Outdoor night vision cameras and rodents ASAP

[Wildcat_1]

Don't put it directly behind the camera, as @looney2ns mentioned maybe at a 30 degree angle. Just be careful not to blind the cam with IR or have it too close to the subject so you don't washout or splash back. You can play with the final positioning during an early evening by seeing what the cam is picking up with the extra IR spread and adjusting accordingly

Does this IR light have to be behind the camera or can I put it somewhere else in between both cameras but up higher? I have one camera sitting on my car (about 25’ away pointing at the front and side of house n one on the rail of front deck right in front of house. I would like to maybe get someone to hang the IR light from a tree or somewhere up higher because right now anyone can come along and take the camera off my car.

 

[Peek]

Don't put it directly behind the camera, as @looney2ns mentioned maybe at a 30 degree angle. Just be careful not to blind the cam with IR or have it too close to the subject so you don't washout or splash back. You can play with the final positioning during an early evening by seeing what the cam is picking up with the extra IR spread and adjusting accordingly

Don't put it directly behind the camera, as @looney2ns mentioned maybe at a 30 degree angle. Just be careful not to blind the cam with IR or have it too close to the subject so you don't washout or splash back. You can play with the final positioning during an early evening by seeing what the cam is picking up with the extra IR spread and adjusting accordingly

Here is the positioning of the cameras right now. Can you give me an idea of where the Ir should be?

 

[Wildcat_1]

How are those cams mounted now, fence, post, something else ? Also, big difference in quality of image 4B4DDE27-0981-4BF2-9452-A8E51BF63242 vs the other cam. Which cam are you using in the image I list here ? Reason I ask is that looking at that one, its probably the one I would expect the best results from for you IF the other image is true representation of capture quality of the other cam and not just resized / downsized

Here is the positioning of the cameras right now. Can you give me an idea of where the Ir should be?

 

[mech]

In your current scene, I recommend having the IR and the camera view the scene from different locations. That way, if an object moves across the face of the house, its shadow will make it far easier to pick out, both for the camera and yourself. For that role, if you can get electricity to a location some distance from the face of the house, I recommend the CMVision IR-200. It's got tremendous power and very tight focus. If the goal is to spotlight the house from an opposite corner than the camera, to generate strong shadows on moving creatures on the house, it would do the trick. Do you have a place kittycorner from a camera where you can get electricity to?

Here's an emitter panel from a IR-200 alongside a 2231, to give you some idea what they're like. This one's on a custom mount for a LPR box I was building for the police (project didn't go through). Actually I could mail this IR emitter to you to use for your project if you want. Obviously it needs waterproofing, which just putting it in a clear plastic bag would keep it going for a while. You'd need electrical power at that spot, obviously.

Taking the shadow-casting to the extreme case, think about how long your shadow gets when the setting sun is behind you near the horizon. If you attach the emiltter right to the side of the house, skimming across the surface, anything crossing its path on the surface will cast a VERY large shadow.

 

[Peek]

How are those cams mounted now, fence, post, something else ? Also, big difference in quality of image 4B4DDE27-0981-4BF2-9452-A8E51BF63242 vs the other cam. Which cam are you using in the image I list here ? Reason I ask is that looking at that one, its probably the one I would expect the best results from for you IF the other image is true representation of capture quality of the other cam and not just resized / downsized

Wildcat_1 that camera is mounted on top of the deck railing about 6’ away from front of house. The other cam is sitting on my car about 25’ away. I can bring it closer if you think that would be better? I am going to move the camera that’s sitting on the railing just a hair so it gets the other corner a bit better. I hear things coming out on both sides. The rodents will be going out within the hour now.

 

[looney2ns]

I had a crawlspace under the back room but had them rip up the floor, hired a masonry and had a cement truck come fill it in. They put down 5” of cement. I watch to make sure nothings digging in.
I zoomed in at the pictures I posted this morning and it looks to me like 4 or 5 flying squirrels sitting on the lights and on one another. I just didn’t say what I thought to see if any of you saw the same thing. What kind of IR light? Ther are so many different ones. I know nothing about this stuff.
I have 2 cameras out there so should I get 2 IR lights and point one at side of house n one somewhere else?

Was linked in my reply to you.

 

[Wildcat_1]

@Peek if thats the case then I would mount the IR illuminator further along the railing from the camera, angle towards the house as discussed above and look to ensure that you don't flash back into the camera FOV directly.

Wildcat_1 that camera is mounted on top of the deck railing about 6’ away from front of house. The other cam is sitting on my car about 25’ away. I can bring it closer if you think that would be better? I am going to move the camera that’s sitting on the railing just a hair so it gets the other corner a bit better. I hear things coming out on both sides. The rodents will be going out within the hour now.

 

[tigerwillow1]

One of my cameras caught a mouse 2 nights ago! Posting it here as an example of an image from a 2 MP starlight camera. The mouse is right in the middle of the driveway. The image is pretty subtle in the still shot, but when watching the video, it's totally obvious because of the motion. The camera is using a 4 watt external IR illuminator, and was helped by a bit of moonlight. With a non-starlight camera, it's likely the mouse just wouldn't exist on the image.

 

[essjay]

I'm intrigued after reading this thread...... How did it end I wonder?

 

[crw030]

Wouldn't a thermal camera do a better job of spotting the rodents movement, maybe with a starlight recording 24x7 so that you can go back and look at what it was? I don't have a thermal camera, but they looked intriguing.

 

[mark_whocares]

@Peek any updates?

if you can rent a thermal camera like they use to check for insulation leaks in houses, maybe you can find where the vermin are in the walls/roof/..etc

 

[Peek]

@Peek any updates?

if you can rent a thermal camera like they use to check for insulation leaks in houses, maybe you can find where the vermin are in the walls/roof/..etc

I have a thermal camera and know they are everywhere. If I had an attic this would be overwith already. I’m afraid to cut into the walls for fear somet might jump or fly out on me.

 

[Peek]

Update: I have been away for a while staying with a friend that had brain tumor. Unfortunately she doesn’t have internet or cable so I was basically cut off from rest of the world.

I came back yesterday n tried to log into this site but couldn’t remember password n locked myself out. Lol. I waited 24 hours n changed my password.

While I was away one of the two cameras stopped working. I couldn’t revive it so have to buy a new camera but still kind of confused on what to buy. I know you guys have explained features to me but honestly, I don’t know what all that means. I’m going to go back through the posts n just buy one. I still haven’t bought the IR lights either because they are almost $50.

I was sitting here looking at the one remaining camera because I heard things going out. I couldn’t believe it but bats were flying out of the light. It was about 1pm in the afternoon. You can throw away everything you ever heard about bats going out at dusk because I hear them going out consistently for about 3 1/2 hours every afternoon. My house isn’t even that big. The camera never detected them. It also didn’t detect what I was hearing from a different place and doesn’t detect them every day.

I did however get a good picture of a flying squirrel coming from the house when I went back through footage of dead camera but nothing else.

Whatever I’m going to do I need to do fast because now I want footage for proof for all the non believers and DEM before I kick them all out. Bats have babies in April and May, then you can’t kick them out till September.
T
If someone wants to just give me the model number of a camera they think will work for me, throw it out here. I did reread some of the posts and saw like 4 recommendations for cameras so again just confused. Keep in mind tha I just don’t know anything about this stuff but now just want proof. I have a drive.

I hear toenails or claws on ceiling and wall from something going out as I type this.

Thank you to everyone who has given me input, even if you are annoyed that I still haven’t been able to understand which camera to buy.

 

[Peek]

Just to add to my last message, I sat here at 1pm and on and hear all things going out and the camera didn’t pick up any of it??

 

[Peek]

Hello. I know I never came back to update ya’ll but I honestly could not. I was away taking care of a sick friend who had a brain tumor then had it blur removed. Her husband is very ill too.

i need to know what model camera I can buy that will pick up either the flying squirrels and/or bat. Right now whatever it is shows up as a blur. So when rodents are coming in it just shows a blur but not rodents even though I know they are coming in or out.

please help?

 

[Peek]

Wouldn't a thermal camera do a better job of spotting the rodents movement, maybe with a starlight recording 24x7 so that you can go back and look at what it was? I don't have a thermal camera, but they looked intriguing.

I have a Flir C2 camera that shows where they are in the house but I don’t want to open the walls n have something fly or jump out at me.

Whatever is coming out of the house moves too fast and security camera that I have shows it as a blur. I know everyone is thinking, “you know where something’s going out, just get rid of whatever it is”. First off it isn’t that simple. I got 2 pics of flying squirrels and seen bats come out of the light in the front of the house and the camera didn’t even detect the bats. I just happened to be sitting there watch another spot. They moved so quick. Lastly, I want camera footage to prove to all the people (trappers, exterminators) who said it was “only” mice. Neither they nor we caught 1 mouse in 4 years.

Things have been able to multiple because they couldn’t figure out what it was. We are not home or very quiet while we are here. After we got the new roof put on my husband got cancer and we were away from home, at the hospital for about 60 days. Now I take care of a friend and her husband On and off for the last year who are both ill. This last time I was away for 3 months because a friend had brain tumor removed n I took care of both she and her husband who is ill after having 4 stokes n needs lots of care.

I would sell the house but as it is right now I would not be able to get what I owe on it.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Peek]

One of my cameras caught a mouse 2 nights ago! Posting it here as an example of an image from a 2 MP starlight camera. The mouse is right in the middle of the driveway. The image is pretty subtle in the still shot, but when watching the video, it's totally obvious because of the motion. The camera is using a 4 watt external IR illuminator, and was helped by a bit of moonlight. With a non-starlight camera, it's likely the mouse just wouldn't exist on the image.

View attachment 50871

Is that the reason my pests are only showing up as a blur at night and not at all during the day?

 

[Peek]

I'm intrigued after reading this thread...... How did it end I wonder?

It hasn’t yet.

 

[Peek]

Wouldn't a thermal camera do a better job of spotting the rodents movement, maybe with a starlight recording 24x7 so that you can go back and look at what it was? I don't have a thermal camera, but they looked intriguing.

This is a good question n maybe

@Peek

It really comes down to your budget and wants/needs. You mention 4MP as well, the 5442 cams are very nice and have great sensors (1/1.8”) with awesome night performance, beefier SOCs powering them and more RAM leading to snappier performance primarily for the AI features that are included that again work very well.

However in this case, the Human & Vehicle AI features of the 5442 are really superfluous to your immediate needs IMO as you will primarily have this pointed at the roof for the rodent issue. Now that’s not to say you won’t benefit from the 4MP sensor (pulling details away from the shingle to identify the target etc), optics and processing bundled with the 5442s BUT you will need to balance those against the price difference with the 2231 and your budget plus mid term plans for the cam I.e after rodents have been identified and hopefully eradicated do you want to use the camera for regular surveillance duties / home security.

Both are great cams and whatever you decide these should certainly should elevate the experience you’ve had with cams In general to this point. I don’t think you will be disappointed with either

HTH

Will this help the issue where (bats and flying squirrels) are moving so fast they just show up as a blur with current camera. I will go with 4mp of whichever camera you think will show what they are instead of just blur because I am going to use as security camera afterwards.

I want something I manage instead of storing images and video in a cloud somewhere. I have a 1T drive hanging off my router. I used to be in IT but know nothing at all about cameras or the differences that your talking about so will rely on you guys to pick out best camera that will work for me. I’m sure I’ll be back to ask about some of the settings. Someone mentioned a Starlight camera??

 

[sebastiantombs]

The only way to get rid of the blur, at night, is to raise the shutter speed. When you raise the shutter speed you'll also have to add additional IR illumination to compensate for the light lost with higher shutter speed.