Trail cameras are incredibly versatile tools. They allow researchers, conservationists, and photographers to take pictures without disturbing the local wildlife or ecosystem. Though some wildlife photographers prefer lying in wait for the perfect shot, in some cases, that might be impractical, so they rely on trail cams.

Generally, trail cams are motion-activated, weatherproof, and have infrared capabilities for taking pics in the dark. These tools are also known by a variety of different names, including wildlife cameras, remote cameras, game cameras, and even camera traps. The very earliest cameras of this type actually used tripwires to trigger the tool.

Trail cams can help gather visual data about the animal population in a given area and track their habits. For instance, you can use the photos and the time they were taken to track what animals feed when, how large their social groups are, and how different species interact with each other. 

For example, by tracking the local wildlife you might learn about some rather unusual but wholesome cross-species cooperation. Badgers and coyotes, both the top predators in their own respective food chains, actually hunt together for small animals in the American West. It’s the type of camaraderie that you’re likely to see in a Disney animation.

As National Geographic points out, coyotes and badgers don’t just have a transactional relationship either. They’re friendly with each other: they’re actual partners and suddenly friendship doesn’t seem like a ‘human-only’ trait anymore. Many of us wouldn’t have known about this without nighttime footage taken by the Peninsula Open Space Trust, a nonprofit group.

However, it’s not just animals that can activate trail cams. Any significant or sudden movement can trigger the motion sensors. That means that these cameras can pick up people walking around the forest in the middle of the night and spooky, blurred objects that you can’t quite make out. Naturally, our minds go wild when looking at these photos, with our imaginations filling in the gaps and weaving theories about what exactly happened out there.

Body heat can also activate these cams, when within a certain range of the detectors. This is a practical design decision. Trail cams don’t take photos or videos continuously because that would drain their batteries incredibly quickly. Some cams come with the ability to connect them to an external power source or even solar panels, so this gives them extra longevity.