Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: Berncly on 04/06/2010 10:33:51
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Hi Everyone.
I need help identifying a small creature in my yard. I live in south eastern Pennsylvania. I got a film clip of it at 1:30am on 6/2/10 using an automatic wildlife camera called a “Stealth Cam Rogue I540IR”. It takes black and white images at night by bathing the area with infrared bulbs. The images are filtered and translated so what you see on the clip is a black and white interpretation of the digital images, not a actual heat signature.
There is an opossum on the lower left side walking out of the image at the beginning of the 90 second clip that you can use as reference to get an idea of the scale and the size of the mystery creature. I also posted a second clip of a raccoon filmed the same night for reference and scale. The image of the mystery creature is small and blurry so I think it can only be identified by the odd way that it moves across the screen.
At first I thought it was a mouse or small rodent, but at some points it very quickly zips sideways without turning its body, moving almost like a giant spider. Also it comes up as a white blur on the film, which may mean that it has a reflective body, since I get very good color differentiation when I see raccoons and other animals on the films.
Any replies with any ideas of what this creature may be would be very appreciated. I am hoping someone with more experience will recognize the odd way that it moves and immediately know what it is.
Unknown small creature in my yard at 1:30am on 06-02-2010.
Film clip posted here.
Raccoon for comparison and scale also in my yard on 06-02-2010.
Film clip posted here.
Thank you very much.
Bernclay-
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We're talking only about 2 inches / 4-5 centimetres aren't we? I think I would go with mouse or shrew still. The forward/normal portions of its movement look very like small rodent. I agree with you that the sudden shimmy to the side is weird though.
Do you have any footage of a mouse that is clear and can be used to rule out this explanation. I agree the quality and contrast of the raccoon was far superior - perhaps the higher body heat of the smaller animal confused the rendering system.
Also what was the animal that exited stage right at the very beginning of the unknown clip - looked like a cat - surely a mouse would have been more wary of the cat.
Good question
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Thank you for your help. A posted reply on the Science Forum solved the mystery for me. It is a very small spider on a web directly in front of the camera lens. I have been observing animals with the camera for weeks, watching them emerge out of the dark and walk across the field of view. So when I saw this, I automatically thought of it as walking across the ground. It never occurred to me that it could be on the camera lens. Thanks for your input.
Berncly-
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It never occurred to me that it could be on the camera lens.
If the spider was actually on the lens surface it wouldn't be in focus or lit by your (infra red) lamp.
The spider web on your video would have been a few feet in front of the camera.