# Snapshot Serengeti - My New Obsession **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 7, 2013, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572 "2013-08-07T10:04:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/1 "2013-08-07T10:04:11Z")
Is anyone else doing [Snapshot Serengeti](http://www.snapshotserengeti.org)? It’s a bunch of pictures from motion activated cameras set up all over the serengeti. They are asking for the public’s help to classify all the photos. They have a list of animals and identifying features and you try to classify as best you can, even if you aren’t sure they want your best guesses as that still helps them to classify the photos. There’s more info in the discussion section on how that helps them. There’s a lot of nothing photos but then you get some really good ones or some funny ones. Most of the time there are three photos and you can click play and they will play in sequence, like this [one](http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/subjects/ASG0000f2v). Sometimes you will get some really strange ones; like the elephant penis\* or [surprise baboon eyeball](http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/subjects/ASG000qr4y). They are in the last few days of an indiegogo campaign to keep it funded. So if you like it and want to keep it going the link to it is on the blog page. \*you have to find your own elephant penis. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/2 "2013-08-07T12:22:14Z")
This is so cool! I’ve made a contribution and will start classifying today. [sub]By the way, I’ve already found 2 elephant penis photos! They are hard to miss :D[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/3 "2013-08-07T12:29:30Z")
Pretty cool way to spend a day off sick, thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/4 "2013-08-07T12:31:09Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > This is so cool! I’ve made a contribution and will start classifying today. > [sub]By the way, I’ve already found 2 elephant penis photos! They are hard to miss :D[/sub] Yes, elephants seem to like to show off their junk, wildbeests like to show their butts and warthogs like to stand right up against the camera so all you see is a rough hide that looks a bit like the lunar landscape. Glad you liked it! ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/5 "2013-08-07T12:37:00Z")
By the way, be sure to make an account (it’s free) so then you can favorite the photos you like and find them again. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/6 "2013-08-08T18:52:08Z")
Bumping this because I really thought it would be Dopers cup of tea. [Here](http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/subjects/ASG0004jcv) is one of the iconic images. Granted you have to sort through a lot of Wildebeest and Zebra but these ones make it worth the effort. Not into cats? How about [elephants](http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/subjects/ASG0003ujh)? How can you resist a [baby elephant](http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/subjects/ASG000a8wu)? [Hippo](http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/subjects/ASG0004txs)? [Hyena and jackal](http://talk.snapshotserengeti.org/#/subjects/ASG0003utu)? There’s something for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/7 "2013-08-08T21:32:32Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > There’s something for everyone. Especially grass fans 😛 Seriously though, it’s quite addictive, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/8 "2013-08-08T23:52:03Z")
This is really cool, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/9 "2013-08-09T00:00:37Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Especially grass fans 😛 > > Seriously though, it’s quite addictive, isn’t it? Oh, yeah, the grass fans have it made. It is so addictive that when I do manage to go offline I have caught myself trying to classify things. I looked at my dog and tried to decide if she was a warthog or hyena (I love her but she is not what you’d call pretty). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/10 "2013-08-09T11:12:36Z")
Cool. I have sent the link to my mother. She has a motion-sensitive camera set up in her garden, trying to get pics of the badgers that dig up her lawn. So far just lots of cats, though, so she might appreciate some variety! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/11 "2013-08-09T18:42:49Z")
Dammit I need more zoom. Blobby-grey-quadriped-way-over-there isn’t an option ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/12 "2013-08-10T00:24:16Z")
Thank you for giving me this awesome new toy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/13 "2013-08-10T01:20:27Z")
I also am having a lovely time. Any time I come across a NOTantelope, it gets favourited. I classed one of my basenjis as an impala yesterday, and the other a Tommy. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2013, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/14 "2013-08-10T16:32:01Z")
I get ridiculously excited every time I get a giraffe. It goes like this: grassgrassgrasswildebeestgrassgrasswildebeestGIRAFFE!!! ---
**Author:** ![MyMack\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MyMack\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyMack_1)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/15 "2013-08-11T02:50:57Z")
Good lord how many wildebeests are there? Or have I just classified the same ones over and over again… I’ve gotten very sucked in. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/16 "2013-08-11T04:04:16Z")
Well, bang goes my productivity… ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2013, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/17 "2013-08-11T04:59:40Z")
[Party!](http://www.snapshotserengeti.org/subjects/standard/51a39695e18f49172b18d813_0.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/18 "2013-08-12T03:17:40Z")
Are you supposed to click " nothing here" if there is something there, but it is just impossible to identify? I had a close up of a quadruped that was some sort of antelope, but it was too small a segment to identify. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/19 "2013-08-12T16:54:43Z")
I’ve just been making my best guess. I think I’ve gotten pretty good at IDing antelopes by coat colour alone… now how can I include this skill on my resume? I’ve found the really close, tan antelopes mostly seem to be [eland](https://www.google.com/search?q=eland&rlz=1C1CHVN_enUS508US509&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=MBMJUo6WOMKmyQGlvoHgDw&biw=1680&bih=935&sei=MhMJUoXuGqrwyAH_noGYCw). ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572/20 "2013-08-12T19:01:03Z")
I think they still want best guesses. Sometimes I do “nothing there” if all I see is a vague outline of something and I can’t really make out color or size. However sometimes I just throw my hands up and click on “discuss” and go see what people are discussing on the boards so I don’t have to decide. As I understand how this works, you are not the only one identifying a picture so if you are really wrong and everyone else is right the computer will go with everyone else’s identification. If something is so vague that everyone gives a different answer it just keeps showing it to more people to get more of a consensus. Maybe eventually they throw it in a “too vague” pile and stop trying to identify it if they can’t get enough agreement but I don’t know. The gist of it is, don’t fret too much because you won’t ruin it if you’re wrong. I have also taken to google for a little extra help, different photo angles and pictures of young, young wildebeests and buffalo threw me off a couple times because their horns are different. I also found some stuff in the discussion boards that may be of help. [Animal butts](http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbygott/9355446889/) [Size comparisons](http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbygott/9349330114/in/photostream/) [Some African mammal photos](http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbygott/sets/72157629111250756/) Then click on that guys name and check out all his other photo sets, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snapshot-serengeti-my-new-obsession/665572.md?page=2)