From Madison to Addison: A tale of wildlife sightings in two states

The following post is by guest blogger Andrew L’Roe, a friend of Snapshot Wisconsin and fellow nature lover. Thanks for the post, Andrew!

After recently finishing my graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I moved to Vermont, another state blessed with amazing wildlife and natural resources.

My Snapshot Wisconsin colleagues inspired me to learn about their trail camera project and classify photos on Zooniverse. After moving to Vermont, I acquired my own wildlife camera and experimented with placement in an area near my house with trails, woods, a pond, and the area’s distinctive limestone ledges. A few early photos captured animals and proved that the equipment worked, which was good because I didn’t pick up much over the following weeks, despite moving the camera to places with evidence of scat, snowprints and plant disturbance.

Winter coyote

Since the last of our snowdrifts have finally melted off, my luck recording animal activity has picked up; I’ve started to get more frequent pictures of rabbits, coyotes, and even an occasional bobcat and porcupine. Camera placement and patience has also played a role, as a trail over a culvert has become a well-traveled route between two wet marshy areas that had previously been frozen and covered with snow.

It has been great to draw comparisons between the wildlife in my backyard and that in Wisconsin. I have been interested to see that the timestamps on my coyote and porcupine pictures line up pretty well with the nocturnal behavioral patterns described in a previous Science Update blog post. I’ve shared some of my pictures on the iNaturalist website for Vermont, and still take a look at some of the pictures showing up on Zooniverse for Snapshot Wisconsin whenever I can!