Bobcat Activity Increasing

 

Bobcats are highly active now. This week I was able to check many of my trial cameras. YTD bobcat TC triggers reached forty-one for the year so far. Time is running out for ice around beaver lodges. This week’s SD card check had open water around four of the six lodges, one abandoned lodge camera trap set did capture a decent daytime video of a  bobcat. The pic on the cover is a video grab. I did lighten it up.

Two of the three Fisher Scent Post sets have been active. The video shows a comparison between a male and female. https://youtu.be/NYhFxu2oIpQ 

A snowstorm with heavy wet snow is coming Monday night. That will certainly put a damper on checking camera traps sets next week. I am mindful about leaving a trail to any of my trail cameras.

Jim

Tracking Bobcat

 

I was able to check five of the beaver lodge camera traps sets this week. Most lodges had open water around them, which will hinder a bobcat from investigating. Next week’s temperatures don’t look  promising. It might reach close to  fifty degrees by Friday. My plan is to leave the sets until the end of February. Fisher scent post activity is picking up. February should be a good month. Hopefully, Massachusetts will get a little more snow so I can spend time tracking. A couple weeks ago I did track a bobcat for a while and was rewarded with a “ Ponce Site” Cover Pic. I am a beginner at best and attempted to show the sequence of events in the photo. If you have a different take, please email me at hikingcamera@aol.com . When checking the fieldstone camera set this week, I was surprised to find the trail camera laying on the ground. I was even more surprised to see that a late January bear removed it from the post.

Jim

Bobcat Activity Picking Up

 

I was able to check the six-beaver lodge camera trap sets last week. Three of the six lodges had bobcat activity. The bobcat that was on the cover last week walked by the same lodge  in darkness. One of the abandon lodges had a bobcat pass by the lodge six times over the last week . Activity is picking , just need some daytime videos. Coyotes are regular visitors to all the lodges.

Tracking the fisher last week resulted in capturing some good video footage of a female visiting the scent post then a male checking it out about an hour later.

https://youtu.be/ZoL7l_LKHOA

 Late last fall I located an outcrop of boulders with a ledge. Trail cameras were set in December. A TC check this week had two videos of bobcats. That is the cover pic this week.

Jim

Bobcat Activity Slow / Tracking Fishers

 

With below freezing temperatures in Massachusetts this week, beaver ponds have finally frozen over. January bobcat activity is off to a SLOW start. The bobcat pic above is a video grab. It would have been an impressive pic had it been one hour later. The tracks on the lodge belong to a coyote. Surprisingly, the pictured bobcat had no interest in the lodge. Earlier in the week beavers were adding mud to the lodge during the snowstorm.

With the few inches of snow central MA received this week, it made for ideal tracking conditions. My hope was to locate a fisher track in the fluffy snow. Fortunately, that happened, and I spent the last mornings tracking one fisher and learning its behavior. The total trail length was three miles zig zagging through the woods. The trail never ventured more than a mile and a half from the starting point. I did locate two active scent posts and set up trail cameras on them. With fisher mating season beginning soon, hopefully the fisher use those scent posts. While tracking this morning, I did locate five moose beds. After seeing them I had hopes of coming across a moose shed. No such luck !!

https://youtu.be/njhVtebmzi4      video added 1/20/24

 

Jim

 

Massachusetts Trail Camera Activity Slow

 

Not much is going on with trail camera sets last week. The weather has been all over the place. My area of Massachusetts received fifteen inches of snow last week, then two significant rain events. Flood warnings are in affect and ponds have little if any ice on them. The long-range forecast looks like cold temperatures next week. Hopefully then TC’s will start capturing videos of bobcats investigating beaver lodges. One trail camera did get a decent bobcat video at the fieldstone wall set. That TC missed what would have been a nice second video of the bobcat exiting the den.

 

If you set enough trail cameras you have experienced that trail cameras aren’t precise instruments and don’t always trigger as programmed. It’s difficult to understand how this trail camera could have  missed the second trigger. When I viewed the first video, I was surprised to see that the bobcat spent a minute inside the opening. Watching the next video in sequence and anticipating an IMPRESSIVE exit capture of the bobcat, it did not happen! The Bushnell Aggressor triggered fifty-nine seconds later with nothing on the video. I’m guessing the bobcat exited just prior to the start of the second video while the camera was re-setting .

Jim

Winter Finally Arrives In Massachusetts

 

Finally, wintry weather in Massachusetts. It has been a busy week checking  camera trap sets that are monitoring beaver lodges, only one beaver pond had enough ice to support a coyote or bobcat  ( cover pic). Although the temperatures are going to get above freezing next week, hopefully the ice will stay. Last week, two camera trap sets on log bridges captured bobcats crossing during the night. I will start keeping track of the number of bobcats that trigger trail cameras this winter. Tomorrow morning, I head out on my first tracking adventure of the year. Certainly, will be a bit challenging with a foot of snow.

Jim

Early Winter Bear ! And A few TC Sets

 

Wow !, The last week of December and no ice ! All that is needed is about half an inch. That will make the beaver lodges accessible by bobcats and other predators. A SD card check last week showed a large bobcat in the vicinity of one of the lodges, The extended weather forecast sounds like at least freezing temps at night. The YouTube  video shares one morning last week checking SD cards in Massachusetts . https://youtu.be/4JnM8ddywo0

The cover pic is from a log bridge set . A beautiful young bobcat crosses during the day. I have another beaver lodge set in the area, hopefully with a little  ice on the pond this bobcat will check out the beaver lodge,

 

Jim