If you like the topics we cover in this blog, you should definitely check out our books.

Series: Trail Cameras and Custom Camera Traps

As with Janet’s first book – Camera Trapping Guide: Tracks, Sign and Behavior of Eastern Wildlife — our goal in this series is to provide to hobbyists, citizen scientists, wildlife educators, photographers, and biologists with the practical information needed to capture compelling wildlife photos and/or explore wildlife behavior with video using camera traps.

We accumulated material for this series by managing about a hundred camera sets over a ten year period. We’ve reviewed tens of thousands of photos and videos. We also ran controlled tests of our equipment to better understand how to get the most out of each set.

In the end, we discovered so much material that we needed a series of books to cover it all. We’ve dubbed this series Trail Cameras & Custom Camera Traps, and it includes three books, subtitled:

Technology, Ethics & Strategies for Success

We cover the underlying technology of camera traps, techniques for successfully deploying and servicing camera sets, the ethics of camera trapping, the use of online mapping tools to quickly find promising habitats over a wide geographical range, and animal track and sign interpretation. This book vastly expands on the introductory chapter in Janet’s first book and includes a detailed introduction to DSLR (and mirrorless) camera traps. This first book in the series is broadly useful for any camera trapping location.

This book is available now. See: Trail Cameras and Custom Camera Traps : Technology, Ethics & Strategies for Success.

Guide to Western Mammals Volumes 1 and 2

In the next two books in the series, we cover a total of 33 select mammal species and families found in western North America. Those familiar with Janet’s first book will recognize these richly photographed, deeply researched, in-depth species guides, covering critical information about the animals, their distribution, sign, and behavior. But the best part of each is a lengthy set of “Camera Trapping Hints” with specific recommendations for getting great captures, as well as examples of open questions which the reader may help answer with their own cameras. In chapters where a species was described in Janet’s first book, such as the cougar, we’ve included all new material focused on camera trapping in uniquely western habitats.

Guide to Western Mammals Volume 1

Volume 1 covers 17 species groups, including bears (black and grizzly), canids (wolves, coyotes, red, gray, and kit foxes), mustelids (the 3 small weasels, mink, otter, fisher, marten and wolverine), 4 skunk species, ring-tails, and coati.

We expect this book to be available in July, 2026.

Guide to Western Mammals Volume 2

Volume 2 covers 16 species groups, including cats (cougar, lynx, and bobcat), ungulates (deer, elk, moose, mountain goats, big horn sheep, and pronghorns), and a diverse collection of western rodents (kangaroo rats, woodrats, flying squirrels, prairie dogs, marmots, porcupine, and beaver).

We expect hit book to be available in September, 2026

Camera Trapping Guide

The first field guide to trail cameras and camera trapping. It covers 37 species of animals found in the eastern United States. Each species chapter contains the key information needed to successfully capture phots and images of these animals with a trail camera, including range maps, physical descriptions, tracks and trails, scat and urine, habitat, breeding, and extensive camera trapping tips. The book is richly photographed and features our own trail camera and camera trap footage.

For reviews, see: Camera Trapping Guide

To purchase the book or to see additional reviews, click here.