r/whatisthisthing • u/faithandthefishes • 1d ago

Solved! What are these plastic boxes that my neighbor mounted on our shared fence?

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557 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

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u/brock_lee Pretty good at finding stuff 1d ago

This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.

Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.

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u/SignificantDrawer374 1d ago

Looks like a trail camera. It takes a photo or records video when it detects movement. Seeing how it's facing the fence itself maybe the're trying to capture some bird photos.

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u/DanGTG 1d ago

Note that the camera is pointed to the left, down the fence row.

You are looking that the side and back, so presumably your privacy is intact.

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u/kibufox 1d ago edited 1d ago

Trail cam. Neighbor probably has a coon problem and is trying to get photos of it crossing the fence. Depending on the type of trail cam, they're either taking a series of still photos in black and white, or short video. They're motion activated, so if you were to toss a tennis ball up in front of it (you're looking at the back of it fyi) it'd take a short video or series of photos of that ball flying past. Trail cams have a kind of night vision ability, hence why they're in black and white for the most part (some CAN do color, but those are very expensive), and a very very limited field of view. I mean, anything that's more than 20 feet or so from it, the camera won't activate. To give you an idea of the resolution, here's a fun trail cam video of a cheeky, curious fox.

https://youtu.be/cu6nin9vCII?si=9QO9BNFX9G9Q0s7I

I'd ask the neighbor what animal they're after. Who knows you might find it fun and interesting to put a couple cams up yourself.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Muddy-Outdoors-Muddy-Pro-Cam-16-Trail-Camera/5301499408?gQT=1 I think this is the cam your neighbor has up.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 1d ago

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u/Hour-Butterscotch764 1d ago

Trail camera / game camera.

Intended usage is to capture photos / video of wildlife. They usually record only when movement is detected.

This one is aimed to the left of the angle you've photographed.

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u/Miami_Mice2087 1d ago

Trail cam. Prolly motion-activated. Someone is bird-watching. Is it pointing at feeders?

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/faithandthefishes 1d ago edited 1d ago

My title describes the thing. On the other side it looks like there may be two separate circles, but I was not able to get a photo. Just want to make sure they’re not 360 degree cameras or anything strange.

Edit: Solved! Thanks folks

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u/FaithlessnessFew3203 1d ago

Likely to snap a shot of anything crossing the fence.

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