Several Unusual Happenings This Week !

 

It was an interesting week with several unusual things happening while checking  trail cameras.

After checking TC’s in a beaver pond  I started up a hardwood ridge when a barred owl flew out of a tree a short distance from me, and then landed on a branch about fifteen feet away
. It looked like a mature bird and was not injured. The owl sat perched looking around like I wasn’t even there. The event lasted several minutes giving me time to take my cell phone out of my pocket and take a picture ( cover picture)

Two days later while making moose sets with trail cameras,  I looked up and a sow with one yearling were foraging on blackberries and grapes about thirty yards from me. It didn’t take long before the sow caught my scent in the breeze and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I located an area with a bit of moose sign. I can’t say I have ever seen a moose plop as large as the one below.

 

Jim

 

Pic above is a bull from several years back " Lip Curling" in effort to wind a receptive female.

It’s time to start preparing for the Massachusetts moose rut. I’ve been setting trail cameras in areas where moose sign has remained consistent throughout the summer. With any luck, the trail cameras will capture some distinctive rutting activity.

My 2026 anecdotal “Bear Project” exceeded my expectations. It will take  me some time to analyze the data,  I’ll share my findings in upcoming blog posts.

Jim

New Sow In TC Area

 

This sow, shown with one of her three cubs, is checking a bear scent-marking tree. Several years ago, that tree was a healthy hemlock, but it likely does not have many years left before it falls. In past years, this was a busy bear corridor, though I’m not sure what has changed. So far this year, nineteen bears have passed through this area, and only one other sow with two yearlings.

Pic above shows the hemlock sapling before its demise in Sept 2023

The highbush blueberries are nearly gone, and bear activity in these areas has slowed significantly. Bears are still feeding on other berries, but none produce the same volume of fruit as highbush blueberry bushes.

Hickory nuts and white oak acorns have begun to ripen, and bears will soon be foraging on them, including by climbing the trees.

 

Jim

Who Is Eating The Blueberries?

 

A few weeks ago, I found several highbush blueberry bushes bent and broken, still heavy with berries. I set up a trail camera to monitor one bush, hoping a bear would take advantage of the low-hanging fruit—and a young bear did. The close-up video shows just how efficiently a bear can forage blueberries.

A squirrel also made frequent visits, which reminded me that small mammals benefit from a good blueberry crop, too.

Then, to my surprise, a family of three demonstrated how to reach the blueberries without getting wet.

Jim

Best Ever Moose - Trail Camera - Massachusetts

 

Now that bear activity has slowed, I have been repositioning trail cameras around beaver ponds in hopes of videoing ( TC) a moose feeding on aquatic vegetation or simply passing through. I expected a cow or young moose—not the impressive bull that walked past a Gardepro 7NWF camera. In all my years of camera trapping, this is the largest bull any of my trail cameras captured. He should look magnificent this fall before the rut.

Jim

Woods Have Calmed Down !

 

Bears are feeding in swamps with highbush blueberries, and several new bears have passed my trail cameras in these areas. The cover photo shows a new face. With mating season over, the woods have quieted down, and the trail cameras have videoed sows with cubs and yearlings in wetlands. A few scent-marking trees are still being used by medium to large boars.

Yesterday, while bushwhacking, I found a small area where a bear had rolled logs and pulled apart both a standing snag and a fallen one searching for insects..

Standing snag torn apart by bear

Bear spent time and effort pulling the downed snag apart

 

Jim

Find The Berries - You'll Find The Bears !

 

The small bear on the cover picture is a sow that had yearlings in tow late Spring. She is one of the three bears foraging on blueberries in a swamp.

 

Last year, the highbush blueberries had a banner crop in the swamps I was camera trapping. This year, the crop is more uneven: several swamps have sparse berries, while one swamp is loaded. Three different bears have found that site, as shown by broken blueberry branches and numerous scat piles throughout the swamp.

Highbush Blueberries

Bush Damaged From Bear 

There  is still some light scent marking going on with several bears at scent marking trees. One location that has been slow all year had three new bears pass by the marking tree in the last two weeks. Maybe just a coincidence.

I was excited to capture trail-camera video of a third sow with four cubs. So far this year, that makes three sows with four cubs each. The first sow with cubs was a considerable distance from the last two sows. The physical characteristics of the second and third sows made them easy to distinguish: one had a large body and a very dark muzzle, while the other had a much smaller frame and a brown muzzle.

Bear Scat w/ Blueberry Seeds Visisble

I have been moving trail cameras into blueberry swamps in hopes of capturing more videos of new bears.

Jim