A Shocking Trail Camera Discovery in Western New York State

Hunting season continues across New York State as archery season rolls on! With colder mornings arriving and leaves beginning to fall, deer are becoming more active in the woods. This is the time of year hunters have been waiting for!

Do you have trail cameras set up in the woods where you hunt? Perhaps you have a few cameras scattered around your property at home. Many people use trail cameras even if they don’t hunt, whether it’s to monitor wildlife activity or keep an eye out for potential trespassers.

It’s amazing how much trail camera technology has advanced. Many modern cameras use cellular signals to send photos directly to your phone, sometimes within seconds of detecting movement.

I have several trail cameras scattered around my property, too. There’s something exciting about receiving an alert that a new picture is ready and opening it to see what’s on the reel!

Will it be a big whitetail buck? Perhaps a black bear walking through the woods? Or will it be nothing more than a squirrel hanging around?

There’s always a little anticipation before you open that picture.

A Strange Trail Camera Alert Had Me Worried

Recently, I received one of those alerts on my phone. This time of year, I’m hoping to see a nice 10-point buck show up on one of my cameras.

Instead, all I got was a blurry image that honestly looked like a person standing directly in front of the camera. I tried downloading the video but couldn’t get it to work. Before long, I was starting to worry that someone might be walking around my property when they shouldn’t be.

Fast-forward a day or two, when I finally had a chance to get out into the woods and check the camera in person.

I couldn’t believe what I found.

It looked as though someone had drilled a perfectly round hole straight through the camera’s sensor area. My first thought was that someone might have shot it with a .22-caliber rifle.

But after taking a closer look and reviewing more of the images in my camera roll, I started to suspect something much more unusual.

It looked like my trail camera had been attacked by a woodpecker!

Can a Woodpecker Really Damage a Trail Camera?

A woodpecker? Could a bird really do that much damage to a trail camera?

As it turns out, woodpeckers can damage outdoor equipment by pecking at surfaces that catch their attention. Although I can’t say for certain what happened to my camera, the damage and the images I reviewed made a woodpecker seem like a likely culprit.

My theory is that a reflection from the camera’s lens or sensor area caught the bird’s attention, causing it to peck at the surface repeatedly.

Whatever happened, the result was a pretty impressive hole in the camera.

Surprisingly, the camera still works despite the damage!

How Can You Protect Your Trail Camera From Woodpeckers?

I’m considering putting some type of protective guard over the camera, but I don’t want to interfere with its ability to capture clear pictures or detect movement.

Any protection would need to leave the lens and motion sensor unobstructed while reducing the chances of a bird damaging the camera again.

I’m also not sure whether the damaged component can be replaced. This wasn’t necessarily a manufacturing defect or a failure on the company’s part. If a woodpecker really did cause the damage, it would be a pretty unusual situation for the manufacturer to deal with!

If you use trail cameras on your hunting property, it might be worth checking them periodically for damage, especially if you notice unusual images or repeated alerts.

One Trail Camera Upgrade That’s Been Worth It

Hopefully, your hunting season is going well and your trail cameras are holding up!

One of the best upgrades I’ve made to my own trail camera setup was adding a solar-powered battery pack alongside the regular batteries. It seems to have extended the time between battery changes, which is a big help when cameras are scattered throughout the woods.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t do anything to protect against aggressive birds!

Here’s hoping the next alert on my phone brings a picture of that big 10-point buck instead of another unexpected visitor trying to destroy my equipment.

Good luck to everyone heading into the woods this season!