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This month we are continuing to share some preliminary results that we have developed from photos
submitted and classified by Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera monitoring
volunteers in Iowa and Sawyer Counties. The accuracy of the photo classifications
have been spot checked by DNR staff, but have not been fully verified by
expert review nor sent to Zooniverse to receive a consensus classification. Because
we still have limited data from volunteers, we recommend viewing the analyses below as preliminary
and not as results
that are ready for rigorous interpretation
The
Snapshot Wisconsin trail cameras put a time and date stamp on each photo and therefore are able to capture the diurnal,
nocturnal and crepuscular behaviors of different species. The
graphs below show that turkey
activity increased as the day progressed.
Bears were most active during the day and used the mid-day hours more
than many of the other species. Coyotes and deer showed the strongest
crepuscular behaviors. Porcupines were most active in the early morning hours
before sunrise. Mustelids’ activity was different than many other species by
having a shorter portion of the early daytime hours when they were most active.
The images below show the daily
activity patterns using the 24-hour clock for 3 categories of animals captured
on Snapshot Wisconsin trail cameras in Iowa and Sawyer Counties from June 1 –
September 7, 2016.
  
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Steve is one of our Black River Falls elk trail camera
monitoring volunteers. Steve previously
worked as a Wildlife Technician for Ho-Chunk Nation DNR and camera monitoring was one of his job responsibilities. He currently holds
the record for monitoring the most cameras for our project with 10
cameras! Steve also volunteers his time
as a moderator of the talk boards on our Zooniverse site. The research team and other volunteers have
benefited greatly from Steve’s knowledge about Wisconsin wildlife and his first-hand
knowledge of many of the Jackson County camera locations. Steve also recently took over as the
administrator for the volunteer Facebook Group.
When Steve is not immersed in all things Snapshot Wisconsin he
also volunteers his time building and grooming trails at the Levis Mound
trail system on behalf of the Clark County Forestry Department, participates in
the WDNR carnivore tracking program and is a TWIN (Timber Wolf Information
Network) member. He has also been a Special
Olympics coach for over 30 years and been to the World Games 8 times in Track
and Cross Country Skiing. Steve is retired from teaching Art and Photography at Neillsville
School district.
Thanks Steve for being an outstanding volunteer for Snapshot Wisconsin and so
many other great projects! We really
appreciate all of your efforts on our behalf!
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Attention Trail Camera
Hosts!
Snapshot Wisconsin now open in NINE counties
Do you have access to private land in Dodge, Iowa, Iron, Jackson, Manitowoc, Racine, Sawyer, Vernon or Waupaca counties? If so, please consider signing up to participate in our project as a trail camera host. We hope to host training sessions in our three newest counties (Dodge, Racine and Vernon) later this month or in March.
New Message Board for
Trail Camera Hosts
If you are interested in interacting virtually with other
Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera volunteers please visit our talk boards on Zooniverse. We have
recently created a new board specifically for our trail camera
volunteers. This is a place where you can ask questions of other
volunteers, show off awesome photos from your Snapshot cameras and more. Recent posts include information on frozen locks in the winter time and the Snapshot Wisconsin Volunteer Facebook page.
MySnapshot Classification Tips
If you need some guidance on classifying all of the great wildlife photos that you have from your Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera please check out the Resources tab in your MySnapshot account. There you will find a downloadable version of our Field Guide that is full of great trail camera photos to help you identify any critters you may not be familiar with. A frequent question we get is about how to classify fawns. Any young deer should be classified as a fawn as long as it has spots. Once the fawn no longer has spots please classify it as Adult Antlerless.
Season 4 on Zooniverse launched a few weeks ago. Please visit www.snapshotwisconsin.org to help classify photos from our trail cameras and check out the talk boards to chat with other volunteers and the research team. Don't forget to follow our blog also to stay up to date on all of our news! |
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Please consider following the Wisconsin DNR Facebook page. Along with great info about all kinds of Wisconsin DNR projects there is a new feature every week called Snapshot Saturdays. We will be sharing an interesting sequence of photos from our Snapshot Wisconsin trail cameras every Saturday evening. We would love for our great volunteers to share any of their favorite photos in the comments! Please help us spread the word about Snapshot Wisconsin by participating in this fun outreach effort. |
Snapshot Wisconsin team members have been busy meeting the members of local groups around Wisconsin so far this year. Christina gave a talk about Snapshot Wisconsin as part of the Evening with Nature Series at the Ice Age Trail Visitor's Center early in January. Susan also gave a talk at the Annual Meeting of the Chippewa Valley Chapter of Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association last week. Susan will be presenting at the Wausau Winter Woodland Owner conference on February 11th and you can catch Christina at the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers conference in Oconomowoc in March. Please stop by and meet us if you are planning on attending any of these events! |
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We will share one awesome animal photo each month. To enter one of your favorites from a Snapshot Wisconsin camera please send the image as a jpeg attachment with the animal classification, county location and date taken along with the reason why you love the image to DNRSnapshotWisconsin@wisconsin.gov.
This month's image was picked out by the Snapshot Wisconsin team. This bobcat photo was captured in July 2016 and is from one of our trail camera sites in Sawyer County. The beautiful backdrop of common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, sets off the bobcat nicely as it stares into the trail camera before nonchalantly walking off out of sight.
Contact Information for Snapshot Wisconsin
Phone: 608-572-6103
Participate on Zooniverse: www.SnapshotWisconsin.org
Find out more details on our webpage:
dnr.wi.gov Keyword "Snapshot Wisconsin
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