TortCam

[TylerStewart]

I've been having a blast the past few days with my tortoise mounted cameras.... We had some torts running around today with video and still cameras on them taking all kinda interesting footage. I'm going out again tomorrow to get more. Here's a photo from today of a female sulcata running around on our land in the Las Vegas desert. This will eventually be her enclosure later on this year. We're doing some leopard HD 1080p video clips tomorrow (probably will have the camera mounted to the side of them so you'll see the side of the head instead of the top). Much more to come!

 

[PeanutbuttER]

ooh, that's pretty cool. I'm excited to see the leopard one

 

[TylerStewart]

Yeah, I kinda started with the sulcatas thinking they could easily haul the camera around, but really, the cameras only weigh a few ounces and are small, like smaller than a business card and 1" thick. I wouldn't think a Russian would have a hard time getting around with it. The biggest problem for me is that it's still cool here so not much is very active species-wise. Today was in the high 60's, and only for a few hours, so I just gotta get em while I can. The only torts that do much right now is my sulcatas and leopards and one group of Greeks. I'll post a video tomorrow night. I have some now but I'm confused using iMovie, so I'll work on it more tomorrow.

 

[zzzdanz]

I was thinking how cool a camera would be on a Sulcata in a big burough (sp)..this is very cool.Can't wait to see the video.

 

[RV's mom]

how interesting! looking forward to more pics. don't think it would work on RV in her burrow though, as she scrapes top and sides going up and down.

teri

 

[LRBailey]

cool pics Tyler! I never thought about mounting a camera on a tort. I've considered using a PetCam on my dogs though.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Neat!

 

[TylerStewart]

Video I filmed mostly this morning.... My biggest challenge is screwing with the video software (I'm filming it in 1080 HD but once it gets to YouTube it looks half as good). I'll get better with time

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0NrR0fSTt8[/video]

 

[jeffbens0n]

Very cool, did you drive them out there or is this close to your complex?

 

[TylerStewart]

This is where we are moving many of the tortoises to staring this summer. I bring some of them out there with me occasionally just to run around and eat the weeds down a bit. I'm there almost daily already, but it's just a few miles from me so no biggie.

 

[pebblelu]

That was really cool.

 

[Yvonne G]

I think I like the view better when the camera is mounted on the back of the tortoise rather than on the side. But you have to be sure its pointing out in front of the tortoise and not down. Real interesting.

Is your other property fenced already, or will you have to be doing that when you are ready to move?

 

[TylerStewart]

I think I prefer the side view because you can see the face and leg(s) better. As bland as the landscape is, I seem to spend more time watching the tortoise. The sulcatas I did all centered on their backs, but with the leopards I did 4 or 5 positions, some worked better than others. I had it hovering right over the head pointing straight down for a bit too, but it was just the top of the head. Interesting angle, but only in 10 second increments. The camera is a fisheye that is capable of 170 degrees of view, so if you're in front of the camera at all, you're on tape (if you put two of them back to back, you almost capture a complete 360 degree view). Other settings do different things.

The land does have a fence around it now, but it's just barely enough to keep the dogs in (4-5' high, 6"x6" mesh, single strand of barb wire on top). We are tearing it all down and putting up a new one 7' high starting in about a month or so. I have free access to many different types of tractors through my work, so I can get a loader, blade or backhoe out there at no cost, and can operate them myself, so we're changing all the grades and elevations, digging sulcata basements (manmade burrows), etc. I get sand and soils for next to nothing, and concrete is my trade, so I have an advantage there too. The area where most of this was filmed is a mellow wash that will get about 6' of dirt on top of it. I've been mostly working on cactus out there, but eager to get pens going. I'm hoping to move sulcatas and all the Testudo out there as soon as they're done laying eggs, probably in late May or June. I've got a DSL line out there so I can video feed to my house, and I have a hillbilly neighbor 500 feet away that promises to shoot first, ask questions second if he sees anyone around it LOL. Nobody else borders it, and the next closest house is probably 1/4 mile away.

The only condition; I have to leave the North acre untouched so my wife can eventually have her house and pool with a kid friendly backyard Unfortunately, I think us physically moving there is still at least a few years away, but we can improve on it in the meantime. We want to let our house value rebound before we sell it.

 

[zoogrl]

Cool video! I love it

 

[Tom]

Good stuff. That's really fun to watch.

 

[Xilonen]

Video I filmed mostly this morning.... My biggest challenge is screwing with the video software (I'm filming it in 1080 HD but once it gets to YouTube it looks half as good). I'll get better with time

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0NrR0fSTt8[/video]

I must commend you on your (your tortoises'?) choice in music. You/they have good taste.