Remote Camera

So for years I’ve wanted a remote camera that takes pictures of animals that trip an infrared beam (yes, I know, I’m a nerd). My parents finally got me one for my birthday (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and I was very excited to bring it to Africa and try it out in the bush.

I will admit, my first attempts were a bit frustrating. I set it up in a friend’s backyard where we saw deer…and the next day there was nothing. Three pictures had been taken with nothing in them and that was it. I tried on several other things and all I ended up getting pictures of was myself.

When we started working in Mudumu National Park I kept my eyes open for a good place to put up the camera. I chose a rarely driven trail that had lots of elephant damage and some lion prints in the dirt. The camera was up for three days…and all we got pictures of was ourselves as we drove past for my game drives and one other tour car that passed once. I wasn’t sure the camera was even working but I decided to move it to a nearby waterhole. I put up the camera and left it for two days. When we finally took it down there were over 300 pictures showing on the counter! We had gotten pictures of elephants, warthogs, baboons, impala, wildebeest, and two hyenas! I was SO excited!

I tried again in Bwabwata with mixed results but it was when we got to Chobe that we really started getting some good shots. One day we found a baby elephant that had been killed by a car. It was lying on the side of the big tar road running through that park and there was a nice tree nearby so I put up the camera. The next day when I checked on the camera over 800 photos had been taken! We got hundreds of shots of hyenas coming to feed on the carcass. It was incredible! Most people wouldn’t get to see that sort of thing but because of the camera we did.

Yesterday Chels and I were doing a drive when we saw a leopard in a tree with an impala it had killed. It was so cool! We left the camera at the base of the tree and will pick it up tomorrow. I’m really hoping for some good leopard pics. We’ll see!

~Tim

Caution, this picture is graphic!