How does everyone keep the ants and other insects out of your cameras? I have had atleast 4 cams that are broke in one way or another. I put out a new Covert 3.0 2 weeks ago and when I checked it Sun it was covered in ants and when I plugged in the remote it would blink on and off (electrocuting an ant) and not allowing me to check pics or make cam adjustments!! What does everyone use to stop these bastards? This trail cam hobby is really getting expensive.
I've never had or even heard of this problem before. The worst thing I've had is a bear take my trail cam for a ride and destroy it. There has to be some type of repellent you can use?
Ive had this problem on a couple of my farms and never found a solution so I just relocated the cams.... I didnt want to use a pesticide bc its just gonna leave that much more scent out there.
Make sure every nook and cranny is shut ! The coverts have a rubber tab on the bottom personally I never use it so I siliconed it shut on all my cameras after having ants in a few last summer/
Yeah I think I have to try a new location unfortunatley this was the perfect tree. I was told that if you pour salt around the base of a tree the ants will not cross it!! I think it burns there exoskeleton. I can't try this because in my area it could be considered baiting and buying and packing in salt is out of the question.
I had some awesome pics last year of bears tearing mine off of the tree and playing with it. Salvaged the camera though!
I have only had that on one of my cams,guess i was on a nest or something. I had to reseal the ext battery hole to keep them out Also there is a product at most hardware stores it looks like a clear glue in a one oz bottle the ants carry some back to there home and ants no more.
I too have this problem every spring. Sometimes they are so badly infested it looks like something out of a horror flick. My wife suggested something to me today regarding this problem. She was having her humming bird feeders invaded by ants until she started putting Vaseline on the string that holds the feeder. She has not had any ants since doing that. Now I don't know if it has any scent but it sure seemed to solve her problem with that. Blessings........Pastorjim
I have been running cams for over 6 years now, and have never had a problem with ants, until last weekend. My cuddeeback was full of them!
From past experience and from what I found online you may not like what you're about to read. In any case pouring salt around a tree to stop ants is about as ineffective as sleeping in the loop of a raw hide lasso to stop rattle snakes from entering your camping area. 1) All insects are attracted to the electrical stimulation of the vibrations of electrical equipment. If you live in an cockroach environment you'll notice these creatures congregating around telephone equipment the same way, the magnet in the phone pieces. The radios, the television, etc. Insects do this for some unknown reason. Put your poisons around these areas to kill then, knowing where to put poisons is part of the job in controlling the insects. Source(s): retired MedLab Technologist supervisor posted 5 years ago. 2) "Ants have been a major factor in air conditioner failures. Service personnel in Texas have reported that fully one third of all summer repairs stem from ants shorting out terminal blocks. They also have been found to have set up housekeeping in televisions, well pump controls, telephone junction pedestals, airport runway lights, utility watthour meters, electrical plugs and lamp sockets, computers, and transformers-where they prefer to nest on the high-voltage side. Why are imported red fire ants attracted to electric fields? No one is yet ready to offer a theory. But biologist Dr. William P. MacKay of the University of Texas at El Paso and entomologist Professor S. Bradleigh Vinson of Texas A&M have succeeded in eliminating a number of possible factors. They have found fire ant behavior does not correlate with a-c frequencies, or with the presence of ozone, electromagnetic or magnetic fields. Nor is the type of insulation used on wiring a factor. In tests up to 140V a-c and 350V d-c, both attracted almost the same number of ants at the same voltage and distance. However, they did find that when electricity was turned off, ants attracted to d-c power dispersed more rapidly than those who had been experiencing the nirvana of an a-c source. While the Texas researchers still don't understand the reasons why the ants have a fatal attraction to electric fields, they have been able to devise successful control techniques. Based on their studies, they recommend using terminal cap protectors to prevent bridging, and denying entrance to the insects by enclosing mechanical relays in metal or plastic cases and sealing them, as well as all entrances to padmounted equipment, with epoxy cement. In laboratory tests, silicone rubber sealants and roofing cement proved ineffective."
I've never had an ant issue with my trail cams, but we did have an infestation that shorted out our central cooling unit. The guy who fixed the AC gave us some of this chemical that we sprayed on and around the unit and we've had no more ant problems. I believe the chemical was called "methialon" or something like that. It did have an odor, I'm not sure if deer would mind it or not.
I was going to suggest something along these lines. About 10 years ago or so our woods, roads, back yards, and everywhere were overtaken by tent caterpillars. One way people were able to protect there foliage was to wrap the trunk of the tree with duct tape and coat the duct tape with Vaseline. I don't see why this wouldn't help with your ant problem.
one year i had i think one ant get into my trail cam before i shut it...when i came back a week later there were probably 2 dozen of them in there....after all those ants were in there it destroyed my camera not cool...but to you question i would just say make sure when you shut it no ants are in there.
