Well, as long as we're getting the same wild animals every night, we figured why not see if they'd mind a background. This is just a big piece of orange paper, but since they don't mind this, we're thinking about other backgrounds...
1:54am: a possum
(bait: cat treats)
Possum with studio backdrop!
Adult, baby possum
3:04am: adult possum visits
4:31am: baby possum visits
(bait: cat treats)
This film is sped up 3x.
Reversing young possum
4:05am: time warp! this young possum walks in reverse each time the light comes on. We're getting so many possums these days... we're hoping for a mother carrying babies one night.
(bait: cat treats)
Raccoon, Possum, Possum
12:46am: a raccoon
2:35am: a possum. I like that after eating, it takes a swat at the can on the end of the motion detector, just out of view.
4:07am: a possum
(bait: cat treats)
These animals were taking their time, so we sped up the video 4x.
Adult Possum
1:14am: an adult possum, not bothered by the light shining toward its head.
(bait: cat treats)
Young Possum
3:48am: finally, a possum! The Virginia Opossum is the only American marsupial species. This one circles when the light comes on instead of feigning death, which we thought all possums would do when frightened.
(bait: an olive)
Squirrel develops a way to avoid the sensor!
6:37am: this commando-crawling squirrel is staying low enough to avoid setting off the motion detector light
(bait: beef cat food)
Three animals
We're not getting much at night these days, for some reason, so we left it on through the morning one day.
8:36am: bird, possibly a vireo? does anyone know? our 10th species, we think
9:12am: squirrel sneaks up and then quickly jumps away after it trips the light
10:24am: cardinal nearby, our 11th species
(bait: turkey and liver cat food)
Sparrow, Squirrel
7:41am: Brief visit from a sparrow (our 9th species so far)
8:17am: A squirrel gets spooked out by the light.
(bait: a banana)
Catbird flips!
6:58am: We think it's a gray catbird. What kind of bird flips when lights turn on, and enjoys apple pie?
(bait: our last slice of apple pie, slightly out of date)
Jumpy squirrel
No animals last night, so we left it running through the morning.
10:21am: Jumpy squirrel! The device clicks a moment before the light comes on -- and the squirrel leaps! Here's a composite photo of the leap and a short video.
This one looks human!
7:28am: It crossed in front of the camera, without stopping to sniff the bait, setting off the motion detector lights as it passed. Still no rabbit.
(bait: last night's lettuce and a little peanut butter)
Confirmed: you really don't win friends with salad
Last night we left some lettuce out, hoping to attract a rabbit.
12:47am: We got one curious cat. No rabbits.
(bait: iceberg lettuce)
Heeeere, bunny bunny
Rain kept the animals away the last two nights.
If you have any advice on how to attract rabbits, possums or deer, please leave a comment. The rabbits are out there every night, just not near the device. Thanks!
Very Calm Squirrel
6:10am: This squirrel was so calm that 5 minutes of video were collected. Or maybe it was more then one calm squirrel. In the film, the light flashes briefly when the squirrel was so still that the motion detector missed it for a while.
(bait: the other half of last night's apple, crushed, and a little peanut butter)
We sped up this film 5x.
Raccoon, curious but not hungry
4:02am: A raccoon examines the bait. This is our second raccoon, with a skinnier nose and different patterns of face markings than the last one.
(bait: half of an apple, crushed)
Two quick visits
3:03am: A visitor is frightened by the light
4:24am: Another visitor frightened by the light
(bait: burnt bits of fish left on the grill after a BBQ)
Apple thief!
2:57am: A new visitor
6:42am: Yet another new visitor, look at the apple pieces fly! It took our apple.
(bait: half of an old apple and a slice of cheese)
Fast!
Oh yes, you are fast, kitty.
You are very fast.
But you are not fast enough for the Video Animal Detector!
(bait: turkey and liver cat food)
Lights? I have no fear of lights.
1:27am. This visitor doesn't even flinch for the lights. Nice use of the paws!
(bait: tuna flavored cat food)
It works! Our first animal!
We tested it by waving a hand in front of it at 11:30pm. Looks like it works... it recorded for 5 seconds. So we set it up. At 4:30am, we had our first visitor! It seemed a little spooked out by the light. We were so excited when we saw that it worked! We're looking forward to seeing what we've recorded each morning when we wake up.
The light turns on for 5 seconds when something warm moves near the bait, and turns off when the movement stops. The program records for 5 seconds anytime the light goes on or off. I'll edit out most of the blank, boring times in future videos.
(bait: cheap beef dog food)
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