What’sThere?

New technology helps landowners know when a group of feral hogs, or sounder, is lurking around ranch resources, and remotely springs a trap to capture the gang.

By Lorie Woodward Cantu

Editor’s note: This is the second in a 2-part series on using technology to handle the issues ranchers and land-owners face. In the June issue, the first half of this series covered ranch security. In this issue, we take a look at how re-mote sensing technology can be applied to critter control.

Photo by Russell Graves, russellgraves.com

In the 21st century, technology is at home on the range. Today, thanks

to 2 new cellular applications, ranch families can secure their property or remotely trap feral hogs or other ani-mals as easily as making a cell phone call. This cutting-edge technology was developed by CelAccess, a Dallas-based company, and is sold under the brands of CellGate and Wireless Traps.

“Our goal was providing security in an insecure world,” says Noel Gouldin, president of CellGate and Wireless Traps

Reprints courtesy of The Cattleman magazine. 7-17-12

Reprints courtesy of The Cattleman magazine. 7-17-12

and co-founder of CelAccess. The com-pany first developed a sophisticated but easy-to-use cellular technology that protects the Port of Houston, airports, manufacturing facilities, schools and other places where it is imperative that people know who is coming and going. In 2010, a cellular camera was added to the suite, which allowed people to con-trol access and see who was on their property.

“Once you create proprietary tech-nology, the next step is figuring out how many ways it can be applied,” Gouldin says. “We asked ourselves, ‘Who else could benefit from this solu-tion?’ One of the answers was ranch-ers.”

Just as the owners of the CellGate systems keep finding new uses for the technology, so does the company. It adapted the technology to create Wire-less Traps, a system that allows users to remotely monitor and trigger trap gates. Initially, the system was designed to be used with corral-type hog traps utilized in the effort to manage Texas’ burgeon-ing feral hog population.

The trap is equipped with a motion detector, camera system and a remote-controlled lock. When the hogs enter the trap, it triggers the motion detector and camera, which begins taking pic-tures. The user is notified by email, text message or phone that the equipment has been activated. The user can then review the photographs and determine whether or not to close the trap gate. To close the trap, the user just enters the appropriate code into his cell phone or computer.

Cody Beaver, who works as a bank loan officer in Emory and runs a com-mercial hog trapping business as a sideline, has been operating 2 traps for almost 6 months. His goal was to make $2,000 by selling hogs in the first year. In the first 2 months of use, he caught enough hogs to generate $3,000.

He is considering purchasing 2 more units to expand his business.

“Originally, I purchased the equip-ment because I thought it would save me money in the long-run,” Beaver says. “With traditional traps, you have to drive out and check them every day. With this, I can monitor them from wherever I am, saving time and gas.” He uses a deer feeder outfitted with a timer to keep the traps baited.

Before using the Wireless Traps system, his biggest fear was the effect of spotty cellular signals, he says. He bought the cellular signal boosters as additional insurance, but, even though he set up one of his traps in an area designated as “poor service” on the provider’s map, he has yet to use the boosters.

“Obviously, cellular signals vary, but I’ve not had any trouble with recep-tion,” he says. Overall, his experience has been favorable, he says.

“My favorite part is the conve-nience,” Beaver says. “I do everything from viewing the pictures to setting off my trap using my cell phone. There’s no telling how many times I’ve acti-vated the trap while I’ve been having dinner at a restaurant.”

According to Beaver the technology is not only convenient, but easy to use. “I grew up in the ‘technology era,’ so using this system is second nature for me, but anybody who can talk on a cell phone and perform basic tasks on the Internet can use this system,” he says.

Beaver does not slam the gate ev-ery time he receives notification that something has entered the trap. Some-times he waits and watches several days because the number of hogs visit-ing the trap to feed at a particular time will continue to increase. By waiting, he can ensure that he gets an entire family group.

“One of my traps has been set up in the same place since I put it out there,” Beaver says. “Hogs are smart, but they haven’t become trap-shy. When I shut the gate I tend to get the whole bunch that runs together, so there aren’t left-over hogs that become trained to avoid the trap.”

Sometimes animals other than hogs will enter the trap. A traditional trap is non-selective. It catches what-ever animal triggers the release mecha-nism. By using the photos, Beaver can be selective, closing the trap when it contains only hogs.

Pick and chooseAccording to Adam Henry, an ur-

ban biologist with USDA’s Wildlife Services in the Metroplex, the system’s selectivity is one of its biggest benefits. He and his fellow trappers have been

testing a unit near Grand Prairie. With the travel corridors offered by the Trin-ity River bottom and greenbelts, the Metroplex is home to a growing popu-lation of feral hogs that have damaged urban landscapes, public areas such as the Trinity River Audubon Center, and even the City of Dallas water treatment facilities.

“Trapping wildlife in urban areas offers numerous challenges,” he says. “While the residents want coyotes and feral hogs removed, they are not patient or forgiving if you accidentally catch their pets.” Having the ability to con-firm what is in the trap offers is a big plus, he says.

In addition, remote monitoring and control helps make scheduling person-nel easier, Henry says. With traditional traps, personnel had to check them on a regular schedule, never knowing whether or not they would find some-thing when they arrived. With remote monitoring and control, personnel can be dispatched to a specific trap only when it has been triggered.

“If I shut the gate, I know I have an animal in the trap,” Henry says. “If I shut the gate, I know exactly where I’m going the next day. It takes the guesswork out of trapping.” For the technology to reach its full potential, traps for species like coyotes will have to be developed that can accommodate the technology, he says.

More than just a hog trapOther users, though, have already

adapted the original Wireless Trap sys-tem to meet their specific needs. John Harwood, owner of Circle H Ranch near Leakey, was one of the first to use the technology to trap animals other than hogs. The Circle H Ranch is an exotic hoofstock breeding operation that handles everything from red deer and wildebeest to fringe-eared oryx and Transcaspian urials.

The ranch has feed pens and han-dling facilities scattered throughout the ranch as well as mobile traps. Different species of animals come and go to the feed throughout the day. Previously, ranch employees had to stake out the feed pens and trap sites by sitting in nearby deer blinds. They would wait until the appropriate animals entered

Reprints courtesy of The Cattleman magazine. 7-17-12

the pens and then manually close the gate trapping the animals inside. Now, using multiple Wireless Trap systems that have been modified to Harwood’s specifications, the staff monitors the pens using their cell phones and closes the gates when the appropriate animals are inside.

“Now, we can do other things and still trap animals,” Harwood says. “It makes us more efficient, and our em-ployees don’t feel like they’re being punished by having to spend hour after hour sitting in a blind.”

The system’s ability to record and store information has also been help-ful, too, he says. Harwood can review the time- and date-stamped photo-graphs and ascertain the pattern of the animals’ movements.

“Animals are creatures of habit,” he says. “I can look at the photographs taken over a period of time and get a clear idea of when and where certain animals are.” When it comes time to trap representatives of certain species, he knows in advance when he needs to be close to his cell phone and com-puter.

Even with all of the technological advances, the system is not perfect, he says. For instance, on the Circle H, the pens are bigger than hog traps; there-fore, the cameras do not cover the en-tire pen, leaving some areas “invisible” to the person monitoring, Harwood says. In addition, the photographs are not available in real time, meaning there is a brief interval between the time a photo is taken and when it is accessible to the user. As a result, it is possible for additional animals to en-ter the pens or some of the animals to leave the pens before the gate closes, he says. The system is also susceptible to the vagaries of cellular communica-tions, which are beyond the control of the staff at Wireless Traps, he says.

“The system has some slight limita-tions, but not enough for us to forego the technology,” Harwood says. “Over-all, it works very well for us. Of course, every ranch is different and has differ-ent needs, so the key is customizing a system that works for your particular operation.”

A cowboy’s new partnerA ranch in the remote heart of the

South Texas brush country is using a modified Wireless Trap system to help catch wild remnant cattle, says Kris-tie West, who after using the CellGate system became a sales representative for the company. Because of the opera-tion’s scale, the cattle are not handled frequently, and when the pastures are cleared, some of the wildest cattle hide and avoid penning, she says.

“The ranch owners have installed motion sensor-triggered cameras at a watering site,” Kristie says. “When those high-headed cows and their calves come in to drink, they trigger the system, which sends an email with a photo to the ranch manager so he can identify the animals in the trap. If they’re the right cattle, he makes a phone call and shuts the gate behind them.” Within 2 hours after the equip-ment was installed, the ranch staff trapped a group of cattle that the cow-boys had been after for 3 months, she says.

After using the system for several months, the ranch manager, who char-acterized the system as a cowboy’s new partner in animal management, told Kristie the ranch staff had identified a host of uses. These include catching bulls for age sourcing, increasing the load out percentage from 85 percent to 100 percent in a timely manner, as-sisting in treatment of sick or injured animals, providing 24/7 “camera-catch” abilities, and accruing a huge cost sav-ings for labor, gas, truck and helicopter expenses.

According to Gouldin, the uses for Wireless Trap technology are not limited to trapping. The Winona FFA chapter has combined features of the Wireless Trap system with features of the CellGate system to create a mobile feeder that can be monitored and dis-pense feed remotely. Ranchers can also establish a schedule, enter it on the company’s website and have feed dis-pensed at predetermined times.

“These students took a look at ranching, identified a need and came up with solution that can save labor, in-crease efficiency and eliminate waste,” Gouldin says. “In the process, they showcased the beauty of our technol-ogy. It’s flexible enough to meet the ever-changing needs of agriculture, and its uses are limited only by the imagi-nation.” ■