Camera trap
A camera trap (trail camera) is an automated electronic device strategically placed in an area where animals are expected to frequent. Ideally, motion and/or heat sensors in the camera enable it to obtain a picture every time an animal visits the area. Some camera traps use film, but most sold today are digital and can acquire hundreds to thousands of photos, depending on the capacity of the media card. Camera trap quality and speed varies widely between manufacturers and models.
Camera trapping is seen as an efficient and minimally invasive fieldwork method, making it an important component of endangered species research. The use of camera traps is seen as a potentially promising way to obtain photographic evidence for the existence of the sasquatch, but little progress has been made in that regard. Two of the more notable sasquatch-related camera trap efforts include the North American Ape Project, directed by Dr. Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University, and the Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy’s Operation Forest Vigil.
As of January 2009, as far as is known, no compelling image presenting an undocumented North American primate has yet been obtained by means of a camera trap. A September 2007 camera trap photo from Pennsylvania, acquired by hunter Rick Jacobs, created a brief stir in the media. However, the Jacobs figure was quickly identified as a juvenile black bear by scientists and most bigfoot researchers/enthusiasts.
