Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies, vital to a healthy future for us, our children, and wildlife. Since 1989, Conservation Northwest has worke
Issue link: http://conservationnw.uberflip.com/i/810819
66 4. After arriving at a station and taking a check-photo, remove the memory card from each camera, enter the card # on the appropriate data form, and put in a fresh memory card. Do this every time regardless of whether there were any detections. Do not delete any photos – set-up and check photos along with detection photos are all very important. If you keep an accurate record all of the photos taken between camera station visits, including photos of the crew when they arrive to a station and then before they leave the station, that information can be used to help determine the probability of detecting a wolverine in this region (i.e., the detection rate). 5. Perform other necessary maintenance procedures including replacing batteries and checking date and time stamps. For Trail Watchers, we recommend that you replace the camera battery each visit and replace the 9 volt battery as follows: replace alkaline 9-volts every 2 weeks; replace lithium 9-volts every 2 months or sooner if temperatures fall below 0°F for an extended period (per A. Magoun recommendations). For Reconyx, record % battery remaining on the data form and then replace the C cells when battery-life is down to 75% (threshold that John Rohrer [NCWS] and his crew have been using). 6. Every time before the crew leaves the station, have the camera take a picture of 1 person standing next to the crosspiece at the end of the run-pole holding up a card with the station number written on it. This is a critical step to make sure everything is working properly and to get a photo with the station number on the memory card. If the camera is not working, the crew will need to troubleshoot any problems, and then repeat this step until the camera takes a picture properly. Perform this step for each camera deployed at the site. 7. During each camera check, field personnel should record all required information on the appropriate data form for each detection device before leaving the site. At the end of this document are the Camera Station Data Forms used by the NCWS: 1 data form for Trail Watcher cameras and another for Reconyx (see pages 13 and 14). These data forms can be used or modified by CNW, but show the type of information that is important to record at each camera station and during each camera-check visit. There are different forms for the 2 camera types because of differences in settings and the type and number of batteries that need to be maintained. 8. If there is evidence that a wolverine has visited the station (e.g., tracks or a photo-detection), the crew should carefully inspect the area around the station for scats and hair (see Figure 8). If a wolverine accesses the run-pole, there is a good chance that they left hair on the run-pole arm. So it is important to inspect that surface for potential hair samples to collect. Please collect any possible wolverine scats or hair according to the directions on the NCWS's Genetic Sample Data Form (see page 15). To prevent potential contamination of genetic samples, wear Nitrile gloves to collect samples and place them in collection bags or envelopes. Always use paper bags for scats (a separate bag for each scat) and paper collection envelopes for hair (never plastic bags which can trap moisture and ruin the samples for DNA extraction). When using a gun-brush hair-snagging device, place each gun-brush that has a potential sample into a separate paper envelope (or small paper bag). 9. Back in the office, immediately download all photos into separate folders (do not delete any photos from the memory cards for any reason). Create a folder for each camera station and camera device and