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Unearthed from the vault: view never seen wildlife photos near the gates of Zion National Park
FAQ
What is the white tunnel in certain photos?
In order to collect hair samples non-invasively, we use tunnels that have adhesive glue strips on the inside. You may also be able to see the scent lures smeared on the tunnel. Inside we placed a raisin to attract animals. Even with a scent and food lure, our detections are low. If it is not present in a photo, the tunnel was likely moved from its position by an animal.
Why are there photos with no wildlife?
Our study is interested in small and medium-sized terrestrial mammals. Since cameras were pointed to the ground, we found that there were many false triggers due to wind and plant movements. The team tries to minimize these types of photos, by implementing a machine-learning algorthim to filter "empties" before we submit to Zooniverse. This algorithm, Microsoft's MegaDetector version 5, is not perfect, so sometimes plant material or our equipment is classified as an animal and appears in our Zooniverse datasets. We appreciate your patience and efforts to classify these outliers.
Why are there photos of humans?
Our study is conducted in public parks, so we do occasionally get photos of humans.
What do I do if I can see only a part of the animal?
Our cameras target small and medium sized, ground dwelling animals. Some animals are fast, and are only caught briefly such as a bird wing. Others are too large to be fully viewed by the camera like deer which may only show legs or a grey fox walking close to the camera. In these cases, use your best judgement (and review the FIELD GUIDE). If you are unsure, but can identify an animal part then please classify as "Partial Animal".
I'm not sure which species this animal is?
If you are unsure about a species, please use your best judgment. You can also put "Other species" or "Partial animal".
What do I do if I see an animal not described by your classifications?
Our study focuses on mammals common to our study region. If you see an animal that does not fit a description, or is from a different class of animals like reptiles or invertebrates, please select "Other species".
If I make a mistake, can I return to the photo to correct it?
No, you cannot return to a photo to correct a mistake, but do not worry about it! Your best guesses contribute to a collection of responses that lead us to the right answer. Since every photo is seen by multiple volunteers, any mistakes or misidentifications will eventually be outweighed by a larger number of correct answers. Do not be discouraged, and with each classification you will get better at seeing and classifying wildlife.
When should I use hashtags?
We love hashtags to create collections of similar photos. Some regular hastags used by the team include #actionshot for an animal in motion, #data_gap for an error in grouping multiple images together, or #handling for when an animal is holding an item in their mouth or beak.
You can also use hashtags to flag when you see an unusual sightings or to search for images of specific animals (#ringtail). No need to hashtag every image. Try and be selective and choose unusual images or those with some scientific relevance. Think what might be useful to the researchers or other citizen scientists.
If you find a new species for the project, or an animal that does not have a singular classifier like "Other Bird", you can also use a hashtag as your best guess of the species (e.g., #robin)
For animals with multiple words, use a dash (-) to connect words. If you use underscore (_), those images won’t show up in the same search. We would appreciate it if you'd use only the dash (-) and follow the naming conventions in the classification menus. If you added a hashtag that turned out to be incorrect, please click on the edit button below the comment to delete the # symbol.
Can I see how many pictures I have classified?
Yes, you can!
i. Log in to your Zooniverse account.
ii. Click on your user name in the upper right hand corner and select Profile.
iii. Select the tab “Your Stats”. This will show you all of the classifications that you have done for Canyon Critters and any other Zooniverse projects that you have helped.
I have a question that I cannot solve either with the tutorial, or with the FIELD GUIDE, or in the FAQ?
At the end of your classification task you will see the Talk button. By pressing it you will be able to send us your question that we will answer as soon as possible. Feel free to also contact us at zioncanyoncritters@gmail.com
How can I continue to support this project?
We are currently fundraising for laboratory work to complement this camera trap study. Please consider donating to this Zion Forever Project (details here: https://zionpark.org/projects/within-the-walls/). You can also keep up with project news by subscribing to our newsletter. Sign up here: Stay up to date by subscribing to our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/iilmx5 .