If you are the happy owner of a Moultrie trail camera and you want to use it right away, the most important thing that you need to know is that there are some rules in order to hide your camera so that it is not stolen or the people walking around the area that you want to observe will not see it and thus not know that they are being watched.
People use trail cameras for different reasons. They might either want to observe the behavior of animals, but they might also want to see the activity on their property to check if anybody is trespassing or if they are stealing things that they own and are present on the property.
However, it is not really important what you want to use the camera for. The important thing here is how to hide it, and we are going to give you some tips and how to make the camera invisible to anybody else, including animals that might deteriorate if they decide to play with it.
There is an important aspect that we have to consider before starting to give you advice and where to place your camera and how to hide it. This is represented by the purpose that you want to use the camera for. You can decide to use it as a home security device when the fact that you have to hide it from humans is obvious.
And as we have said before, you might want to place it in nature either to observe animals or to see what’s going on around when you’re not present. This is why we have sectioned our article and wrote some tips that can be used for both of these purposes very easily; however, we have focused more on how to make the camera invisible to intruders.
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Choose the perfect height
When you choose the height at which you want to place your trail camera, you should consider what your purpose is. For example, some people might want to observe small animals and their activity on the ground. Others might want to observe big animals, so they would have to have a wider view range.
These are two good ways that can help you hide it better considering the height that you need to place it at.
- The ‘light post’ style
People who decide to use this option usually want their camera to be seen. They use it as a means of intimidating intruders not wanted on their property. However, you can use this height in order to have a wide view but also hide it so that it will not be spotted.
If you decide to hide it, you should place it somewhere where light does not fall directly on it. You might install it on a wall like your garage wall or the wall of a building. A great idea is to plant climbing plants near the wall in order for it to cover the camera. This will be a great natural camouflage.
Also, if you decide to place a camera on your property in nature and you have to see something at a level higher than the ground level, you should attach it to a tree and cover it with some leaves, making sure that you are not covering the objective lens.
If you decide to place the camera on a tree in the woods, you can also build a box in which you can place it. People usually confuse these boxes with the ones made especially for birds to nest, and they will not imagine that someone has placed a trail camera in there. This is a great solution if you want to observe animals or people who want to steal wood.
- The ‘hiding soldier’ style
The hiding soldier style means placing your camera on the ground and camouflaging it using different decorative objects or something that mimics the natural environment in order for people not to see it. If you are using your camera for observing animals, you should cover the camera using things found in nature like leaves or tree branches.
The great thing about this option is the fact that people who are trespassing your property or people who want to steal from your property will not expect you to place the security camera on the ground. If they don’t expect it, they will not be able to disable it or cover it in order for you not to be able to identify them.
Pro tip:
Place your camera with the objective lens facing a diagonal trajectory from the ground. This way, you will be able to see the faces of the people who are trespassing; otherwise, you would only be able to see their feet.
Enclose it in a birdhouse
Birdhouses come in handy especially on properties that have yards. If you own a house and not an apartment and you want to protect it, the best way to camouflage your camera is by building a birdhouse and placing the camera inside. Make sure that the birdhouse faces the key points that you want to be observed like the entry to your yard or home.
Nature is the perfect hideout
If you have trees or other plants on your property, a great place to put your camera is inside an actual tree. However, this is only a solution if you have trees near the key areas that burglars might use as a means of entering your property.
If this is not the situation and you know you don’t have any trees in these places, you can use other plants or bushes as a place to hide your trail camera which people will not consider as perfect hideaways.
Try choosing a wireless trail camera
People who want to steal from your home will first analyze your yard and the area that they will have to work in. The first thing that they are going to look for is if you have cameras installed. If you don’t want them to see the cameras, you should avoid any wires that might indicate where the cameras are placed.
By deciding to purchase a wireless trail camera, you will be able to own a product that you can place anywhere you want so that nobody will see it, and this type of camera is usually very small and can be hidden very easily.
Nobody looks at the ceiling
When people are entering your property to steal something from you, they will usually look around but not above. This is why a great way to hide your camera is by attaching it to the ceiling. If you decide to do so, you should choose a camera that has colors similar to your building.
Going for a small camera to attach to the ceiling is also a great way to make the camera less visible.
Don’t place it directly on passing areas
If you decide to use the camera in nature, you should know that it is better to hide it a bit further away from the trails because as humans pass through that area, it might be easily spotted even if it is camouflaged.
So you have to consider not placing it in the first row of trees that is in the closest vicinity to the trail itself. Installing it on the second row of trees surrounding the area is a much better option. However, you should never forget to hide it and cover it with leaves or branches. The camera should also be a mixture of brown and green in order for it to be less visible.
Conclusions
There are many types of trail cameras, and there are also many ways to install such a camera in order to make it less visible. To wrap up this article, we are going to list the most important things that you need to do in order to place your camera in such a way that nobody will be able to see it.
- Always take into account the purpose of using your camera.
- Choose a small camera that can be easily camouflaged.
- Enclose it in boxes used to make a birdhouse.
- Blend it in with nature making use of trees and bushes.
- Always be careful where the objective lens is headed.
