Snapshot Wisconsin

Do you ever wonder what wildlife is wandering around in the woods? With Snapshot Wisconsin, you can find out!

Wisconsin, a state in the Great Lakes region of the U.S., is home to 65 species of native mammals (the focus of this project) and thousands of other vertebrate, invertebrate, and native plant species living in diverse natural communities. Through Snapshot Wisconsin, you can help to support and inform the people managing these natural communities in two ways: apply to host a trail camera (open to Wisconsin residents only) or identify animals in images caught on trail cameras (open to everyone).

Are you a teacher in grades K-12? This project offers standards-aligned lesson plans to help you integrate the project into your classroom.

Go to Project Website about Snapshot Wisconsin

project task

Examine images

division

Earth Science

where

Online

launched

2015

👁 Four black bears walk along a dirt road. Thin white-barked birch tree trunks are growing in either side of the road. The face of first bear, which is noticeably larger than the three that follow, is turned towards the camera.

Four black bears captured by a Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera in Douglas County, WI.

What you'll do

Get a first peek at animals (wolves, red fox, elk, etc.) moving through the wilds of Wisconsin.
Help identify animals in the thousands of images captured monthly by the Wisconsin-wide network of trail cameras.
Contribute to data-drive wildlife management and research.

Requirements

Time: 5 minutes to complete the project tutorial
Equipment: internet connected computer, tablet, or smartphone
Knowledge: No prior knowledge required.

Get started!

Visit the project website.
Complete the in-project tutorial.
Get started identifying animals and their behavior in images!

Learn More

Visit the About our Research page on the project website or visit the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to learn more about the project’s goals.

Are you a teacher? Snapshot Wisconsin offers Wisconsin Standards for Science-aligned lesson plans for all grades from kindergarten through high school! Visit their Education page to learn more and access links to resources. Note that the Wisconsin standards are based on the Next Generation Science Standards.

👁 Snapshot Wisconsin logo: Three round-corner squares represent the work of Snapshot Wisconsin. On the left is a green square with a white cartoon of a branching plant with leaves. In the center orange square is a white graphic of a camera lens. The right blue square shows a white graphic of a grazing deer.

👁 A pie chart shows in photographs and labels the animals most commonly observed in Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera images. The size of each “pie wedge” allotted is proportional to the frequency with which species are observed in the data. Deer are most common, appearing in 66% of images. Squirrels are next most common (9%), followed by raccoons (7%), Turkeys (4%, cottontail rabbits (3%(, coyotes (2%), elk (1%), and all other animals (8%).

This pie chart shows the frequency with which animal species are observed in Snapshot Wisconsin trail camera images.

Credit: Snapshot Wisconsin