Pond monitoring for heron with Arlo Smart animal detection

[gburgess]

hello i am interested to know more about the smart animal detection notifications. My use case is to monitor a pond and detect if a heron lands on the pond. I am thinking that the detection will also detect the fish as well as the heron and keep sending notifications. Is it configurable at all to only notify for birds / herons?

[TomMac]

The Smart detect for animals is not controlled by the user... the far end computer "sees" an object and from previous training decides what category to place the object.

Also be advised that the PIR device can only really detect to a max of 25 ft for people, usu less for smaller animals.

[jguerdat]

FWIW, I have a koi pond with 3 LARGE (almost 2 feet long) koi and have never had the camera triggered by the fish. I suppose one leaping out of the water could do it. Since the heron generally don't land in the pond but rather on the nearby ground and then walk in a camera should be able to detect them. How large the pond is as well as the various directions of approach may dictate multiple cameras. Notifications would likely be for "animal" or "motion" since there's no bird setting.

I've also used a "scarecrow" which is a battery-operated motion detection sprinkler with some success - my wife saw a heron get shot in the ass by the water. Haven't had one for years now but it's like this:

https://sunlandwatergardens.com/swg_products/pond-maintenance-motion-activated-scarecrow-pond-garden...

[Blacktip75]

I have two ultra's, so far they only triggered in 10% of cases where a heron lands and starts feeding on my fish. Problem might be the size of my Koi pond (6x3 meters and 3 meters round) with the camera being 2 meters away from the ponds. But I certainly don't recommend Arlo Ultras for this.

Oddly the front doorbell (arlo video doorbell) registers every cat and dog running by at up to 10 meters

[jguerdat]

I don't know what the IR signature of a heron is - the feathers may be a good block. Have you increased sensitivity in your modes and rules to see if that helps? ALso, the camera(s) likely would need to be reasonably close to the point of where the heron would land and/or enter the water. That could be hard to do if access is from all sides. In any event, I agree that the Ultra wouldn't be my first choice - I'd probably use a Pro or Pro 2.

As a side note, my pond is ~1800 gallons, roughly a triangle with sides of 12x20x25(-ish) feet. Due to the location of the pond against a fence, shed, etc., access is generally from the long side. I've strung clear fishing line at two levels (~18" and 30") across that stretch as well as wrapping around the sides where a heron could enter with no known visits. We know someone who tried the fishing line criss-crossed over the water surface who had a heron just step through the gaps to eat the fish. Trying to physically block access in a minimally visible way seems to work well. YMMV.

[Blacktip75]

I set the sensitivity to 100%, but the ultra fails to register cats or herons, even at 3meter / 10ft distance. Given the doorbell does work I’d agree the pro’s would likely give a better result with their lower resolution making processing easier. Other challenge might be the height of the camera at slightly above 2 meters. They work fine for people though, which is my prime concern