It's the Weekend!

Do deer yawn? Once again, you'll have to click to enlarge the photo to see the deer's mouth, but 'yawning' is all I can come up with to explain this one

Here's a close-up of Ms. Hopper, who has survived another week, despite having a new enemy in the woods -- Luggage (my cat) -- who goes with me when I check the trail cams and has suddenly taken to chasing Ms. Hopper. I'm working hard to break that habit.

Hopper's in the background of this one too, angrily watching a deer eat the corn I left for her. I thought this was a secret feeding spot that only Hopper and I knew about, but the word's out.

This video shows a deer coming in for an extreme close-up.

Creepy 'Possums & Toothy Raccoons

Opossums kinda give me the willies when I walk up on them in the woods, but you almost have to feel sorry for them...as I'm not sure there is a less cuddly creature in the forest.

I don't know what has these raccoons so upset, but click on the pic to enlarge, and look at their mouths. Both are baring some mean looking teeth!

In other news, a correction from yesterday's post. My good friend "Mr. Walleye" reminded me that my claim of blazing the path with only hand tools is not completely truthful, and he's right. He and his chain saw have been invaluable in cutting away the dead trees that occasionally fall across the path, including a couple that fell only part way, making a dangerous spot to walk under. Let me publicly thank him, and while I'm at it, I'll also thank him for giving me the opportunity to learn how to fall into a lawn cart without breaking my neck. A big thanks too for throwing a half-dozen of my Erie Deeries into the lake so I could buy some new ones. I also appreciate his patience as he repeatedly taught me how to break into my '88 Dakota.

Tomorrow we'll check on Ms. Hopper and see what other surprises the cameras may provide.

High Point on the Path

I have an ongoing winters-only project that started last year. I've been working on opening a walking path through the woods, which when finished will be roughly a mile long loop that will include the lowest part of the property (the creek) and the highest part (top of the ridge). I call it my Path of Least Resistance as I'm using no power tools to create it, just snips, a lopper and a rake, and simply letting the woods and weeds tell me which way to go next, 100' at a time.

In any case, I put a camera on top of the hill a couple of days ago, but so far the pictures have been disappointing. I lost a lot of pics because I forgot to take a compass with me when I set up the camera - and ended up with it pointing directly into the sunrise. More pics were worthless due to the 9 degree night we had - the camera lens frosted up, and while the cam took lots of pics, all you could see was shadows behind the glaze. I still think this spot has potential for some great photos, but don't have a whole lot to share with you right now. The first one would have been pretty cool if it weren't for the remnants of the frost.

This buck appears to be out of breath from climbing the hill. It does the same thing to me.

Finally, some mornings there is a brief window when the sky is bright enough that the cam's flash does not go off, while the immediate area in the woods is still dark. The result is a silhouette of the subject.

The First 10 Seconds of This Video...

...are all you need to watch to see what happened after I raised the height of the bird feeder.


Another camera caught a couple of nice photos of some turkeys. Ms. Hopper isn't one of them.



On deck for tomorrow: From the Path of Least Resistance.

That Thing I Hung in a Tree - I Called it a Bird Feeder...

...but apparently it has another name ;]

Weekend Review

Just a few odds and ends from the weekend. First up, I've been averaging around 50 pictures a day of raccoons, but this is one of the first times a cam has caught one standing upright like a prairie dog.


Next - one deer gets a drink of water while another looks on.


The peaceful scene is interrupted. Something spooks the deer, and the camera catches the action!


Snow arrived about 8:30 pm Saturday night.


By Sunday morning, the ground was covered.


Coming up tomorrow: One of the cams catches a thief at the bird feeder. By the way, I found and fed Ms. Hopper Sunday afternoon. Hadn't seen her for a couple of day, but she's doing fine.

Sure is nice to have 4 cameras again. I've had lots of pictures and videos to view every day for the last couple of weeks. Thanks again, Moultrie!

Update on the Shed: 2nd Week of February

3 different buck pictures yesterday gave me a good look at where the process of rack shedding is right now. This buck with one of the better racks still carries his intact...


...while another buck shows that he's already shed and healed...


...and yet a third one appears to have shed his headgear within the last 24 hours.

Be back Monday - have a great weekend.

I'm Posting These Videos...

...even though I'm not 100% sure of what animals are in them. In the first, there is a rabbit in the lower left quadrant of the video that I think probably caused the camera to start shooting. What makes the video so interesting, though, are the creatures that fly across the screen at least three times. I can only guess that they are Red Bats. (An ODNR article says that Red Bats hibernate only during the coldest spells of winter, and it WAS almost 60 degrees the other day.)


You will need to be patient with the 2nd video. Focus your attention just to the right of the small pine tree that is moving from the wind. You should see a pair of eyes emerge after about 15 seconds, and a few seconds later, a small critter running up the log toward the camera. A field mouse perhaps?


After repeated freeze-framing, I'm still not CERTAIN what I see in either video, but I'm going with bats and a mouse. I welcome your thoughts...

24 Hours in the Woods

12:13PM - A might wind blows through the woods! (Alternate theory: The camera snapped a picture while I was adjusting it's new spot on the ground.)



12:35PM - Two deer arrive to survey the wind damage.


2:55PM - Another camera catches a large bird in flight. (You might want to enlarge this one for a better look.)


5:40PM - Certainly no need to enlarge this one!


4:40AM - A raccoon handles the 3rd shift cleanup. An opossum followed about 15 minutes later, but was too close to the camera and was whited out by the flash.


7:14AM - Cardinals are the early arrivers, greeting the day's sunrise.


11:38AM - The 24 hours ends with a visit from a squirrel.

In Celebration of 2000 Hits on this Blog...

...I'm revisiting a theme I used the first week I started the blog - Deer and Turkey in the same photo.



(I realize many web pages get 2000 hits an HOUR, but when I first posted a trail cam photo as a way to try to learn to blog, I never imagined that I would enjoy blogging so much and that people would visit it over 2000 times. Thank you!)

Turkeys and Crows

I know that in general turkeys do not like crows, but I'll have to read up on why they don't get along. In this specific case, however, I can assure you that Ms. Hopper is not crazy about this particular crow. Enlarge the crow's picture and look at it's beak.


Ms. Hopper showed up at the same spot a couple of hours later, and upset because the crow had beaten her to the corn, decided to moon the camera.

AND.......ACTION!

This buck appears to be frozen at first, waiting for his cue that the camera is rolling and it is time to start the scene.

In the second scene, our hero must climb a short but steep hill. At one point, his back foot slips out from under him, but this is Nature, not Hollywood, so there is no reshooting the scene.

Videos for the Weekend

I've noticed that the number of 'hits' this blog receives falls way off on the weekends, so I've decided to stop posting on Sundays. (I suspect some of you check my blog using your high-speed connection at work.) In any case, here are three videos from yesterday. I plan to move all 4 cameras to new locations next week; hopefully I will pick some productive spots.





Speaking of 'hits', this blog will hit the 2000 page impressions milestone any day now. Happy Valentines Day - and thank you for your continued interest in my postings!

My Smallest 'Catch' Ever

This is the first time one of my trail cams has snapped a photo of a field mouse. I didn't realize the D-40s were that sensitive!


In other news, the small flock of turkeys returned yesterday for the first time since Christmas. I can't tell yet if Ms. Hopper has rejoined the group.

Rooting like a Hog

These pictures aren't that great nor interesting, but they do show something I'd never seen before - deer using their noses to dig around for food. It makes sense - I'm sure acorns and other nuts (and in this case shelled corn) get covered by leaves.

Keeping Tabs on the Shedders

I've held these for a couple of days while posting the 'Log' series. First up, a long-tined buck that has yet to shed.



Next, what I'm guessing is a young buck that has already completed his shedding for the year.


And finally, a couple in which the glass is either half empty or half full.





In other news, found and fed Ms. Hopper yesterday. She was in the pines avoiding the rain and appears to be doing fine.

Scenes From a Log, Part 2

I mentioned yesterday that I approach trail 'camming like lake fishing. Step 1 is to locate edges or break lines...transition zones. In these pictures, the camera is just inside the pines next to an open grassy area.

Step 2 for fishing is to try to locate structure on the break line - something 'different' like a downed tree or a rock pile, that will attract fish. The structure in these pics are a couple of logs, one which is hollow.

So when fishing, you find your edge, find your structure, and toss out your bait. Same thing here - a hand full of shelled corn, another of bird seed mix - and you just wait to see what you 'catch' with the camera.

And just like you throw back a fish that is too small to eat or the wrong species, I end up throwing back (deleting) 9 out of 10 pictures the camera snaps...


But also, just like fishing, half the fun is in the pursuit, and a few keepers a day makes it all worthwhile!

Scenes From a Log, Part 1

I had over 200 pictures to go through in two days from this camera. Today and tomorrow I will post some of my favorites.

(Let's have a vote: Is it time for me to stop reminding viewers to click on any photo to enlarge it?)


In Part 2, I'll explain how trail cam placement is a lot like fishing in a lake.

Half the Basket is Gone

You will need to enlarge the first photo to understand the title of today's entry. I spent 90 minutes looking for it yesterday, but with no luck. The second photo is included to show you how differently photos can appear from the very same spot, depending on whether it's daytime or night.