Trail cameras help researchers monitor N.H.’s wildlife

Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Large black bear looks directly at a trail camera

This bear appeared ready for its close-up as it wandered in front of a trail camera, one of several deployed across southeastern New Hampshire by Remington Moll, assistant professor of natural resources and the environment.

Moll, his Ph.D. student Andrew Butler, and research partners from New Hampshire Fish and Game are harnessing the increased quality of trail cameras and improved models for analyzing the images to develop an efficient, accurate program to monitor secretive furbearer species like fox, bobcat, coyote and fisher.

“Wildlife cameras also provide a unique view into the secret lives of animals, which will help us learn about their behavior, interactions and how they are responding to landscape change, such as urban development,” Moll says. Another bonus: The cameras capture species not in the study, such as white-tailed deer or black bears like this one near Deerfield.

A red fox in the woods, captured by a trail camera

In addition to N.H. Fish and Game, this study received funding from the N.H. Agricultural Experiment Station at UNH.