FAQ
Table of contents
- How do I get started?
- How do I use the Talkboard?
- How and when should I use hashtags?
- Why do some photos not contain animals?
- What if I can't identify an animal?
- What if a species is not listed as a choice?
- Can I return to an image if I've made a mistake?
- Can I receive volunteer credit for my participation?
- Can I share photos from this project?
- What's the difference between coyotes and red foxes?
- Can we tell individual coyotes apart?
- Will wolves or mountain lions appear in this dataset?
- Are the coyotes in this project coywolves?
- Why do I have to draw a box around the animals in the photos?
- How can I ask a question that is not in the FAQ?
How do I get started
Thank you for taking the time to support our project! To start classifying our images, you can click on the yellow "Species Classification" button on our homepage or navigate to "CLASSIFY" at the top right. The tutorial will walk you through the steps, then you can follow the instructions as you complete each task. Feel free to ask questions or comment on our Talkboard, which you can find here or by navigating to TALK.
How do I use the Talkboard
The Talkboard consists of several discussion threads divided by topic. You can post a comment or question for fellow community scientists under "General Project Discussion", connect with our research team under "Questions for the Research Team", view our "Announcements", and report problems under "Technical Issues". "Notes" is where you'll find the images that participants classified and commented on. To start a discussion on your image, finish classifying and hit "Done & Talk" and leave a note about this subject. You can leave a comment on any of our discussion threads by going to the main Talkboard page, selecting a thread, and clicking on "+ New Discussion" OR by clicking "Done & Talk" after classifying an image and switching to the "START A NEW DISCUSSION" tab, then choosing which thread to post to.
How and when should I use hashtags
On the Talkboard, you can use hashtags to filter image discussion threads by topic, such as species. For example, if you've classified an image with a coyote and want to note it to others as a coyote image, you can hit "Done & Talk" and write #coyote in your note. You can also flag your comment to the research team by using #researchquestion or by directly mentioning a researcher @sunnymurphyiecl or @JordanaIECL.
Why do some photos not contain animals
Our trail cameras are motion-triggered, meaning they may snap a photo of a moving branch or shadow when no animal is present. Additionally, an animal may trigger the camera but already be out of frame when the photo is taken.
What if I can't identify an animal
Our animals are often on the move and don't always pose nicely for us. They may be too blurry, small, close-up, or obscured to identify. Don't worry if you're having trouble--you can select "Unknown" or refresh the page for a new image. Feel free to visit the Talkboard to see how others are working through their classifications and find examples of images that have already been identified.
What if a species is not listed as a choice
We’ve only listed our priority species, so you may need to categorize some animals as “Other”. Feel free to identify other species in the Talkboard “Notes” using a hashtag. Let’s see how many #turkey images we can get!
Can I return to an image if I've made a mistake
When you finish classifying an image and hit "Done" or "Done & Talk", you cannot return to make changes. We have multiple people classify each image, so a mistake shouldn't be an issue.
Can I receive volunteer credit for my participation
Zooniverse allows you to generate a volunteer certificate that documents your hours and the number of projects you participate in. Please ask your organization whether Zooniverse satisfies the needs of your requirements. Once you have created a Zooniverse account and logged your hours, navigate to your account home page and click "More Stats" then "Generate Volunteer Certificate".
Can I share photos from this project
You may so long as your usage aligns with our mission and proper credit is given to We Cam Coexist.
What's the difference between coyotes and red foxes
Red foxes have black coloration that extends further up their legs than coyotes, toward the joint. Coyotes also have a black tip on their tail, whereas red foxes have a white tip on their tail. Finally, red foxes have a distinctly red-orange coat. Although coyotes can be a variety of colors, from tan to a tawny red, the red fox's coat is significantly more vibrant.
Observe the differences between the foxes and coyotes below:
In this photo, you can see a coyote with dark spots on its feet. This could lead some to assume that this is a fox, especially when viewing dark photos like this. However, note that these spots only cover the toes. See how this differs from the red fox in the next picture.
Observe the red fox's feet. The black coloration goes much further up the leg and reaches the joint.
Coyotes come in many colors. The most common is tan with black, white and grey speckling on the shoulders. They can also be blonde, black, tawny (orange-brown), and rufus (red-brown). Rufus coyotes might also be confused with red foxes. The photos below can help you tell the difference.
This image of a tawny-colored, jogging coyote is blurry, but gives you an idea of how this coat color can look.
Compared to the coyote above, this red fox's coat color is much more vibrant and has a lighter orange hue.
The composite images below show you a more direct comparison between coyotes and red foxes. Notice the size differences, as well as the color markings unique to the fox (i.e., black spots on the back of the ears, black coloration on the legs, white tip of the tail).
Can we tell individual coyotes apart
At the moment, we cannot tell individual coyotes apart. However, we are developing protocols to do so in the future.
Will wolves or mountain lions appear in this dataset
Not likely as there are no established populations in the states we're surveying (NY, GA, LA).
Are the coyotes in this project coywolves
"Coywolf" is a misleading term that implies that northeastern coyotes are a hybrid species. Although coyotes historically crossed with wolves when they migrated beyond the Mississippi River, they are still coyotes--not "coywolves."
Why do I have to draw a box around the animals in the photos
These boxes, known as "bounding boxes," may help us automate the process of assigning distances to the animals in the photos. This is an important part of calculating how many animals there are in a specific area. The bounding boxes you draw will be compared to reference photos with distance markers. Then, with the right coding, we can streamline the lengthy process of recording distances.
An example of how our distance markers are placed in front of the cameras. Drawing bounding boxes around the animals may help us automate the process of matching their distances to these markers.
How can I ask a question that is not in the FAQ
You can post a question on the Talkboard a few different ways. If you want to ask about a specific image, once you finish classifying the image hit "Done & Talk" and post your question in the subject note. You can ask a general project question to our other community scientists by posting it under the "General Project Discussion" thread, or you can post it under the "Questions for the Research Team" to get an answer specifically from our team.