HALT camera trap
Passive Infrared (PIR) camera traps are valuable sampling tools commonly used to inventory and monitor wildlife communities but are challenged to reliably sample small animals. View research article: An improved camera trap for amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and large invertebrates.
Problem
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Game cameras use Passive Infrared (PIR) technology to trigger images. PIR sensors respond to thermal emissions, wavelengths ranging from 8μm to 14μm, which is the average range of endothermic mammals. PIR triggers perform well for large and medium sized mammals, but do not reliably detect ectotherms (reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates) or smaller mammals.
Solution
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The Hobbs Active Light Trigger (HALT) is an elevated threshold designed to capture images of amphibians, reptiles, large invertebrates and small mammals. The HALT couples to a digital PIR camera offering the attributes of game/trail cameras, designed for detecting small animals traversing small tunnels, narrow trails, small clearings and along walls or drift fencing.
Results
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HALT surpasses the detection ability of commonly used passive infrared (PIR) cameras and eliminates problems such as high rates of false triggers and high variability in detection rates among cameras and study locations.