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Thank you to our trail camera monitoring volunteers who classify
their photos in their MySnapshot account. This month we are continuing our series showing you
some of what we are learning from those classifications. This week our Science
Update is all about otters!
In general, people are good at recognizing otters - 94% of
the photos classified as otters actually contain otters.
The photos that were incorrectly classified as otters frequently depicted
opossum. The 360 confirmed otter trigger events were from just 29 camera sites
for an average of 12.4 otter triggers per camera site. Most of the camera sites
with otters had just 1 or 2 triggers with otters, but two camera sites had 71
and 138 triggers with otters pictured. Just 2 of the camera sites had 55% of
all otter triggers.
Most otter triggers were taken in the late fall, especially
November, and in the spring. Most otter triggers were taken between
dusk and midnight and there was a lull in the number of otter photos taken
during the middle of the day. 41% of the otter triggers had more than 1 otter
photographed. The largest group size recorded was 8 otters pictured
together in a single photo.
The bar graph below shows the distribution of Otter Activity by time of year and time of day.
 Photos below with otters pictured (All from Jackson County Elk Monitoring Cameras): A) 3 otters; 20-APR-16, 00:01:17; B) 1 otter, 26-FEB-17, 15:18:53; C) 1 otter, 26-FEB-15, 20:50:05; D) 2 otters,
30-NOV-15, 15:08:55.
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Sarah Cameron is one of the newest members of Snapshot
Wisconsin and will be working as a natural resources educator/research
technician. She recently completed her undergraduate degree from the University
of Wisconsin-Madison with majors in conservation biology and environmental
studies. She is excited to bridge her backgrounds in volunteering coordinating
and trail camera work, and to see awesome photos of critters along the way. In
her free time Sarah enjoys yoga, hiking and kayaking around the lakes of
Madison.
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Recently on the Snapshot Wisconsin talk boards one of our great volunteers posted advice on completing fall camera checks. We wanted to share these tips widely with our volunteers. Remember that our talk boards are a great place to go to interact with other volunteers and the Snapshot Wisconsin team!
We are all getting to that time of year for fall camera checks-be sure to check vegetation surrounding your camera locations. Prairie grasses and tree leaves are starting to dry out and fall which can give false triggers. Keeping camera sites clear during spring green up and in the fall is a good idea to get the best possible SW images. Also, if your camera is inside a box with a padlock, it's a good idea to give 'em a squirt of lube now so they'll open this winter.
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Wolf vs coyote photo classification is one of the hardest classifications to make, even for experts. This quiz from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is a good way to practice your wolf vs coyote classification skills and contains some good tips on how to tell the difference between the two species.
Volunteers can also find some classification tips for these and all
species in the field guide which is found in the Resources tab of your
MySnapshot Account, or in the field guide accessible on the
right-hand side of the classification page on our
Zooniverse site (SnapshotWisconsin.org).
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In case you missed it we had some interesting blog features over
the last month:
Elk Rut Happening Now: This post includes a link to an awesome video of 2 bull elk sparring in the middle of Highway M near Clam Lake. Also included is a summary of our participation in this year's Bugle Days festivities.
September #SuperSnap: This month's #SuperSnap feature is of a turkey flapping its wings while perched in front of a Snapshot Wisconsin camera hosted by an educator in Sheboygan County. Zooniverse participants are encouraged to use #SuperSnap when sharing particularly interesting photos on the talk boards.
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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 submitted by an educator in Marathon County. The photo was taken on 4/28/17. The volunteer shared that she loves this image because she has seen white deer in the area, but this is the first time we caught it on
camera and she loves the way that antlers are pink against the white fur.
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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