Byron knows his way around a trail camera.
But he didn’t get his skills automatically. It has meant years of trial and error, trying different cameras and experimenting with angles, baits and locations — and even different types of batteries.
Ladd was more than happy Friday to share with BDN Outdoors readers what he has learned so far.
He uses two types of cameras: a cell camera that can send live videos to a cell phone, although Ladd uses a computer instead; and a stationary camera that has to be physically checked. His favorites right now are Brownings, including an MP5 with dark ops, which makes a flash unnecessary.
“The flash can spook the animals sometimes,” he said. “Some cameras have a red glow that makes the animals leery too.”
Ladd has had as many as 19 cameras out at a time. Right now, the number is down to about a dozen. He tends to use multiple cameras at one site that give him different angles, he said.
He checks them at different times depending on where they are. The ones behind his house get checked the most frequently.
Ladd suggests putting the cameras in lock boxes to keep thieves from taking them. He has lost just one to theft, in addition to some SD cards in the past. Put them out of sight of people on trails, he said. He has mounted them in straps and on metal stands too.
Try to camouflage the cameras using rocks, brush and leaves when cameras are on the ground, and with spruce or fir boughs when mounted on a tree. If there are beavers around, don’t mount cameras on live trees because they could get damaged if a beaver chews the tree down.
Ladd has also lost cameras to bears, which seem to be particularly curious about them. Some people have told him it’s the bait smell on his hands transferred to the camera when he set up the site, and others say it’s the acid smell of the batteries that attracts them.
But Ladd thinks it could just be curiosity.
When deciding where to place cameras, look for animal trails, a log over a brook — because some animals don’t like to get their feet wet — and stone walls.
If there seems to be a great distance between the camera and where the animal is expected to come out of the woods, place the camera on the corner where it might come out. Otherwise you will get video of tracks and no animal, he said.
Ponds are good places to place cameras, with ducks and otters and other wildlife drawn to water.
He also cautioned about grass or limbs that could be blown into the camera’s view and trigger pictures or video. Pay attention to the background too and think in terms of framing your photos, and you may have to experiment on how far back the camera needs to be, he said.
Ladd sets his camera for 20 seconds to get more videos, but you can choose how long you want yours to be. Cameras generally have eight AA batteries in each one, which is good for about 1,000 still photos or 150 videos set at 20 seconds, he said.
He uses Energizer ultimate lithium batteries in winter, but less expensive batteries in the warmer weather. Ladd had just purchased 100 ultimate lithium batteries for $250 this week.
Ladd often uses bait to attract animals to the camera’s range. He uses roadkill, plus beaver carcasses given to him by a friend who traps for the pelts. All of the meat-eaters like beaver, he said.
Old trapping lures or aniseed oil applied to a stick off the trail works too, he said.
One piece of advice: catnip does not attract lynx.
Why is Ladd so devoted to this hobby?
“You never know what you will get. Baby animals. Animals you didn’t expect,” he said. “I like it.”