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Game camera for nuptial flights

game camera wildlife camera

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8 replies to this topic

#1 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 27 2015 - 7:01 AM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

I came up with an idea for some of us who don't live in areas where any interesting ants fly.

 

There are a few species of ants that I really really want, but have no clue when they fly. I have tried for the last couple years to figure it out, but have been unsuccessful. So now, instead of randomly driving all the way out to see if I might get super lucky and find them flying, or at least see some alates giving me an indication as to when their nuptial flight might take place, all I need to do is set up one of these game cameras aiming right at the entrance to their nest.

 

519gxZ9IRUL._SY450_.jpg

 

http://www.amazon.co...a/dp/B00AP311JQ

 

 

I could set this thing up on a nest way away from any road or trail, in a place where it would be highly unlikely for someone to be wandering around. I can also disguise it inside of a fake rock or something making it even less likely to be found. It uses infrared lights to take pictures at night, and they claim it's low-glow. They say it can illuminate up to 50 feet, which means if this is only a couple feet from a nest, I could probably block out most of the infrared light making it almost "no-glow". Any light could be aimed away from any near-by road or trail anyway. They claim this one can take up to 30,000 pictures on one set of batteries, which means I could easily get one picture every minute for more than a month. I would just need to show up once a month to download the images and change the batteries. In the unlikely event that the camera is found and stolen, the nice thing is it's only 50 dollars, which is relatively cheap. One of the reasons this camera is so cheap according to reviews, is because it can't take pictures at any shorter interval than one minute, which is perfect for this application, because I wouldn't need anything more than that to see alates hanging around the nest entrance.

 

Anyway, I hope this will help me finally get some of the information I've been trying to hard to get.



#2 Offline Foogoo - Posted March 28 2015 - 9:07 PM

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What about one with 3G capability so you can see it in realtime? The extra cost might be worth having to wait for the same time the year after, driving there and hoping you get lucky. You'll need to buy cell service, but the cheapest pay as you go service should be enough since you essentially need 0 minutes and only data/sms. Won't even need data if you use one with sms capability.

 

Game camera similar to the OP

China to the rescue


Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta


#3 Offline Chromerust - Posted March 28 2015 - 9:28 PM

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That's a nice idea for sure FooGoo but I don't know that even Drew is that hardcore to invest in something like that lol.
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#4 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 28 2015 - 10:43 PM

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  • LocationSanta Ana, CA

Yeah haha. I was drawing the line somewhere around 50 dollars on this idea. 50 dollars would allow me to get a couple of them. Since I am not going to be watching it all the time, I would probably just end up seeing what I want to see after the fact anyway. I might rig something up that uses wifi though to setup on my brother's property where it would be safe. He has quite a few species of ants I'm hoping to keep some day.



#5 Offline BugFinder - Posted March 29 2015 - 10:42 AM

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what area is your bros property located in?


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#6 Offline dspdrew - Posted March 29 2015 - 6:02 PM

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Menifee, CA.



#7 Offline PTAntFan - Posted April 4 2015 - 10:51 AM

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What about a super cheap smartphone on ebay with 3G and setting up a real-time video feed?  The toughest part would be power to the device, but with something like that you could really get useful optics.  A solar power source could be an option.  Just greenhat thinking here but I really like this thread because I think EVERYONE gets frustrated in SoCal with our lack of rain as a telltale sign to go looking. 


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#8 Offline PTAntFan - Posted April 4 2015 - 11:18 AM

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This device is very close to what we need, albeit 7x the cost you were considering. 

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=ZJVbb37jnSU


PTAntFan----------------------------------Pogonomyrmex Californicus*****************************<p>I use the $3 Tower I made up. See it here.

#9 Offline Foogoo - Posted July 6 2015 - 8:06 AM

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Has anyone moved any further with this experiment? I would if I had any good colonies nearby...  :thinking:


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Camponotus vicinus, Crematogaster 1, Crematogaster 2, Formica francoeuri, *, *, Myrmecocystus testaceus, Novomessor cockerelli, Pheidole hyatti, Pogonomyrmex californicus, Pogonomyrmex rugosus, Solenopsis invicta





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