Remote Survey Method for Wildlife

Game cameras are a useful tool for monitoring and documenting wildlife communities. MAD has regularly used game cameras to document large mammals and birds at wetland restoration sites in Richland, Mercer, and Lucas Counties. In 2022, MAD expanded our game camera monitoring capabilities with the addition of Adapted Hunt Drift Fence Technique (AHDriFT) camera traps. These special camera traps are a unique method for conducting surveys for small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. We used AHDriFT camera trap arrays to conduct a six-month survey for the federally-listed massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) in northeastern Ohio. While did not observe any massasaugas, we did document a number of small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. AHDriFT camera traps have broad applications for targeted rare species surveys, general wildlife community surveys, and post-restoration and mitigation monitoring. These images are just some of the photos we collected from one deployment in northeast Ohio this summer.