I am planning a wildlife documentary to be shot next month. I need to record sound of of the predator on kill and record the sound of bones crunching and flies flying away from the carcass when the predator starts feeding. Will it be better to place an lavalier near the carcass (below?) and connect it to a tascam DR 100. Another option is to use a MKH 416 with rycote zeppelin placed a few feet away near the carcass and take the wire to my SD 702T. I hope the lavalier or the MKH 416 is not chewed. Thinking if I need to buy a cheaper lavalier. Your suggestions would be welcome.

So no need to catch - and wire for sound - the carcass (or soon to be carcass) before the predator does?

Andrew

I would practice recording flies buzzing around - they're not that loud, and you might do well to add the fly buzzing as a sound effect. It's pretty easy to get a bunch of flies together, it's actually not that easy to get a good sound recording of them (at least that's been my experience).

Are you sure you want to approach, microphone in hand, a large predator that has just killed something they might wish to defend? For higher frequency sounds you might try a simple parabolic microphone, for lower frequency sounds you might need to be close with a shotgun.

How friendly are these cats towards people?

Maybe a cheap wireless lapel. Can be had for around £20.

Might be better to contact a zoo .. at least you could get an idea what they sound like and you could do it in Foley. Record a big local hungry dog at dinner or a horse or cow.

Then there's ..

Freesound.org - sound search (http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=DOgs+eating&f=&s=num_downloads+desc&advanced=0)

Freesound.org - sound search (http://www.freesound.org/search/?q=Flies+buzzing&f=&s=avg_rating+desc&advanced=0)

Cheers.

Check with sounddogs.com
I got a lot of great sounds for my documentary from them and they're reasonably priced.
As for recording flies, I got good sound using my own Zoom H2 recorder. There are places they gather, if you're fortunate enough to come across such. Or you could put something that smells nice to them around the recorder and they'll hover. I think your best bet is to look for animal poop somewhere, cow pies, whatever. They're more interested in that than you so moving in close won't bother anyone. Have fun!

Was thinking that foley would be your best option.

But you could always do the BBC trick and create a wireless mic on a remote controlled toy, which has a outer covering made to disguise it as a rock or a very impressive dung sample.

Andrew

Have you considered a parabolic mike from near the camera position? This would certainly get you the basics. You could then (as the other posters have suggested) add the rest in post as FX or recorded live later.
I'm impressed at the nuance such setups can deliver in wildlife shoots.
Ken

Do try a parabolic. Knock up a prototype and take it to a zoo and see if you can get what you can. Keep it real. Foley is a great backup, but keeping it real is definitely the way to go.

G

I don't put much hope in parabolic. They are narrow-band at best and are unlikely to produce anything realistic sounding. Although an upside is that they can also be used as a defensive protection against ferocious beasts.

My perception is that the overwhelming majority of wildlife footage is shot MOS and what you hear is Foley by artists who specialize in wildlife.

Yep -1 for the para dish .. and after watching some of the big snarling cats at Taronga Park Zoo here, banging them over the head with a plastic dish wouldn't be my cup of tea.

And feature production budgets today don't allow for much trial and error in that dept.

Cheers.