Setting these units up in a treed area is easy enough, but has anyone ever set them in a treeless location, specifically a fen or a bog? I would be putting these units up during the winter, and collecting them in the summer so whatever I affix them to would have to survive the melting snow, and thawing peat/ground.
Hi Nina, I never used such devices, but recently I saw a documentary movie where they hammered wooden or metal poles into the ground using a sledge hammer. This is quite tedious, but it should survive your harsh environment. Best, Markus
Thanks! Definitely a good idea, but I'm concerned that once the ground thaws and becomes saturated with water the whole contraption will topple over... Maybe I just have to go in very deep...
Another option may be to add a counterweight at the bottom, such as metal casing of a wooden pole on the side that goes under. That way it can't possibly topple by itself (at least not all the way). Going suitably deep will also help.
Check out Studies in Avian Biology No. 43: Ribic, C. A., F. R. Thompson, III, and P. J. Pietz, editors. 2012. Video Surveillance of Nesting Birds. Mostly about forest and prairie systems, but there might be something you could use.
Hi Nina-
We've used them out in sage steppe biomes. Pounding a post deep worked fine, but we didn't have the ground instability problem you are concerned about (it still might work though, especially with maybe a small cairn of rocks at the bottom). Something that is a perpetual problem though is that in such treeless landscapes, anything that sticks up above the terrain becomes very interesting to wildlife. Birds perch on these, so leaving room above the camera is imperative for preventing a thousand photos of bird tails, etc. Also large animals tend to come rub on the posts, knocking everything down. That may or may not be a problem for you, but it's fair warning. I'm not sure the best way around that other than to hope for the best.
cheers-
Jason
Most bog and fen peat begins to get quite dense about 30-40 cm down or even less. So if you pound a post into the peat to a depth of 60+ cm it should be quite stable. We put in PVC pipe for various purposes in bog peat to a depth of 80 cm and it can be quite hard to move them much once they are in place.
Hi Nina,
If you want the cameras not to stick up, an alternative approach could be to install cameras on small floating rafts. Polystyrene should be ok. You can tie them to vegetation or some other features. One drawback is that the camera can switch direction and you might want to focus some precise areas.
Good luck.
I've used iron stakes in open water areas, and I held the camera with plastic ties. Baits were into the tubes.
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