People in gorilla costumes photobombed a police camera meant to track a cougar

Trail cameras, also known as remote camera traps, are like candid cameras for animals. Scientists and other curious people place the motion-activated devices in outdoor areas to know what wildlife lives where, how many animals there are, how they behave and what they eat.

When the police department in Gardner, Kansas, recently deployed trail cameras in a park, it gathered that sort of information – and so much more. Along with photos of a coyote, a skunk and a raccoon, they snapped some humans hilariously costumed as gorillas, some sort of long-locked monster and a cat in a bow tie.

The police, bless their hearts, were nothing but amused.

“We would like to sincerely thank the persons responsible as it made our day when we pulled up what we expected to be hundreds of pictures of coyotes, foxes and raccoons,” the department wrote on Facebook, where it posted some of the photos on Monday. “Thank you to the citizens who noticed the cameras. Your effort and sense of humor are greatly appreciated.”

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One thing that was missing from the photo collection: a cougar. The department had placed the two trail cameras at Celebration Park after receiving reports of a mountain lion in the area. None was detected, police said. The pranksters, too, have remained elusive, the Associated Press reported.