Varmint squeaker for game camera use.

[spectr17]

Pete H. sent me this link for a small battery operated squeaker which may work great to entice varmints in front of your cameras. Even has a timer.

http://www.wasatchwild.com/images/teaser/teasermap.jpg

http://www.wasatchwild.com/teaser.html

Course, I'm sure someone here will figure out how to make one for a better price right?

[coyote]

Heh well I'll start building one right now....a beer can should make a suitable housing....better get two might screw up the first one...heh heh...yoteee'

[BOHUNTER]

im afraid that will take some tyme right coyote...lol ###

[davered1]

I have a different version called "the squeaker",It runs off a 6V lantern battery.

Have it out trying for lynx pics right now

:>)

[Tinhorn]

I'd be interested in building/having one of these.

I'd be neat to have a Cam Watch over one all night.....

What noise should they make? ###Anybody have any ideas on where to start?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Tinhorn

[Gun Docc]

well i guess we better get busy working on a few ideas as this would work good for all kinds of predator pic's

i used to do a lot of trapping and used something similar to trap fox and bobcats, worked pretty good too

now with a camera taking pic's of the critters coming in to the sounds , you could get some pretty neat pic's

Later,

[Eagle Eye]

Somebody just buy one and tear into it, no bigger than it is there cant be much to it.
Maybe we could all pitch in a buck and let one the electronic guru's disect it...........

[BOHUNTER]

IM IN FOR IT! GOOD CALL ###OL EAGLE EYE

[Tinhorn]

Gun Docc,

Do you mean you flagged them in with a feather or something or was it an audio device like this squeaker ?

Thanx

Tinhorn

[Gun Docc]

Tinhorn,

it was an electronic squeaker but was a lot bigger and run off of a 6 volt lantern battery .

it was actually owned by my uncle and he found it somewhere out of a trapping magazine way back in the 80's

it kinda made a squeak about like the sound of a mouse and you could make your trapset nearby to catch whatever came in to the sound.

usually we made a hole setup with it and had some fairly good results catching foxes

Later,

[davered1]

Gunn Docc,

I have this one it runs off a 6V lantern battery.We aren't allowed to trap with them here so I haven't but would like to try it.

Is yours bigger,this is actual size. It has been around a few times

http://imagehosting.bidbay.com/image.php3?imgID=895300

http://imagehosting.bidbay.com/image.php3?imgID=895301

[Gun Docc]

davered1,

the one we used was close to what your pic shows
as they look similar but did not have the squeaker logo written on it

Later,

[Curtiss]

Hey Tinhorn,
### ###How about a tape recorder with a sound of your choosing: maybe like this. Ha!!!!!!! ###(This is sound only.)




(Edited by Curtiss at 2:28 pm on Jan. 31, 2002)

[Tinhorn]

ha ha, ###ha ha

Well, that's bound to call something, LOL - - ###- ###Hope I don't think of that call next time I'm on a ladder, could make-a-person fall off laughin so much ! ! ! ### - Ouch -

Actually ### didn't (don't) some Anwsering ###Machines have an End-Less tape that could be used?

Tinhorn

[coyote]

Look into battery powered kid toys....
God knows I'd like to tear the guts outa them after christmas fun wears off!! crash..bang ...squeak you name it...yoteee.

[Tinhorn]

Arch and I have been discussing the game squeaker and come up with this little baby. ###It's no fun to just buy one but when you add up all the parts, it's the same cost as the store bought unit Jesse Posted. ###Oops!

Arch found a few Digital Recording items at RS that held promise. ###One is a "Key Ring" that you can record messages on (like where you left the car) and the other was a Recording Module, either for $10

I purchased the Recording Module which is a speaker and PC board that can record a 20 second message and built a squeaker (see the Link)

This thing don't have a very loud sound and the recording volume has to be LOUD but I think it's ok. ###If the sound is too loud, the predator mite stand way back and stare at it, out of the cameras range. ###I could easily hear it at 30 yards so an animal with sharper hearing can beat that.

I made up the housing out of 1 - 1/2" PVC pipe & ###fittings and the overall length is only 6" or so. ###Be sure to wrap the battery & Recorder with tape to insulate it from each other from shorts and cut off the record button. ###I found out the hard way that if it's accidentally pressed by the battery inside the case, it erases the message.

I built an "Astable" timer to turn on the unit every 15 minutes (it ran 2 nites on a 9v batt and the batt charge still tests full) but Arch thought it could be triggered by the Refresh Pulse off your camera if it has one. ###You would have to run a wire over to the Squeaker and use an NPN transistor as a switch to activate the recorder, similiar to what's shown on the drawing (link below) ###It wouldn't need that 15 minute timer then.

I only had it out 2 nites and got the Coon's pix
(below) ###the wite thing in the pix is the unit. ###Altho the Coon could have been just jogging by, I think he actually was attracted to the squeal because you can see he has a big grin on his face after he seen what it was.....

http://www.nightowl.net/~tinhorn/Squeaker.jpg

http://www.nightowl.net/~tinhorn/Coon.jpg

Tinhorn

[gizz]

I went ahead and bought one of these from wasatch wildlife. It's makes sounds like when your tuning an AM radio but can't quite get there. 3 knobs allow you to adjust the speed, pitch, loudness, etc of the sound. I hope to be able to get a cam out with this thing nearby and see what happens.

[bat]

hmmmmm I wonder how that would do inside one of those Ceramic Rabbits all painted up like the real thing!!!!..hehe bet an ole Coyote would be surprised surprised when he jumps on that bad boy.

(Edited by bat at 11:10 pm on Feb. 21, 2002)


(Edited by bat at 11:18 pm on Feb. 21, 2002)

[Archilochus]

Hi all,
Since Tinhorn is already experimenting with the RS #276-1323 digital sound recorder, I figured I’d try a different model. ###I bought the 15US$ RS #63-954 voice memo keychain with timer thinking that I could ‘hack’ the built-in timer to make the thing trigger itself - no luck with the timer, so a cheaper model would be the RS #63-953 for 12US$.
Also, with the 63-953 you don’t have to worry about the LCD freezing up.

Here’s what I’ve found so far with the 63-954:
*Sound quality is not that great - but good enough for this purpose.
*Volume is surprisingly loud for the tiny speaker size. ###Adjust volume by changing the volume of the sound while recording.
*Circuit operates on a 6 volt supply, so 4x “AAA” ###batts could be substituted in place of the costly lithium button cells the thing is supplied with. ###The circuit *might* tolerate a 9 volt supply, but I HAVE NOT tried it yet.
*Power consumption while playing is ~40mA ### While idle, I measured zero current - must use some power gating scheme.
*Using supplied battery type and playing 5 seconds of sound every 20 minutes, batt life should be ~48 days (calculated). ###This does not include power consumed by a timing circuit which will be needed to trigger the circuit. ###Using 4x “AAA” batts, life should be about 290 days!
*Circuit is triggered by a simple contact. ###The screwed-on metal part is the more ‘positive’ side. ###The contact on the PCB is 0 volts (ground). ###Triggering the circuit can be done with a relay, opto-isolator, bipolar or MOS transistor.
*Size is ~1.5” x 3”
*Operating temp range - unspecified. ###Probably around +20 to +140F

The only real advantages are the zero idle power consumption and the fact that the circuit is in a case, so no need to worry about insulating it.

I’m going to adapt the thing to 4x “AAA” batts and toss it into a PVC housing like Tinhorn did with his. ###I’ll keep everyone posted about results (if any!)

I recorded a sound clip of a quail in distress into the circuit - it actually sounds pretty good! ###Maybe get some owl pics... now that would be COOL!

Archilochus

[Tinhorn]

Hi Arch, ###Good Report !

I had my squeaker out from Fri PM till Mon AM and the 9v batt is still good. ###I changed my recording to a woodpecker in distress (afraid the predators were wise to my lip squeaking from last w/e) ###

As I gathered up the Camera, the thing cycled on, sounded pretty good. ###It was hanging in a tree in front of the camera about 15 feet and it had bird poop on it; ###I guess a Blue Jay showed me what he thought of it.

There were a lot of pix's taken, am anxious to get the roll developed but we had terrible winds all w/e so know a lot were false alarms......

I need some of your expertise on Birds: ###Owls in particular
What kind of setup do we need for a picture, a bird flying by ain't going to cut it !

Think we can set the unit up near a low, dead snag, one that the camera can be close too? ###Would the Owl (or hawk) land on the snag to look for the creature it hears?

Thanx

Tinhorn

[Archilochus]

Hi Tinhorn,
That would probably work well for owls, since they hunt by stealth. ###They like to perch on an exposed branch so that when they take off to catch something, their wings do not scrape against branches and make noise which could scare off the prey.
The 'squeaker' could be set up near the ground under an exposed branch that is about 10 to 15 feet high. ###Maybe point the cam down the length of the branch rather than parallel to it. ###Sometimes while wandering through the woods you'll come across the perfect 'owl branch' - might even find some pellets under it - that's the place to set up on!

Since hawks generally hunt by 'ambush', they'll usually try to conceal themselves from the potential prey - so they probably won't perch on a photogenic exposed branch.

Might be interesting to do the multiple camera setup - one pointed at the 'squeaker', one aimed at the branch, maybe a third aimed at the most likely approach.

>>>>
Figured out that the thing would cost about 22US$ to build, including timer and housing. ###Could shave ~3$ off by using the cheaper recorder. ###The PVC for housing can be scrounged free from extra parts from plumbing jobs to save another $ or two.
Even though the price approaches the "manufactured" version - with these you can record custom sounds!

Archilochus

[Archilochus]

Hi all,
For anyone interested... I uploaded the squeaker info to my web-site. ###Simple timer schematic, some construction info, and pics of finished caller.

http://www.geocities.com/archilochus57/sqker.html

Archilochus

[the hairless one]

what about one of those tape players that used to play continuosly? Maybe just hook some kind of delay up to one of those with a injured rabbit tape?

rick

[Tinhorn]

Man Arch,

very professional looking, guess I'll have to build that timer of yours (what, no Nite-Time Only feature) ###he he

Where did you locate those "spring hook latches" ###Those would be handy on those electrical boxes that have those 4 corner screws to hold on the lid....

Tinhorn

[Archilochus]

Thanks Tinhorn,
The latch came from a pile of samples I got from a company called Nielsen/Sessions out of Connecticut.
They refer to them as “hooked loop catches” - part# HC150-01SS
Tel: 1-860-522-8145 ###I know the parent company “The ZERO Corporation” or ZERO/Haliburton has a web-site, but I’m not sure about Nielsen/Sessions.

Archilochus

[Tinhorn]

Squeaker Success #2

Had to show off this big guy ###The squeaker was out 3 days total but got him the 2nd evening it was out. ###(3/11/02 @ 5:33PM) ###He looks a little aggravated don't you think?

I only cropped off about an inch from the left of the pix, this is a full size pix otherwise. ###He must have been close to the camera (which was about a foot off the ground) ###The squeaker was over his head and behind him, wonder if that's why his ears are cocked back, maybe it just started squealing ? ### ###(used a woodpecker in distress)

Any Varmit Hunters out there? ###do you think he would come back in with the same call or should I change it to something else?

Tinhorn

http://www.nightowl.net/~tinhorn/SqueakerCat1.jpg

[gizz]

Most excellent picture Tinhorn!!
Would've loved to have been some bark on a tree to watch that cat walk around trying to pinpoint the "distressed" animal.

[Don]

Great picture Tinhorn.

I don't think he likes his picture being taken.

[Archilochus]

Very nice Tinhorn.... ###I'm still waiting to get my "squeaker" film from the lab... Hope to have something good!!

To anyone who may have checked my "squeaker" circuits mentioned above....
I drew the wiring diagram wrong!! ###If you plan to build this circuit, check the site for the fixed diagram.
Sorry 'bout that ###:(

Archilochus

[TmKarren]

Great picture Tinhorn. ###This is a good off season thing to do while your waiting for antlers, and fawns. ###This looks like something to look into. ###Thanks for the research. ###I think I'll give her a try.

[Catcluber]

Can anyone tell me of a website with any good 'distressed' animal noises
that can be use for this?

[Tinhorn]

Here is a Patch Cord I built to record directly to the Squealer instead of using the speaker as a mike. ###The sound quality is much enhanced by this direct connection and can be recordered with louder volume than using the Speaker/Mike. (has verly little distortion)

Just plug the Patch Cord into your tape recorder "speaker out" jack and adjust volume of tape recorder "LOW" at first. ###Experiment with the volume to get the Digital Recorder Playback volume like you want it.

Since some of my sounds are wav files on the PC, I was able to unplug one of my PC speakers from the other and just plug the patch cord into that jack (instead of the tape recorder) ###Maybe your PC speaker set is the same as mine......

http://www.nightowl.net/~tinhorn/PatchCord2.jpg

Tinhorn