Got my flash on, it's true. Need that picture of you.

February 28, 2011 9:54 AM

Smithsonian Wild is a collection of over 200,000 pictures of animals taken by "camera traps", automated cameras with motion sensors. Each species is linked to its article in the Encyclopedia of Life, and the entire set of photos is also available on Flickr.
posted by Horace Rumpole (13 comments total)

Ooooh. This is neat!
posted by brundlefly at 9:57 AM on February 28, 2011

This is really cool.
posted by evening at 10:35 AM on February 28, 2011

This is pretty awesome.
posted by mattbucher at 10:50 AM on February 28, 2011

Note: no Mellivora capensis. The hog badger is well represented, but no honey badger (or any other type of badger, for that matter.

Still, this is fantastic. The Smithsonian Wild has a great (flash) interface, allowing you to see every image from your search results (example: badger), or see each in sequence if you click on any one image.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:58 AM on February 28, 2011

Way ahead of you, flt. Check the 3rd and 4th links.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:03 AM on February 28, 2011

Animal Planet's answer to Bait Car.
posted by crunchland at 11:09 AM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Very cool. I have a couple of these cameras, but so far have only used them to take infrared party photos.
posted by snofoam at 11:38 AM on February 28, 2011

I see they've captured the elusive Evil Wizard Panda
posted by sharkitect at 11:43 AM on February 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

oh hai. i iz a leppurd.
posted by gubo at 12:54 PM on February 28, 2011

I got caught by one of these just last week, hiking a trail in Boulder after dark. I'd sort of like to see the outtakes of freaked-out, too-tired hikers like myself.
posted by alex_skazat at 1:14 PM on February 28, 2011

Hilarious?
posted by Chuffy at 1:16 PM on February 28, 2011

This is really neat, and a great example of why God created the internet.
posted by marxchivist at 1:44 PM on February 28, 2011

The search-by-species feature is great, although there seem to be some species categories that don't contain any images. I want my white-bellied go-away bird!

I have never seen a margay before, and these photos make him look fierce and speedy, and his eyes are like driving at night.

In related candid animal photo news, the wildlife highway bridges in Banff National Park, Alberta have cameras photographing the animals that use them.
posted by Sallyfur at 2:04 AM on March 1, 2011