Identifying the critter(s) eating my garden
July 16, 2024 11:55 AM Subscribe
I'd like to get an outdoor security camera OR trail camera to figure out exactly who/what is getting into my garden at night and munching on plants. What kind of device do I want?
We live in an area with heavy deer pressure. We recently put up a 6' fence, which I know isn't necessarily sufficient to protect from deer, but it's what the existing neighbor fence height was and we didn't want it to look super weird. It's definitely having some effect in the daytime, as I haven't seen any deer inside the fence since we finished it and I *have* seen deer eating the plants in our front yard just outside the fence.
After putting up the fence, I noticed that the tomatoes were getting munched... but not all the way down, just like a few shoots off each plant once in a while. Also found one hosta chewed on, but the other two just on the other side of the lilac shrub were fine. The garden bed mulch often has random holes in it too -- not spaced closely enough to be hoofprints, but could be an unrelated digging pest.
Anyway, I think I need a camera to figure this out, but what kind of camera should I get? Hoping not to spend hundreds of dollars on a security system that I don't need (never had any problems with human intruders, just animals).
We live in an area with heavy deer pressure. We recently put up a 6' fence, which I know isn't necessarily sufficient to protect from deer, but it's what the existing neighbor fence height was and we didn't want it to look super weird. It's definitely having some effect in the daytime, as I haven't seen any deer inside the fence since we finished it and I *have* seen deer eating the plants in our front yard just outside the fence.
After putting up the fence, I noticed that the tomatoes were getting munched... but not all the way down, just like a few shoots off each plant once in a while. Also found one hosta chewed on, but the other two just on the other side of the lilac shrub were fine. The garden bed mulch often has random holes in it too -- not spaced closely enough to be hoofprints, but could be an unrelated digging pest.
Anyway, I think I need a camera to figure this out, but what kind of camera should I get? Hoping not to spend hundreds of dollars on a security system that I don't need (never had any problems with human intruders, just animals).
Best answer: I agree with sportbucket. You probably want a trailcam, not something wireless that connects to your network. We have this trail camera that we ordered from Amazon a couple of years ago. It's currently only $28. It works well enough, but it's kind of cheap (one of the clips broke off soon after we got it), and it's not real user-friendly to configure. Still, I think it would work for your purpose, and it doesn't cost much. We've used it off and on to keep track of cats eating from a feral food station, among other uses.
Oh, one more thing: It doesn't come with an SD card (the thing that stores the images), so you'd have to buy one separately.
posted by alex1965 at 3:07 PM on July 16
Oh, one more thing: It doesn't come with an SD card (the thing that stores the images), so you'd have to buy one separately.
posted by alex1965 at 3:07 PM on July 16
I've got a GardePro A3 game camera that I ordered off Amazon three or four years ago. Neither the particular model I chose or the manufacturer seem to be offered anymore but a huge number of the models in the $50-60 range (which is about what I paid at the time) look mighty similar in features and functions and I imagine you can go with any unit that has a large number of decent reviews.
I had plenty of extra SD cards lying around so I didn't need to buy anything else besides AA batteries.
Occasionally I move the game cam around to different locations but most of the time it stays attached (via an included strap) to a column on my downstairs porch, where it captures the activity of wildlife moving along the boardwalk and stairs in front of my house. I will say that after several years of outdoor use the provided strap is starting to break down from weather exposure but I can easily replace it and I wouldn't really expect any nylon strap to last much longer in the sun and rain and wind.
Sample video can be found here. It was dead simple to set up and it does quite a good job of detecting and recording critters moving through.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:46 AM on July 17
I had plenty of extra SD cards lying around so I didn't need to buy anything else besides AA batteries.
Occasionally I move the game cam around to different locations but most of the time it stays attached (via an included strap) to a column on my downstairs porch, where it captures the activity of wildlife moving along the boardwalk and stairs in front of my house. I will say that after several years of outdoor use the provided strap is starting to break down from weather exposure but I can easily replace it and I wouldn't really expect any nylon strap to last much longer in the sun and rain and wind.
Sample video can be found here. It was dead simple to set up and it does quite a good job of detecting and recording critters moving through.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:46 AM on July 17
I have a Wyze security cam that I've used as a trail cam with some success and some disappointment. It uses WiFi to a base station at a host computer. It has worked for me at distances of about 75 feet, more than spec. By default, it takes 7 seconds of video, but that's adjustable. At night, it wastes a couple of seconds changing from ambient light mode to IR mode. Its useless in the rain unless you take strenuous efforts to keep rain off the lens. The app works in mysterious ways not explicated by the the instructions. For example, the hardware can save the video in the camera, the base station, or at Wyze via the internet. I don't know where my videos are, and i don't know how to find out. Bottom line: if you have one, give it a try. If you don't, get something else.
I write this out not just to let off steam about Wyze, but to alert you to some things to think about when looking at other cams. Sample videos on request.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:02 AM on July 17
I write this out not just to let off steam about Wyze, but to alert you to some things to think about when looking at other cams. Sample videos on request.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:02 AM on July 17
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by sportbucket at 12:16 PM on July 16 [3 favorites]