Remote cameras have long been used by Parks Canada to track wildlife, but improved technology and lower costs are now appealing to recreational photographers.
Viv Klingbeil got her first trail camera 13 years ago, years after her family purchased a property west of Calgary.
“We didn’t see lots of wildlife at first. But we did see lots of tracks,” Klingbeil said.
As they arrived at their cabin this weekend, for example, they found a fake hive meant to deter wasps ripped apart. A quick check on a couple of her remote cameras and Klingbeil found the culprit.
“Nose to the ground, as always with a black bear,” Klingbeil said, watching a video taken Wednesday night.
“I look so forward to weekends because that’s when we empty our cameras and I’ve convinced myself that literally, Sasquatch has gone by.”
While no Sasquatch has dropped by just yet, there have been some incredible moments captured on their property using the motion-triggered photography.
“After the fox, we started getting cougars, and wolves, and lynx…” Klingbeil said.
“Literally everything that wanders these woods, we’ve got a picture of.”
The family now has about thirty cameras set up on their property. Trail cams can range in price from about $80 to $700.
“As we got more cameras and better at placement and tried to tap where we saw tracks with trails and cross trails and that sort of stuff,” Mark Klingbeil, Viv’s wife said. “We tried to put it together and we got better at it over time.”
The Klingbeils’ photos are well-known on social media and, in June, Viv will present her findings at a Pecha Kucha event in Calgary.
Their frequent sightings have given the family a new appreciation for their shared home-away-from-home.
“The cameras are an amazing way to remind us that there are a ton of other creatures out here who share the woods with us. So I think that’s really special.”
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