Snapshot Wisconsin January 2022
What do funny cat videos, fail videos on Facebook and memes all have in common? Well, they make us laugh. This edition of the Snapshot Wisconsin newsletter is themed around the intersection of humor and science.
Humor is a powerful glue that connects us through a mutual appreciation for a joke or comical situation – and what better way for us to connect deeper with our Snapshot community than through humor over a shared appreciation for animals.
The Snapshot team also jumped on the bandwagon and asked Zooniverse volunteers to caption a few of the funny photos. Some of the team’s favorite captions are shared, and you can find out how to add your own captions to those submitted by fellow Snapshot volunteers.
Lastly, the team finished assembling the time capsule (discussed in the previous newsletter) with short stories and photos from Snapshot Wisconsin volunteers and it will sit for a few years until it is time to open it. Learn more about what's included in the capsule in the last article.
This article explains how Snapshot harnesses the power of photos to connect people to wildlife in Wisconsin.
Volunteers have been captioning funny trail camera photos on Zooniverse’s Talk Board. The Snapshot team shares some of their favorite captions.
The Snapshot Wisconsin Time Capsule (introduced in the previous newsletter) has been completed and stored. Read about what the team decided to include and when it might be opened.
The Power of Humorous Photos
Photos are powerful and can evoke a variety of emotions or bring us back to a moment in time. Photos also have the power to connect us to others.
It is thanks to the power of photos that Snapshot Wisconsin exists. Snapshot harnesses this power to connect people from across the world and share in a mutual joy of the wildlife around us. What better way to grow closer with our volunteer community than to enjoy some of the funny photos we’ve collected over the years together?
When viewing these photos, we encourage you to laugh, make up your own stories behind the image and share the fun with those around you.
Putting The "Life" In "Wildlife"
Photos are more than just a photo - they capture the essence of the people and creatures in them. Good photos can even tell a story about the featured places, people or animals. Take this photo of the raccoon (above), walking through the woods. The way the raccoon is walking reminded the Snapshot team of someone embarking on a journey. We imagine the raccoon is feeling the same things we would: Glee, excitement, eagerness and maybe even a bit of nervousness.
Our minds subconsciously take the photo and create a life for this raccoon, and as a result, we feel a deeper connection to this raccoon. We add a “life” to the “wildlife” in these photos, especially when the photos evoke humor.
Assigning human traits and backstories to animals is called anthropomorphism. Anthropomorphisms make that animal more than just another raccoon in the woods – it becomes a raccoon we feel a small bond to.
Normally, anthropomorphisms are a slippery slope that researchers avoid, because the traits and characteristics they assign are only assumptions based on little evidence. We don’t truly know if the animal has that trait, nor do we know if the trait means the same thing for the animal as it would for a human. Researchers are wary of anthropomorphisms because they can potentially introduce bias into a study.
However, storytellers often use the bonding effect of anthropomorphisms to their advantage. Many children's stories include anthropomorphized animals to bond the readers to the characters and hold the interest of the reader. Some storytellers even use preexisting anthropomorphisms to automatically add certain traits to their characters. For example, we might assume that a fox businessman is especially sly. In some cases, we anthropomorphize animals simply to entertain ourselves because it's fun to think of animals in that way.
We encourage you to give it a try by letting your imagination run wild for a bit. What kind of adventure do you think the raccoon in the photo is going on?
Natural Abilities On Display
Photos can do more than just tell stories. They can showcase the natural abilities and different morphologies of the species around us. Otters love to slide down hills on their stomachs. Beavers can dismantle a tree in just a few hours, and flying squirrels can glide down from the canopy. These abilities are unique to the species around us and capture our interest (when we get the chance to observe them).
Since Snapshot trail cameras take photos 24/7, we are able to capture amazing images of different natural abilities. For instance, the Snapshot team highlighted some examples of wildlife doing yoga poses in an article on Zooniverse in 2020. These yoga-doing animals not only bring a smirk to our faces, but we get to see abilities like the flexibility of the bobcat (above) as it stretches posing in a way that mimics the cat-cow pose in yoga.
Snapshot images capture these creatures in their natural state, something that few projects can do. These animals aren’t showing off, nor are they reacting to the presence of humans nearby. They are just living their lives naturally, and that’s pretty cool to capture on camera.
Nostalgia At Work
Photos can also bring us back to fond moments in our own lives and make us feel nostalgic. We feel a moment of fondness when nostalgia hits, and we get drawn back into our own personal memories when we see others experience a similar situation.
For example, there is a special warmth and safety we feel when we get a hug, especially when it is from someone who cares for you. Look at the black bear cub (above), running into its mother’s arms for a literal “bear hug” and imagine the comforting feeling it must experience.
The right photo can bring on intense emotional reactions, and that power is what makes our citizen science program special. Many of our volunteers get involved because they care about wildlife and want to see them more often. Snapshot photos help fulfill that desire and can sometimes add in warm emotions to top it off.
Rare Moments Caught On Camera
Photos also have the power to bond people together. Whenever the Snapshot team finds a rare photo, everyone gathers around and talks about it for days. As you can imagine, with over 60 million photos collected to date, the team has seen its share of rare events caught on camera.
A great example is the squirrel (above), jumping at all the perfect times. It appears to be “levitating” across the snow, as you look from one photo to the next. What is most surprising is that the squirrel managed to be in the air for all three of the photos. Usually, when a “flying” animal is seen, there is only a single photo in the air, yet this squirrel pulled off three perfectly timed jumps.
Another rare moment that makes the Snapshot team smile is the deer, who took a tumble on some ice (below). The team couldn’t agree if the doe sprawled out on the ice is the funniest part of the photo or if it is the doe casually watching from the sidelines. What do you think?
Funny Photos Create Special Moments
Each of these rare photos brought the team together for a shared special moment, and that experience is something we want for our volunteers as well.
Snapshot photos are a powerful glue that can strengthen bonds. Feel free to share these photos, as well as the funny photos on Zooniverse’s Talk Board (discussed next), with someone who would appreciate a good laugh in their day.
Additionally, we encourage you to make up your own stories and backgrounds behind the other funny photos found below and in the rest of this newsletter.
Caption Snapshot Photos!
Jessica Knackert, one of the newest Snapshot team members, recently added a new discussion called "Funny Photo Captions" to the Zooniverse Talk Board. This discussion contains funny trail camera photos for volunteers to add their own captions. Take a look as Zooniverse volunteers have already contributed several entertaining captions.
For those who don’t know, Zooniverse is a platform that is used by citizen science projects to expand their reach to a wider community of volunteers. Snapshot Wisconsin uses Zooniverse to draw a consensus classification about trail camera photos, while also involving people from all over the world.
Zooniverse’s Talk Board feature allows volunteers to share photos, get second opinions and meet fellow volunteers. The talk board is also one of the easiest ways for volunteers to connect with the larger volunteer community.
Within the new talk board, volunteers can add photos to four categories that the Snapshot program frequently sees: Animal Selfies, Comical Situations, Interactions and Animal Yoga.
Knackert is excited to provide another space for volunteers to connect.
“Our volunteers were already captioning photos themselves, but they didn’t have a central place for it. I think this board is a great place for volunteers to come and enjoy the humor of their fellow volunteers,” said Knackert.
Volunteers were eager to use this new talk board adding captions to photos within its first day of being live.
To keep the fun going, Knackert has added a new batch of photos for people to caption. Plus, volunteers can make their own posts on the talk board with photos they find. There is plenty of fun to be had.
Captions can be funny, silly or clever. However, the team asks that all photos adhere to community standards. Moderators and staff will remove posts that contain spam or language that violates these standards. To meet standards, all posts must be appropriate for all ages and be respectful of the other volunteers who use the talk board. Also, please do not expose personal information of other users, including names or addresses, without their permission.
Now, let’s get to the fun part – seeing some of the captions that volunteers have already posted. Please note that we couldn’t include captions in their entirety here; visit the talk board to read the full caption. The team appreciates submitted captions and the smiles they brought.
Animal Selfies
The team knew they wanted to include Animal Selfies as one of the categories of funny photos. Snapshot trail cameras are designed to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible, but animals inevitably get curious. That curiosity leads them to approach the camera and accidentally take a selfie. The team has used several of these selfies in the program newsletter over the years, but new ones come in regularly.
The photo above was posted in the Animal Selfies sub-thread on Zooniverse, and the team chose three captions that made them laugh. We hope you enjoy these volunteer-made captions and feel inspired to add your own to the Animal Selfie post on the talk board.
Caption from Goldfinch33:
"So...you've seen this property, we've flown around it, you're happy with the tree heights...can we close this deal?
~said The Bluebird of Avian Real Estate
Caption from bzeise:
I'm blue, da ba dee da ba di WHOAH! What was that?
Caption from sbreich:
Are you looking at me? ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME??
Comical Situations
The second category within the funny photos talk board covers the silly activities we see animals doing in photos. Whether it is slipping on ice or hanging upside down from a branch, these photos capture some entertaining moments that make us laugh. The “levitating” animal photos from the previous article also belong in this category.
The photo of a raccoon barely clinging to a tree (above) was added to the Comical Situations sub-thread and generated some entertaining captions. Here are a few captions submitted by volunteers. If you can think of more captions, don’t forget to add them!
Caption from momsabina:
But he double-dared me....
Caption from charleysangel:
Help! Now what?
Caption from AndyC3339:
Alex Honnold, [a famous rock climber,] made it look so easy!
Interactions
If you look at which photos are shared the most on Zooniverse’s Talk Board, fun interactions are always high on the list. Interactions can be between two members of the same species, or they can be interactions between different species. In fact, these photos are so commonly shared that there is a searchable tag (multi_species) that volunteers can use to see photos of multi-species interactions.
The photo of a mother black bear and her cub, playing in the grass was added to the Interactions sub-threaad. Of the three captions, which one is your favorite?
Caption from Megeth:
When I say "roll over" you need to roll. Ready? Roll!
Caption from Swamp-eye:
Mama down, Papa help me up
Caption from charleysangel:
How many paws am I holding up? Wrong
Yoga Poses
The last category of funny Snapshot photos is Yoga Poses. Cat Pose, Downward Dog Pose, Crow Pose, Cobra Pose and Camel Pose are all named after animals, so it shouldn’t be surprising that we captured some animals stretching in yoga poses.
This type of photo was already covered a year and a half ago on Zooniverse, but there wasn’t an opportunity to caption these photos. The team wanted to bring these photos back for captioning fun. Don’t forget to add your own captions to the Yoga Pose post on the Zooniverse Talk Board.
Caption from Megeth:
"You put your right leg out and you shake it all about"
Caption from bzeise:
Am I doing this planking thing right?
Caption from Goldfinch33:
What?! I do this every morning when I wake up. My mentor told me "stretching exercises every morning without fail keeps joints supple." Do I move like I'm 9?
Knackert's Hope For The Talk Board
Knackert thanks everyone who added a caption already and encourages all Snapshot volunteers to join in the fun.
“My hope for this caption board is that it draws in a part of our volunteer community that has never checked out or even knows about Zooniverse. A lot of our volunteers host cameras and only ever classify their own photos. They only get to see the cool photos that they find. I’d love to see those existing volunteers head over to Zooniverse and join in on the conversations happening there.”
If you want to add captions to any of the photos, head over to the Zooniverse Talk Boards and check them out here.
The Time Capsule Is Complete!
In the last edition of this newsletter, the Snapshot team introduced a time capsule that was being assembled and have since finished its assembly and stored it for the years to come.
The team included a bunch of program materials in the capsule, such as:
• Snapshot volunteer starter packet
• Field Guide for classifying species
• Anniversary cards for volunteers who host cameras
• And, of course, the current version of our trail camera!
However, the most important components of this capsule are those that come from the people who make this program a success: our volunteers and staff. Volunteers shared their favorite photos and stories, and we were able to fit all of the submissions into the capsule. The Snapshot team also hand-wrote letters to future team members, detailing their challenges and successes over the years.
Seven years and over 60 million photos later, the Snapshot program has grown into a thriving statewide program. A big ‘thank you’ goes out to our volunteers who helped us grow. The success of the program is only possible due to the many wonderful Snapshot volunteers who kept checking their cameras and classifying photos.
As Snapshot’s project coordinator Christine Anhalt-Depies wrote in her letter: “Regardless of the future state of the project, it is my hope that people remain at the center. Through partnership and hard work, we can leave a lasting, positive impact on this piece of land we call our home.”
Thank you and we look forward to sharing the excitement around the opening of the time capsule in the coming years!