Animal and Wildlife Trail Outdoor Spy Cameras
Another interesting use of covert spy cameras is using them to observe wildlife. Having a covert spy camera outdoors to observe nature presents itself with a number of challenges, which is why there are specially-designed spy cameras dedicated to capturing animals on video. Buying yourself a dedicated trail camera will save you considerable time and headaches working out the logistics of discretely filming animals.
Challenge 1 – Using storage space efficiently
All modern wildlife spy cameras are actually digital, so you don’t need to worry about old-fashioned video tape. However, you can’t just constantly film a field or patch of woodland, as you’d run out of storage space in a few days. And then you’d need to spend a long time reviewing the recorded material (which is dull!).
Therefore all animal spy cameras use motion detection so that video and/or photos are only recorded when the camera detects movement of an animal. The sensitivity of the movement detection is usually adjustable, so that you can ensure that only movement of animals rather than trees triggers a recording.
The following wildlife spy cameras all use motion/heat detection technology to efficiently use storage space:
Wildlife Camera DVR - 8.0MP
£149.99
Challenge 2 – Staying waterproof
In the UK, we have really mixed weather, but there’s often a lot of rain. If there’s not rain, there’s dew, mist and fog. The electronics in wildlife spy cameras are pretty sensitive to too much moisture, but that’s why all wildlife spy cameras are sealed against all moisture to prevent any issues. It’s worth noting that wild life spy cameras won’t cope with being submerged under water, but they’d survive heavy rainfall.
Challenge 3 – Powering the cameras
As you may know, spy cameras are pretty power-hungry gadgets. Spy cameras usually eat batteries in a matter of hours, particularly wireless spy cameras. So how do you power a wildlife trail camera?
Actually, you still use batteries with the wildlife spy cameras, but the spy cameras have been designed with long-term observation in mind. Therefore the wildlife cameras are much more efficient with their power consumption (compared to other spy cameras). The average standby power consumption for a wildlife cameras is 2-3 months, as the device only switches on when motion is detected.
However, if you want to get a little more sophisticated, you can always get a solar panel for your wildlife spy camera. These solar panels connect directly to the camera, and top up the battery in good sunlight. This means you’ll get longer observation times from the camera (assuming there’s sufficient light in the location you’ve attached your wildlife camera).
Challenge 4 – Retrieving Footage
If you’ve placed your wildlife camera near to your place of work or your home, it’s going to be fairly easy to access the recorded footage with a laptop. The spy cameras above are the type where you’d need to connect a computer or remove a memory card in order to see the recorded video footage.
If you’d like to receive captured images as soon as the cameras are triggered, you can use one of the wildlife cameras below. Basically the spy camera will take a high quality image, and then send you a copy to you by email or to your phone over MMS. The following wildlife cameras have 3G mobile-phone technology, and therefore can transmit data over the mobile phone networks to you.
These devices are perfect if your woodland or field is within range of a mobile phone mast, as the spy camera will need a mobile phone signal in order to work.
The following wildlife spy cameras will send captured footage to you by email or MMS picture message over the mobile phone networks:
Wildlife Spy Cameras – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q – Can the wildlife spy cameras record video and take photos?
Yes. Some of the wildlife spy cameras can even take photos and record video simultaneously, such as the XHD Infrared Wildlife Camera DVR with Motion Sensor .
What resolution can the spy cameras record video?
The range of spy camera resolutions for the cameras on this page vary between VGA (640 x 480) to XVGA (1280 x 960).
What’s the typical megapixel (MP) resolution of captured photos?
Between 8MP to 12MP.
Can wildlife spy cameras see in the dark?
Yes, as most of the wildlife spy cameras feature infrared LEDs that illuminate the viewable area much like an invisible camera flash. The LEDs are automatically used when the spy camera detects that the light level has fallen below a certain level.
What other information is available on captured images?
Many of the wildlife cameras can record the date and time of the captured image, but some also capture the camera’s ambient temperature too.