Wildlife photographer Jeff Cremer got a big surprise the other day when he came back to check on his camera trap that he left out in the jungle to film rare animals. When he walked up to the camera he saw that a colony of termites had started building a nest inside and around his camera, destroying it in the process. “At first I thought that they only got at the outside of the camera and that it would be fine,” said Jeff, “But when I took the lens off I saw that they were inside the camera started building on the lens as well. They even started eating the memory card that was inside the camera.”
What do you do in the jungle? Jeff is a wildlife photographer based in the Amazon jungle of southeastern Peru.
You can follow him on twitter @JCremerPhoto
What is a camera trap? A camera trap is a remotely activated camera that is equipped with a motion sensor or an infrared sensor as a trigger. Camera trapping is a method for capturing wild animals on film when researchers are not present and has been used in ecological research for decades.
What can you tell us about the termites and why were they attracted to the camera? The termites look to be some sort of nasutitermes. The nasute termite genus Nasutitermes is widely distributed all over the tropical regions. They get their name because the soldier caste possesses a frontal projection called the nasus.
There are around 70 nasutiterme species in the neotropics.
Lucas Carnohan, a termite specialist, says “I’d guess they weren’t particularly drawn to the camera so much as Jeff happened to put the camera on the ground in a place with a lot of active termites. So they did what termites do and put muddy termite poo tunnels all over it while exploring the new terrain”
Termites play an important role in decomposition processes in tropical forest ecosystems. They affect the landscape and soil composition by breaking down the biomass with the aid of resident gut microbiota.
“In the Amazon, every single niche is exploited, including Canon camera bodies. Maybe because Jeff weatherproofed it so well the termites found it to be a suitable fortress to colonize.” says entomologist Aaron Pomerantz
Termites also put their muddy termite poo all over the lens.
Termites tried making their nest inside the camera
Puma
It seems like Mr. Puma was walking through the jungle one evening minding his own business when a camera took his picture. Mr. Puma turned towards the sound while the camera took another pic. He then walked right up to the camera and looked at it with a sad face, then walked off. Puma is a huge iconic predator of the Amazon. They are the fourth largest cat in the world with adults standing about 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in) tall at the shoulders. Pumas are, like most cats, metaturnal. That means that they sleep partly through the day and partly through the night. These agile yet powerful cats hunt by stalking and ambushing their prey. They like to feed on tapir but sometimes feed on smaller animals.
Mr. Puma checking out the camera
These “mini-jaguars” are an awesome find. They look very similar but have their differences.
Ocelot and Margay
Margay
