Ants in Your Trail Cam? How To Keep Ants Out of Your Trail Cams

With food plot planting in full swing, it means one thing to us whitetail freaks. #Velvetfest is right around the corner and trail cams will soon be deployed in full force for summer velvet bucks! With growing velvet comes the joys of summer and unfortunately the occasional trail cam woes which sometimes may include ant infestation.

Even with most cameras being waterproof, ants still somehow find a way in. They may chew through the cameras seals, ports, or enter through the penetrations for the audio input. At times, these little pests can be a pain and cause serious issues to your cams by chewing rubber seals, wiring connections, laying eggs inside the cam’s housing, and the dreaded moisture ingress.

Below are a few tips from the Exodus team to keep your cams ant free this summer

1. Insect repellant

One great tip we can pass on is the use of granular insect and ant repellant. Simply place a pinch inside your trail cams housing, specifically where it will not cause damage to the camera or interfere with the unit’s performance, particularly the SD card slot, external power jack, or any other penetration of the cameras shell. It’s also a good idea to place some near the tree base or mount if the site has had issues in prior years. If you choose to use a spray such as permethrin DO NOT SPRAY IT DIRECTLY ON THE CAMERA, soak a couple cotton balls and then tape them to the inside/outside of your camera.

2. Close off any audio openings 

Trail camera videos have been the new craze of recent years and for good reason! Who’s against the added information they provide not to mention the sheer enjoyment of viewing them especially when coupled with great audio! The downside to that exciting audio is the penetration in most cams that allow the vocalizations to be recorded. Those holes are easy money for ants and other insects to penetrate your camera.  For folks using cams on non-video sets or even video sets without audio, it may be a good idea to close off any opens that allow audio recording, in conjunction with an above repellant. Simply use a piece of tape or silicon product that can be removed at a later date if desired. 

3. Freeze The Camera

If you find your camera full of ants it’s best to  immediately shake them off, remove the batteries and sd card, place the camera in a zip-loc bag and then place it in the freezer for 24 hours (be sure the cam is free of any moisture before doing so and rated for freezing temps). The freezing temps will kill ants and laid eggs.

We hope you all are as excited about the upcoming trail camera season as we are! Giant velvet bucks, BBQ’s, and ant free trail cams is what summer is made of. We hope you enjoy each!

Photos via Whitetail Habitat Solutions