Snapshot USA

Snapshot USA logo

Snapshot USA’s goal is to facilitate the collaboration of cooperators to contribute to a national database of public wildlife data. Once compiled, our first objective is to examine nationwide trends in mammal community assembly rules associated with natural environmental and anthropogenic filters. We hope to grow the participation in order to monitor these trends over time and will address more species-specific and targeted questions in the future.

From September to October 2019, collaborators will deploy cameras and adhere to the following protocol, each project collecting 400 camera nights of effort:

1) Each collaborator selects one combination of setting (Urban, Suburban, Rural, Wild, Other) and habitat (Forest, Grassland, Desert, Alpine, Beach, Anthropogenic, Other) to focus on when deploying camera traps.

2) Between 7 and 40 camera traps will be deployed across 10 to 40 locations matching the selected setting-habitat combination. The location, start date, end date, and camera make and model for each deployment must be recorded. 

Approved cameras are Browning (Strike Force Elite HD, 2017 Strike Force HD Pro, or camera of equal or greater quality), Bushnell (Trophy Cam HD, Essential, Aggressor, or camera of equal or greater quality), Moultrie (M-999I, M-1100i, or camera of equal or greater quality), Primos (Proof Cam 02, Proof Cam 03, or camera of equal or greater quality), Reconyx, (all models), Spypoint (Solar, Force 10, Force 11D, Force GM, or camera of equal or greater quality), and Stealth Cam (G45NP Pro, G42NG, or camera of equal or greater quality).

3) Cameras should be placed so that they are 50 cm off the ground and with regular orientation.

4) The deployed cameras must be at least 200 meters away from other cameras (but no farther than 5 kilometers).

5) No food bait or scent lure will be used.

6) While cameras can be placed on trails or logging roads, this must be indicated by the collaborator.

7) Once field work is complete, the collaborator will upload images and metadata to eMammal. Our intent is to have all data uploaded by December 1st and a final report to participants shortly after that time. We encourage collaborators to identify their favorite pictures, so that we can highlight these in this collection. 

All eMammal fees (up to 500 camera nights) will be waived for participants. If participants want to contribute more data to eMammal, they can establish a project under standard eMammal rules.

Data accessibility and co-authorship: Data accessibility and co-authorship: there will be no embargo on any data contributed to project outside of usual eMammal restrictions on endangered species. Any scientific paper produced by CO-PIs, or any other co-participants, would offer authorship to all contributors during the manuscript preparation phase.

Current Projects

Snapshot USA - 2019 Home Page

Other eMammal Projects Contributing to Snapshot USA

APR Prairie Dog Towns

A study on ecosystem-level effects of the reintroduction of native grazers (Bison) onto the Northern Great Plains of Montana. This work is part of a partnership with the American Prairie Reserve. 

Crocodile Lake Inventory and Monitoring

Refine and establish long-term monitoring plan to track distribution of Key Largo woodrats and cotton mice.

Montana Ranch Survey

Survey of the wildlife living on ranch land in the Rocky Mountains of Montana

NCSU Camera Trapping

Home page for camera trap projects from North Carolina State University.

North Carolina's Candid Critters

North Carolina's Candid Critters is a statewide survey run by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in collaboration with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. This project is focused on surveying mammals across all 100 counties in North Carolina in order to identify what species are living where, providing information that will be used to enhance management and conservation practices.

Seattle Urban Carnivore Project

The Seattle Urban Carnivore project is a partnership between Woodland Park Zoo and Seattle University and aims to explore how mammalian carnivores live and interact with people across urban and suburban areas in the Seattle region. The project consists of camera stations placed in parks and natural areas along two transects that span an urbanization gradient throughout the greater Seattle area, as well as some additional off-transect camera locations.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center ForestGEO

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has installed a ForestGEO plot on their property.

Wasatch Wildlife Watch

The Central Wasatch Range (CWR) in northeastern Utah serves as an island-like oasis for wildlife, providing separation from surrounding desert and urban sprawl, and is a contributing factor to Utah’s position as the tenth most biologically diverse state in the country,...

WVU Wildlife and Fisheries Techniques Class

This is a research project conducted by undergraduate students enrolled in West Virginia University Wildlife and Fisheries Techniques class. This project will explore various questions of interest to students in forests along an urban / rural gradient.

Want to help? Registration for this year's project has ended. Check back soon to see next year's registration form!