Winter Scouting

 

This past week I’ve been out “Beating the Brush” looking for fisher tracks in the snow, deer sheds and new places to set camera traps. I finally located a fisher track on a dusting of snow on the ice. That didn’t provide much opportunity to do any tracking. The most important find was a secluded beaver pond. There are no trails or roads to this location. I guess the only folks that might happenstance onto this spot is a hunter or forager.  It’s certainly remote and an ideal location to set a number of camera traps. There is one lodge with fresh beaver chews in the area. I set two camera traps for the winter. Scouting the area showed signs of moose, deer, coyotes, fisher and porcupine. I’m hoping bears & moose use the area. Time will tell.

Jim

Trail Camera Flashback

 

18 Year Flashback!

 Recently I stumbled across an old trail camera photo album.

Oh how trail camera technology has changed. My first experiences “Camera Trapping “started nearly two decades ago. Back then trail cameras used C or D batteries and film. Changing out the film cartridges was a challenge, especially when the slotted film edges didn’t catch on the thumb gear in the camera. The exiting part then (and now) was driving out on Saturday mornings to change the film cartridges ,then driving  straight to the local pharmacy (waiting an hour) to have the film processed through the expedited “ One Hour  Film Developing Service “  

Camera Trapping a bobcat and fisher were highlights back then. Roadkill beaver and deer were used as attractants. The moose, coyote and bear were also first captures.  Over the years trail camera technology and learning wildlife behavior has helped to make camera trapping a passion for me.

Jim

Winter Is Here !

 

Central Massachusetts received 2” of fluffy snow last Sunday night which made for ideal tracking conditions. I got in fifteen miles over four days looking for animal tracks. My hope was to cross a fisher track, follow it, looking for scent mounds and then set out a trail camera(s). I was rather surprised I didn’t find one. My efforts were in areas that I’ve seen fishers or my camera traps have caught them on video. This makes for a good winter project. I’ll keep you updated with my progress.

The cover picture is a bank beaver lodge with a cache of tree limbs in the water at the lodge opening. It will be interesting to see what wildlife visits this location over the winter. A beautiful bull moose is the first to stroll by.

Jim

Looking For New Areas !

 

It’s been a good week! I hiked back into the new area I shared with you last week. Two camera traps were set, one on the dam and the other on the east end of the pond. There is a steep hardwood ridge with a worn game trail coming down to the pond. Moose have been browsing along the trail. Hopefully a big bull uses it during the day.

I checked out another area with a outcrop of boulders sitting high up on a ridge. Lots of effort reach this area. From the bottom looking up there appeared to be some small openings in the rocks. I was thinking this would be an ideal spot for bobcats. When I reached the top there was a nice view but unfortunately the openings weren’t very deep and there was no animal sign to be found. Not even a porcupine.

The cover pic is the last buck crossing this particular beaver dam. Not a monster but certainly a nice pic.

Jim

What A Find !

 

I’ve been scouring topo maps looking for new areas to camera trap in Massachusetts. Don’t get me wrong, my current spots are working out well. I really enjoy bushwhacking looking for new terrain and camera trap possibilities. My research and efforts paid off! I identified two new locations that looked good on the map and would require a bit of effort to get to. The most promising spot turned out to be nothing more than a large vernal pool. That’s not quite what I was looking for. The second location appeared the least promising on the map and turned out to be a homerun. Actually I stood in amazement for a moment. A Beaver pond, 1-1/2 acres with a nice dam on it. A camera trappers dream! There are no trails or easy access to this location and there were plenty ticks. I’m looking forward to setting trail cameras in the spring.

Jim

 

Trail Camera activity continues to be slow. I have been bushwhacking searching for new bear dens while checking old den sites. None of the old dens had any bears. There is still a little time left. Years back, a sow with three yearlings used a fieldstone den late December. Fingers crossed!

I set out two moose camera trap sets this week (pictured above). Best case, I can check them in January, worst case, late winter. Both cameras have external battery packs. Lithium batteries were put in both the camera and battery pack. It will be interesting to see how they hold up throughout the winter

While bushwhacking this week, any tree cavity caught my attention. I do not have many Fishers captures on my trail cameras and this winters effort will be focused on tracking fishers, and if all goes well, identifying a fisher scent pole to setup a camera trap.

Pictured above, fisher track and scat I located late last winter.

Jim

Bear Activity Slow This Fall

 

Bear activity this fall has been very slow. This is the first time since camera trapping that NO bears triggered any of my trail cameras in the month of October.  Then finally, this week a bear triggered a camera crossing a beaver dam. There’s not fewer bears. I have started compiling my 2022 bear trail camera data and was surprised to see that more bears in 2022 had triggered trail cameras. So, where did all the bears go? They are following the food! Mast nut crop trees this year in the area I camera trap were non-existent. The drought this summer impacted the berries as well. The majority of my trail cameras are setup in wetlands surrounded by ridges of white and red oak trees. Last year there were so many acorns you would roll on them under foot. This year there were very few acorns. No doubt bears are travelling greater distances to locate food sources. .

Jim

Whitetail Deer Rut

 

https://youtu.be/F54oHg2kwkU

November is Whitetail Deer Rut time in Massachusetts. With a little bit of effort one can usually find a deer scrape. Set a trail camera watching the scrape and usually it’s not long before videoing deer activity. I’ve located a number of scrapes in central Massachusetts. I set one trail camera overseeing a scrape and the others in close proximity to scrapes, hoping to capture some respectable MA bucks. Now all I need is a respectable buck to show up during the day.

Jim

This Was A First !

 

This was a first for me, seeing a bear in a tree. . I wasn’t fast enough to take a pic before the yearling scurried down from the branches. The tree was along a hedge row about one hundred yards off the road. When the bear reached the ground it continued feeding with its Mon and another sibling, it was on a busy road so no opportunity top sit around and watch for very long. I was curious what type of tree it was so I returned early the next morning to check it out, it was a very large hickory tree loaded with nuts. What a find for the bears before they go into hibernation. If you’re hoping to see a bear follow the food.

Jim

Bobcat Walks Along Swollen Brook

 

The bobcat follows a swollen brook hunting. It’s raining and the water has raised considerably from just a few days ago. The pic is a video grab from a Browning trail camera that is mounted on a log, had the stream risen another few inches the trail camera would have been submerged. I need to be more mindful in the future

Jim

Casting Bear Tracks

 

It’s not  often I find a bear track in soft substrate. This week while hiking looking for tracks and scat I found bear tracks along with several other critters in a muddy area. In the last ten years I’ve located only four bear tracks worth the effort packing in casting material. Yesterday morning I headed out before dawn, hiking a mile or so to reach the area with bear, turkey and otter tracks. It was a bit chilly, thirty one degrees. My plan was to cast the most detailed bear tracks and go from there. I was able to cast four bear tracks and a turkey and otter foot.

Jim

TC's Seeing More Bobcats

 

My camera traps are starting to capture more bobcats. The bobcat in the picture has a beautiful coat. Typically Northeast bobcats have a dull yellowish coat with black markings. Wintertime the activity will pick up with them needing to travel further looking for food. It will be interesting to see if TC’s get another glimpse of the two kittens and possibly there mother al in one frame.

Jim

Critter Activity Picking Up

 

This camera trap location in Massachusetts has been extremely slow the past several months. I was actually going to pull several of the trail cameras this morning until I saw the increased activity and a very elusive catch. You’ll need to watch to the end. Bushnell and Browning cameras used. I did lighten up the Bushnell video. Camera traps are in close proximity of each other.

Jim

Bears Follow The Food

 

Bear activity has slowed considerably along my camera trap line. Bears follow the food!  Acorns, fruits hickory nuts are just a few of the bear foods that are ripening now  Several trail cameras have captured night time movement of Bull Moose in rut. I’m hoping an impressive bull moves by a camera in the daylight. One camera did video a new sow with three yearlings that I haven’t seen before. That’s now seven different sows with a total of twenty cubs that have been videoed in 2022.

Jim

Bobcat Kittens

 

This is a change from bears and moose! One of my camera traps caught glimpse of these two bobcat kittens a few weeks back. Unfortunately it was early dawn and you could barely see them. I was hoping they would pass by another camera trap. The bank beaver lodge the kittens are standing on is a under construction by the beavers. This lodge was built several years back. A year after being built some animal totally ruined the lodge by digging gaping holes into it. I assumed a bear did the damage. Not sure why, this summer beavers decided to repair the damage, I thought it would be an interesting place to set a trail camera.

Jim.

Moose Are In Rut - Massachusetts

 

A lot of scouting and a lot more luck helped placed this Bushnell Aggressor in the right location to catch moose activity during the 2022 Massachusetts rut. Turn the volume up. Appears to be three different bulls? The videos are all from the same trail camera. Of course …. It’s the oldest one I have and records in AVI. Hopefully one of those bulls walks by the TC during the day

Jim

 

Back from camping!

I checked most of my trail cameras this week seeing little to no bear activity until his mornings check. This location had a sow with four cubs, sow with three cubs and a single bear passing through the area over the last three weeks. It was nice to see the sow with the four cubs. She has been seen on three different camera traps sets covering several miles. Not that that’s a big area for a bear, but it helps me in plotting here home range.

Massachusetts Moose are beginning to rut. This means the bulls will be on the move. I’ve made a number of sets hoping to catch a swamp side bull during the day.

Jim

Family of Four Bears

 

The majority of my trail cameras have been pretty quiet the last several weeks, typically mid-August tends to slow down. Not sure why. September usually has much more activity.

I did move one of my older cameras about three weeks ago to the northern edge of my camera trapping area, hoping to capture a video of a collared sow with three cubs. Surprising, a second sow with four COY triggered the camera... My TC’s captured this family of four about two miles from this location several days earlier.

I’m heading out camping and will have limited  access to or no WIFI. It may be a few weeks before the next update

Jim

Got Lucky !

 

Persistence Pays Off.

Late May my camera traps caught glimpse of this cow and her new calf. The camera traps were a great tool in validating a cow had offspring in my camera trapping area.  Thought went into how creative a camera set could be made in effort to capture a quality video. Four sets were made in a river, thought was put into the back drop and the position of the sun... This set was on a metal fence post that I packed in and secured near a downed tree in the river.  Believe me when I tell you, there were many SD card checks with empty cards .It took approximately ten weeks to capture these video I couldn’t be more pleased !

Jim

Finally Found Bear Track

 

\

Water levels are very low in Massachusetts. The last several weeks my “Tracking” efforts have been focused around wetlands in search of bear sign. Surely it shouldn’t be that difficult to locate a bear track in the shoreline mud! WRONG!! This morning’s hike was in close proximity to a large body of water. I couldn’t do anything wrong. A short distance from my hiking starting point a bear crossed in front of my truck. I thought, this might be the day!  And that it was. In my travels a variety of tracks were seen, moose, coyote, otter, deer, raccoon and bear. I located what appeared to be a sow and yearling(s) (yearling(s) guess on my part judging by the track size. While bushwhacking a short distance from the bear tracks, I came across what appeared to be a: Day Bed” of a bear. Today was a very productive tracking day.

Jim

Animal Activity Slow With Heat

 

Man! , It has been Hot!

 Animal activity has slowed down significantly. I did find at least a dozen piles of bear scat in an area with blueberries. All the scat piles had blueberries in them.  While crossing a beaver dam this morning I saw the longest water snake I’ve ever seen! Deer flies toned down a bit. I was able to hike without a head net. 

There is a small bear that consistently crosses one beave dam east to west. I setup a 2^nd camera on the west side of the swamp attempting to catch a front view.

We need RAIN. Water levels are down and beaver ponds are low. I was able to walk the shorelines on several ponds this morning. I haven’t been able to do this since March. It gave me the opportunity to relocate several trail cameras.

A slight change with the cover picture. Bucks are starting to lose their velvet

 

 

Jim

That Didn't Take Long !

 

Well, everybody has to get lucky some time! I spent considerable time setting out cams in what I have figured out to be this sows northern home range. My goal was to see if I could capture videos of her and cubs... This is the sow that had four yearlings last year. One camera trap early on did catch glimpse of her without cubs in early May. I was curious as to how many cubs she had in tow for 2022. Focusing on some wild blueberry patches in her core range, several camera traps captured the sow with three cubs. The trail cameras also captured several other bears in close proximity to the berry patches. It will be interesting to see if she frequents this area after the berries pass.

Jim

Find The Berries !

 

Wild Blueberries are ripe. The areas that I have camera traps have become active with bear activity. Also, I am seeing many stumps dug out or ripped apart which typically are signs of bears looking for insects. Found a very BIG bear scat pile this morning filled with blueberries.

Tomorrow I’m off to check some new sets I put out last week. There’s a sow with COY which I have only captured once alone on video May 15^th. This bear has tightened her range. Last year with yearlings her family travels were much broader. I like the challenge to see if I can locate her and cubs. Stay tuned.

The swamp above with the sow and cubs is in close proximity of a wild blueberry patch.

Jim

Where Have All The Bears Gone !

 

Where Have All The Bears Gone?

Overall bear activity has really slowed down. I was fortunate to capture a sow with three COY and a sow with two COY at one of my camera trap locations over the last several weeks. Bears are foragers and will focus on available food sources. Wild blueberries will be ripe in the coming weeks.  I have a few camera traps set near berry patches, hopefully activity will pick up.

While bushwhacking yesterday, I came upon two stumps and one log that had been torn apart by a bear looking for insects. One of the stumps showed evidence of claw marks. Neat Find!

Jim

 

Hot steamy hike this morning to swap out SD cards. Muggy with showers made a paradise for mosquitoes and deer flies looking to feast on my head & neck. My head-net kept the blood suckers at bay. Interesting observation when arriving at the two small beaver ponds that have camera traps set. The lower ponds water was significantly down by at least two feet with no breech in the dam. The upper pond dam (80 yds.) up stream was built higher by the beavers. Fresh mud and sticks spanned the length of the beaver dam.  By doing this the beavers stopped the flow of water and rendered their new bank lodge unusable. Did the four rounds of bears digging on top of the bank lodge cause the beavers to abandon the pond? Has the lack of rain caused the beavers to raise the level of the upper pond? Might this be an indication of dry times to come during the Massachusetts summer? Time will tell

Jim

Consistent Sow Activity

 

I've been capturing several sows with COY's. over the last several weeks. Mating activity has slowed down . Camera traps aren't picking up the bear activity like they were a month ago. No shortage of deer flies,  head nets are an absolute requirement.

Trail Cameras are  videoing more moose and coyotes than in previous years. I'm not sure why. Camera traps are pretty much set in the same areas

Excited with retirement coming up in FOUR days !!!!!

Every day will be a Saturday , which means more time in the Great Outdoors, hiking and camera trapping ........ can't wait ;) 

Jim

Camera Trapping Massachusetts Turtles

 

Early June is the time Massachusetts turtles leave the safety of a pond or swamp on a quest to locate soft substrate to lay eggs. I coordinated a brief (one week) anecdotal study to document the different turtles that would use this ideal sandy location. When first locating this spot, the sand area (20’x20’) appeared as it had been rototilled. The disturbed sand was a result of predators digging for turtle eggs. What I found interesting is that there was no evidence of broken turtle shells anywhere. Crows/ Ravens were scavenging any eggshells that may have been left behind. The coyote and raccoon probably new of this turtle paradise year after year The young bear most likely just stumbled upon the area with its daily foraging.

Bushnell Aggressor / Browning Special Op

Jim

Turtle Time !

 

With gas prices being a concern, I’m trying to be more mindful about travelling around the state checking trail cameras. I have a couple of options

1. Change the frequency of trail camera checks to every other week This would help offset fuel costs.
2. Find  camera trapping areas closer to home . I did this last weekend and through a bit of effort located a new area.

This new area initially shows some promise. A lengthy beaver dam stretching a long distance through a grassy bog caught my attention. It’s not as remote as I would like, but certainly appears to be an interesting location to set several camera traps. A steep climb up an embankment revealed a small area with sand that showed  evidence of turtles laying eggs. Also, something has been digging and eating the eggs.

Long Shot !,  why not set a few camera traps and try to capture a turtle doing its thing and hopefully  capture a predator  robbing the eggs.

Stay Tuned

Jim

Massachusetts Coyotes

 

This has also been an exceptional year for camera trapping coyotes. In the Month of May, two locations twenty five miles apart have produced my best coyote videos ever. I’m not sure why that is. One location is new and the other I’ve been camera trapping for years. Suppose luck plays into it a bit. Right place right time.

It’s the peak of bear mating season in Massachusetts and I can’t wait to hit the camera trap trail tomorrow morning. To date camera traps have videoed twenty five different bears. Most bears can be identified by unique markings (white patches) injury, tag or collar. I’m pretty much going to stay the course with camera location now throughout the summer. Come late August I’ll start moving them to prime moose habitat.

Jim

Activity High On TC's

 

It’s been a good week on the camera trapping line. The bank beaver lodge continues to get dismantled by several bears. A sow with two cubs now shows interest in the lodge.

An interesting observation for May, the areas in 2021, where sows with cubs were being captured weekly on trial cameras has been nonexistent so far this year .that being said, the number of different bears being videoed in these areas is high. I’m guessing the sows want no part of all these bears and are foraging on the outskirts.

Coyotes become very skittish around trail cameras. At least in Massachusetts they are. This past week my camera traps capture two of my best videos yet.

May has been a very productive month camera trapping Massachusetts

Jim

Enjoy Seeing Bears !

 

Bear pictured above is from a different swamp. 

Interesting bear observation while hiking to check trail cameras last weekend. As I rounded a corner on a fire road, adjacent to a small beaver pond, a bear crossed the road and started foraging the shoreline. Wind direction was in my favor, and I went undetected.  At the same time the resident beaver wanted the bear to move on and repeatedly slapped its tail on the waters surface . This in turn, sent what appeared to be a small cub running through the shadows of the underbrush. The bear had no tolerance for the noisy beaver and charged the water splashing which sent the beaver under water. All went quiet. The bear foraged the shoreline then headed down stream out of sight ,I continued hiking reliving the sequence of events that had just occurred and something wasn’t adding up. The bear was small , I’m estimating three years old. Much to young to be tugging along a cub. But I know what I saw, or did I? The event changed my TC card check route and I headed back to the beaver pond. I wanted to see if there was any evidence left behind of the bear or its cub. The substrate was loose and watery, like pea soup. I did find two partial tracks of the bear and what appeared to be raccoon tracks along the area where I saw the cub. CONCLUSION : Things aren’t often what they appear. It would have been easier just to continue hiking and tell the story that I saw a sow and a cub . I’m glad I went back and investigated the scene. Theirs a slim possibility that there was a bear cub, but the probability is that the raccoon was at the beaver pond prior to the bear crossing the cart road and then ran off after all the commotion started.

Jim

Bear Activity In MA. High

Bear activity around my camera traps is high. A SD card check today showed four different bears videoed last week. TC's have yet to record a sow with COY ( cubs of the year). It will be interesting to see if this happens in the month of May. Last year COY were videoed on May7th in the same area. Then again, last May there wasn't as much mature bear activity as I'm seeing this year. 

It won't be long till bears start looking for a mate , then the activity should increase even more. I located another area this morning to set a camera trap. 

Stay Tuned !

Jim
 

Sow's With Cubs On The Move

 

What an eventful week with bears. I saw a big bear Thursday morning on our way for a hike and then a second larger bear the following day. Yesterday, checking camera traps showed two different Sow’s with yearlings. One sow had three yearlings and the second sow had two yearlings. Not counting the two bears I seen, TC’s have already captured thirteen different bears and it’s only Early May. Last year my TC captured a total of thirteen different bears. It’s shaping up to be a very active year for bears in Massachusetts.

Jim

Bears Very Active Now!

 

A very good start to 2022 bears. April has been very good with camera trapping a dozen different bears, The two new areas I'm camera trapping also have videoed three different bears. I haven't seen any cubs yet. I'm sure with  more and more plants turning green, all bears will be on the move feeding.

I still have several of the old locations that need camera traps set. I'll get this done early May.

Jim

Take A Youngster Camera Trapping

 

It was the “ BEST” camera trapping day afield yet. My grandson accompanied me as we hiked to  his first beaver lodge and walked across a long beaver dam checking camera traps. His interest and many questions made for a rewarding morning  sharing  and learning about nature . 

Jim

Bears Are Active !

 

Off to a good start, capturing five different bears with camera traps in Massachusetts so far this year. The pictured bear is dark and is number five capture for April. I’m hoping to video a sow with COY (cubs of the year) crossing this dam. Reviewing 2021 videos, I only documented one sow with COY’s using that dam last year. However, there were multiple sows with yearlings that used the beaver dam from May through October

Checking cameras this morning from a new swamp had only night videos of raccoons and a bobcat. Glad I checked them out. One of the trail cameras needs minor adjusting to get a better look at the beaver dam and the second camera needs to be moved. The morning sun triggered nearly five hundred pictures.

Jim

First Time Finding Whitetail Shed & Last Fall Capturing Video

 

The weather this morning wasn't ideal for bushwhacking. Light rain and heavy mist . The last thing I would have expected to find would be a very large whitetail shed ,and have a video from last fall of that buck. That goes to show you, you never know how how any adventure is going to turn out. Finding that shed made for  exiting day for me.

Hoping to find another shed before the woods turn green. 

Jim

Late Season Buck With Antlers

 

 Several weeks ago I spied this young buck while hiking  and was surprised to see that it still had antlers. This morning’s camera trap check revealed that he still has them. Last year my camera traps videoed a late March early April buck with antlers.  This probably explains why I haven’t found any sheds the past month. 

I have high hopes this beaver dam will give up an incredible bear pic/video this year

Jim

Bear Time!!!

 

“Fresh Out of the Den”

And we’re off!! This is my first Massachusetts bear of 2022. The pic is a video grab from a Browning Recon Force Advantage. This bear has weathered the New England winter well. It’s still plump! I am also surprised how clean its winter coat looks. The added bonus was a decent bear track in a muddy cart road about a half mile away from this location. Yep, I’d say this was a good Saturday morning on the camera trap trail!

Jim

I Suspect Winter Ticks - Massachusetts Moose

 

Bushwhacking Central Massachusetts over the winter was very promising with locating new locations to camera trap. This morning checking SD cards in one of these new locations revealed something of concern. Pictured above is a video grab with three moose. The cow on the left has a calf with her and there is a partial pic of a third moose on the right. I suspect the bald spots on the two adult moose are winter ticks. I know Maine is challenged with the decline of their moose population due to winter ticks. I sure hope this isn't a start in Massachusetts.

 

Jim 

Time To Start Setting Out Trail Cameras

 

I spent the day in the woods setting camera traps. March is a good time to get things going with your trail cameras. Spring was certainly in the air . I heard  Redwing Blackbirds chattering and  I saw my first wood ducks. 

While making one of my swamp sets a mink swam by nearly hitting my boot.

Bears will be out an about soon. I hoping for another spectacular year !Will one of my camera traps catch a March bear? Sure hope so ! 

Gas prices are sure going to put the squeeze on the frequency of checking distant trail cameras. I found a new area a few miles from the house that looks promising. I spent last weekend bushwhacking checking things out. I also set out a few trail cameras.

Tomorrow sounds like a washout in Central Massachusetts. I'll be back out Sunday setting camera traps

Jim

2021 MA Bear Summary

 

The picture above is my favorite 2021 trail camera capture. 

I recently submitted a 2021 Bear Summary article to The Ware River Nature Club. This article summarizes my 2021 bear camera trapping efforts. It was an interesting year for sure, and am looking forward to 2022.

http://www.warerivernatureclub.org/uploads/4/4/1/6/44166651/jims_bear_study_wrnc.pdf

Jim