The July Photo of the Month comes from a beautiful black bear in Wilbraham, MA enjoying the summer afternoon! Thank you Dean Sanpei for this amazing photograph!

For any more mammal sightings, submit any photos to the form here!

Reminder to anyone with a Ring camera or similar security system installed; these systems help us collect important data on the presence and absence of mammals in your area. We welcome you to join our team of registered volunteers who submit photos once a month. Having regular reports from a fixed location allows us to learn even more about mammals in your area than individual sightings.  New volunteers can register here 

Attention MassMammal community! Do you want to start collecting trail camera footage of your own? Do you want to help submit it to our study? Here are some starter tips and tricks for setting up your trail camera and ways to maximize the quality of your photos!

Nature is an exquisite and exciting part of our everyday lives, but how can we capture the moments of typical behavior or fun adventures of local animals if we are not outside 24/7? The answer is a trail camera! While there are many different trail cameras you could purchase (ranges usually $40-$300) from stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bass Pro Shop, Tractor Supply Co., etc., the most important part of taking trail camera photos is about positioning and lighting.

Many animals, especially in wooded areas or closer to suburbs, will tend to roam around more in the evening, so you will want to set your camera to take pictures at night, as well as during the day. A camera with a “no glo” setting is essential because harsh lights or flashes may scare away animals and potentially disrupt their routines or prevent them from returning!

Once you obtain your trail camera, positioning is very important. If you want up-close pictures, position them around the lower parts of trees. Don’t position them so low that snow may cover them, or you will miss all the awesome winter pictures! Many people aim for between 12-36 inches off the ground, depending on what organisms you are most interested in. It is important to avoid angling all cameras directly east or west, as that will cause issues with sun glare.

For more information on trail camera setup click here to visit our website.

To submit trail camera footage, click this link!

Our three fantastic summer researchers setting up a trail camera!

This summer, students began exploring the impact of human recreation, as well as microclimate and habitat variables on wildlife land usage in the Holyoke Range. Our summer research students went into the field once a month to collect SD cards from our trail cameras and process the photos of the animals they have been seeing. Additionally, our students are measured tree canopy cover, microclimate, and extracted geographic layers. So far, we have photos of: black bears, bobcats, Eastern chipmunks, coyotes, white-tailed deer, fisher, foxes, mice, raccoons, and Eastern gray squirrels. Recreation has included hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, and four-wheeling. We are excited to continue gathering data and will continue to share our findings with all of you.

Special shout-out to our team members for some impressive accomplishments:

Zaynah has been collaborating with folks over Instagram to help spread the word about our project and has led work on the summer reels we have been posting.  

Marie did significant work on writing code in R to organize and begin evaluating our data.

Ellen has been working to make beautiful maps to help us understand differences in types of recreation across the range.

Check out our Instagram to see reels from our students and see what they are up to!

Our wonderful PI Dr. Thea Kristensen setting up a trail camera!

MassMammals has launched a pilot project! Our project aims to refine methods before potentially expanding to a larger scale, with a focus on balancing wildlife conservation with human recreational use. Our study's findings will be shared with the community, contributing to understanding and preserving the region's ecological health.

This summer we are exploring how different types of trail use in the Holyoke Range affect local wildlife, inspired by community input on changing human traffic patterns. The Holyoke Range is a critical area for conservation and recreation in the Pioneer Valley. With support from the Kestrel Land Trust and other local groups, our study will use trail cameras to monitor both human and mammal activity, ensuring privacy by ensuring privacy by keeping photos in a password-protected folder only accessible by project members and deleting images after data collection.

 This project is currently ongoing, so if you would like to find out more, click this link!