I'm not very experienced yet, but would like to share my thoughts how I think you can get canids habituated to your presence and movement (I understand that is what you want?).

I don't know what strategy you may have so far, how close you plan on getting to them or allow them to you? You probably know how important smell is to the foxes, so get them use to your smell from early on. Be deliberate in putting your own scent in their home range (spending time there).

If you should hang out close to them (whatever the distance of safe space), be observant (I am sure you will be) for calming signals (shaking, stretching, lip licking, perhaps even urinating during acquisition of scent or straight after?); when they observe you, some body language you can display: not gazing directly at them; slow movements; body posture at an angle; lip licking, and a blink here and there. I suspect they will probably show calming signals more frequently in the beginning, but it ought to become less as they get used to your presence and movements.

Your project sounds really exciting, looking forward to hear more.

Kind regards,

Chimoné

Hi Chimone,

Thanks for your answer. It's good to know that habituation works in a fairly similar way across species. I have actually habituated diurnal mammals before, and have been wondering more about the challenges of following and doing close observations of nocturnal species. It is probably more of an equipment-related question, as I need to get close without too much interference, e.g., from strong spotlights.

I've edited my question slightly to reflect that.

Aliza

Hi Aliza,

Thanks for a reply :) Hope you get some helpful feedback!

Good luck!

Chimoné

This may not be exactly what you want, but have you thought of using remote camera traps? Although they are stationary, and therefore following individuals around isn’t really possible, you can set them to take video or photos at night. I guess in your case they would enable you to identify behaviours at certain locations. Also the data you collect are objective and less subject to observer errors.

Cheaper makes such as Ltl Acorn or Bushnell are available and tend to have good reviews. Personally I’ve used Ltl acorn cameras directed at seabird nests and the nocturnal images (when close enough to the animal) tended to be pretty good.

Best of luck!

You might consider using infrared lighting and cameras. That would avoid the bright spotlight issues. Infrared illumination trap cameras could be set up along their nightly hunting paths. It has been my experience with urbanized animals that they have a route they work. It can take some time but you can usually figure out their route sometimes by being in the area and listening for their passage. Dogs are sometimes a good indication (barking) of the animal passing along their route. Once you know the route you can put up camera traps along it at various locations.

Thanks for the camera trap hints! I've been thinking about trying to look at behaviour at the den using cameras, but with the traps I have there is a one-minute limit on recording time. Do you know if something like go-pros (with longer recording time) also have good night recording capabilities? Or camera traps with long video recording times? Thanks for the input!

People I know that have the go-pro say the night recording capabilities are very poor and go-pro does not currently have cameras for night vision recordings that they know of. What camera do you currently use, can you not put more memory in for longer recording times?

Have you tried looking for cameras that have thermal imaging capabilities? Using thermal imaging could solve your lighting issue.

Also, there are small video cameras that transmit wirelessly, usually used for survelliance or security. If you had the right set up on a laptop you could only record images during the night and upload to a laptop with a decent sized hard drive or even an external hard drive. It would mean more material for you to review but it could mean you would catch better sight of your subjects. The small cameras are not terribly expensive. You would need to find a location to put the laptop but you may be able to find someone who will volunteer to let you put it in their home nearby if you explain what you are studying. Another staging location that would possibly work is to park a vehicle in the area during your recording times and let the laptop run from the battery power of the vehilce.

Good luck!

Currently I've not purchased a camera -- I've used Bushnell camera traps for 1-minute videos on zoo animals, but want to consider my options before setting anything up in the field. I haven't thought about thermal imaging -- if they work well, it's something I'll definitely consider, thanks!

Bushnell supply a black LED camera that does not have the 'flash' problem. They work very well.