Caught in the Act

LAGUNA ATASCOSA - Take a small pool of water at a national wildlife refuge, add a bunch of wild critters, place a remote camera nearby to record it all, and it's the makings for some fascinating photos.

Coyotes, armadillos, indigo snakes, raccoons, javelinas, bobcats, vultures, caracaras, feral hogs, nilgai, roadrunner, deer and even endangered ocelots - the rarest of the rare - are photographed at the waterholes.

The watering spots are created by 10 guzzlers, or water collection devices, at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, and at each one there is a remote camera to document the animals that come for a drink. The cameras are equipped with sensors that detect heat and motion, and will trip the camera's shutter when an animal approaches.

Each of the guzzlers holds 1,500 gallons of water. They are given an initial fill-up and then it's hoped they will become self-maintaining by collecting rainwater.

A pipe from the guzzler fills a small nearby pool where the animals drink and where the camera is placed.

"The purpose of the cameras is to monitor wildlife at the refuge, particularly wildlife use of the guzzlers, and more particularly, ocelot use of the guzzlers," refuge biologist Jody Mays said.

The cameras are checked about once a week and reveal a fascinating menagerie.

"We've gotten photos of a couple of deer and raccoons at the same time," May said.

"We've got pictures of vultures actually sitting on top of the camera and pictures of the wings in front of the camera."

The cameras have been monitoring wildlife since autumn 2006 and have become a valuable tool for keeping an eye on the refuge's ocelot population.

"We can monitor the health of the ocelot and some of their activities," Mays said. "We can identify individuals because their pelt patterns are unique.

"We can get an idea of when they're active and how many times they're coming to the guzzler," she said.

"When we put out the camera at one guzzler, we got four or five different individuals coming to this one guzzler," Mays said.

"We were hoping to get a picture of a female coming with her young, but we haven't been able to do that yet.

"A jaguarundi would be great, but none so far," she said.

Jaguarundis are weasel-like cats that historically lived in the Rio Grande Valley. Whether they're still here is open to debate.

Mays said if one of the cameras ever photographed a jaguarundi, "I would buy a lottery ticket!"

In the two years the cameras have been in place, a dozen different ocelots have been photographed and have provided hundreds of pictures.

"In that one guzzler we had four or five individuals, two of them we had never documented before. We captured them later and put radio tracking collars on them," Mays said.

She said the refuge and adjoining land contain 25 to 30 ocelots; the whole U.S. population is less than 100. The entire nation's wild ocelot population lives in far South Texas.

Mays said the cameras have taught her a few things about ocelots.

"We get a little bit different picture of them because they're acting more natural," she said. "We're not affecting their behavior.

"You can see personalities come out. For example there's a male and female in one area and you can see the difference in them without looking at the pelt pattern," she said.

"I can tell from looking at the photographs which one is which.

"The female is very cautious. She approaches kind of low to the guzzler, doesn't stay very long and is always looking around," Mays said. "The male is like he doesn't care. He'll approach the guzzler with his head up and very assertive and not afraid.

"He seems very relaxed and comfortable there. It's kind of neat to see those differences."

Mays said she someday hopes to see pictures of baby ocelots from the pair that visit the guzzler.