Tasmanians have captured photos of their native animal neighbours striking a pose, pulling cameras apart or caring for their young.
It was all part of a recent statewide camera-trap competition hosted by ecologist Glen Bain.
More than 150 people entered, and Mr Bain, who also runs citizen science program Wildtracker, said it was a great way to encourage people to get to know what wildlife lives near them.
Some of the entries included a mother Tasmanian devil carrying four babies, a quoll carrying nesting materials in its mouth, and a possum looking like it was telling a tall tale.
Mr Bain believed the competition, which was open to all Tasmanians with camera traps, would be be a one-off.
It called for camera-trap photos showing rare or threatened species, unique behaviours and humorous moments. Each entry was to include a story about how the photo was captured and what it depicted.
"You can't love what you don't see … and people don't go out at night time, so they never see these animals," Mr Bain said.
"If they see videos or photos of these species, then they're much more likely to connect with them, especially those animals on their own property."
And that connection, he hopes, will result in them taking action to protect the native animals in their patch.
In "true Tasmanian style", most of the entries came in pretty last minute, Mr Bain said, and all entrants submitted multiple shots.
Most were private landholders, based on both large and small properties, while others were organisations, including Hobart Airport and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE).
"We had a real range of entries, including some [from] people who may have misunderstood what camera traps were," Mr Bain said.
The best of the photos were recently displayed in both Launceston and Hobart, in an exhibition titled 'Camera Trap Chronicles'.
Camera-trap shot call-out
Mr Bain, who works with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (TLC), has more experience with camera traps than most.
"After my PhD, which also used camera traps, I ended up working as a research assistant for a group of researchers studying Tasmanian devils, and that involved managing over 1,000 cameras," he said.
Some eye-opening results
Mr Bain said the most commonly represented species in the photos he received were possums and currawongs.
"That's because they're usually the first to reach a camera, they are quite common ... and they're always super curious about cameras," he said.
Other well-represented species were wallabies, wombats and devils, while baby animals and threatened species were also popular subjects.
But the entries that perhaps piqued the interest of Mr Bain and his ecologist colleagues most were those that depicted animals displaying unusual behaviours.
One photo showed a quoll carrying nesting materials in its mouth, which was something most TLC staff knew happened but had never seen.
"Knowing something is one thing, but actually seeing it on camera feels quite different," Mr Bain said.
Other 'firsts' captured in the photos were a currawong opening wheelie bins, and swift parrots appearing at Tinderbox Reserve.
And winner of the 'firsts' category was the photo of the devil mother carrying her offspring.
"[Again] we knew it happened, but to have the actual footage of it gives it a completely different perspective," he said.
Photos, stories and on-the-ground action
Mr Bain said the circ*mstances surrounding the capture of the devil photo made it an especially valuable entry.
"I think it's such a good story because the person who submitted that photo borrowed a camera from us," Mr Bain said.
The entrant had no "background in environment" to Mr Bain's knowledge and had never used a camera trap before.
"And she got something that we've never seen before, so that's incredible," he said.
For Mr Bain, the importance of the competition lies in the impact he hopes it will have beyond exhibition of the entries.
As well as encouraging people to find out what native animals live on their land, the event offered them the chance to tell stories about what they found, he said.
This further increases the likelihood they will take action to protect their wildlife neighbours, by planting native plants or keeping their cats inside, he said.
Mr Bain also hopes any Tasmanians with a camera trap and a new-found desire to help local animals would spread the feeling around.
"It's nice to think that there's this sense of pride that a landholder might have in being a custodian [of native animals]," he said.
"And that it might be a little bit infectious."
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