Trail cameras have become a crucial tool for researchers and conservationists — but in Anchorage, locals discovered they're also useful purely for fun, Alaska Public Media reports.

Though trail cameras themselves aren't new, advances in digital photography in the mid-2000s ushered in scores of new possibilities. Modern features such as solar power allow trail cams to run indefinitely, and many devices are motion-activated, requiring no human intervention to record. 

In research and various wildlife-related contexts, trail cameras are used to gather data and observe animals in their natural habitats. Today, biologists can monitor elusive species and capture split-second rare sightings in the wild.

Anchorage resident Donna Gail Shaw placed nine trail cams in wooded areas on the east side of town. 

Shaw manages a popular public Facebook group, Muldoon Area Trail Photos and Videos, for locals to share footage captured in and around the trails of Far North Bicentennial Park. 

"Respect for wildlife, including all natural processes, is a hallmark of this page," it reads. Once a week, Shaw goes for a hike, retrieving and replacing the devices' memory cards.

"I get lynx, wolves, coyotes, foxes, brown bears, black bears, moose. I get all those animals and interactions with them. I've seen bears mating, I've seen moose fighting. I've seen wolves that [take] down moose, bears fishing," she told the outlet.

More than 10,000 people joined the Facebook group. Shaw said it's partly for sharing interesting footage but also so locals can "know what's real close and just be careful."

Emily Bokar lives in a duplex downtown, and her six security cameras routinely capture riveting animal sightings and behavior. Bokar explained that she sees "critters every single day" and checks overnight activity first thing in the morning, projecting the footage to her TV.

Bokar, a transplant to the area, told Alaska Public Media that it's "magical living here" as she recalled some of the things her cameras have caught. 

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"It's not something you go and do [only] on the weekends. It's like every day around you, there's just wild beasts in your yard. And it's just a special thing. And it's like something that I've never experienced living anywhere else," she said.

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