Introducing The
HALT Camera Trap
The Hobbs Active Light Trigger (HALT) camera trap was designed in 2015 for the sole purpose of studying road ecology and road tunnel permeability, focusing on ectothermic species. It is a high-precision tool with 100% detection capability, capturing quality images of amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, and small mammals both day and night. The innovative HALT camera trap is essential for studies requiring high detection probabilities for counting herpetofauna, especially nocturnal ones, or monitoring wildlife movement through underpasses. Its reliable detection ensures accurate data collection for ecological research.
Small terrestrial animals from various classes are effectively captured via the HALT system, providing critical data for analyzing ectotherm activity and behavior.
Who Needs a HALT Camera Trap?
* Researchers and ecologists conducting studies that demand high detection probabilities.
* Projects monitoring nocturnal herps or small animals in underpasses.
Statistics
Passive Infrared (PIR) camera traps are valuable sampling tools commonly used to inventory and monitor wildlife communities but are challenged to reliably sample small animals. View details in the Hobbs & Brehme (2017) research article:
An improved camera trap for amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and large invertebrates.
Problem
Game cameras use Passive Infrared (PIR) technology to trigger images. PIR sensors respond to thermal emissions, wavelengths ranging from 8μm to 14μm, which is the average range of endothermic mammals. PIR triggers perform well for large and medium sized mammals, but do not reliably detect ectotherms (reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates) or smaller mammals.
Solution
The Hobbs Active Light Trigger (HALT) is an elevated threshold designed to capture images of amphibians, reptiles, large invertebrates and small mammals. The HALT couples to a digital PIR camera offering the attributes of game/trail cameras, designed for detecting small animals traversing small tunnels, narrow trails, small clearings and along walls or drift fencing.
Results
HALT surpasses the detection ability of commonly used passive infrared (PIR) cameras and eliminates problems such as high rates of false triggers and high variability in detection rates among cameras and study locations.
HALT Camera
HALT uses a digital game/trail camera as its host and will operate as designed minus the Passive Infrared (PIR) trigger. The PIR (heat in-motion) trigger has been deactivated and modified to incorporate the HALT trigger. The camera is modified with a 500mm lens for capturing small herpetofauna and other small slow moving species. A receptacle plug is mounted on the side of the camera for coupling to the HALT threshold.
If you are familiar with using PIR camera traps, remember the HALT camera trap is different. No False Triggers from wind or rain! You will be saving space on your memory card which allows you to think differently about collecting data. You may discover using video gives you additional behavior data.
HALT-2 improvements:
1) No External Battery
3) No External Controller
4) Threshold is water tight
5) Bug tubes are non-permeable. Bugs cannot climb into small tubes.
6) If beam becomes blocked, camera will default to an interval mode. This improvement allows for time and effort calculations, rather than lost data. If beam clears, trigger will reactivate, giving time of clearance before resuming.
7) Light to Moderate rain will not produce false triggers.
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HALT Threshold
The Threshold is 16″ long, 4″ wide, 2″ high. Cable it 51″
The crest is 1.250″ high. Ramps are 2″ wide on both sides. The optical beam is elevated 1cm above crest. It is recommended that technicians exchange SD memory and inspect threshold every 7-14 days to ensure no objects (leaves, sticks, vegetation) are blocking the optical beam. Internal batteries can last 3-4 months depending on traffic of species.
