Bear Activity Good - Near Miss TC Damage

 

I decided to add one cell camera to my inventory. It is a new model, and CAMLOCBOX is currently fabricating metal security boxes for it. So far, so good—though the camera nearly needed an overhaul this week. I set a non-cellular trail camera to watch the cell camera, mainly to confirm whether the new camera was triggering properly. Earlier in the week, my iPhone dinged with two new photos. Both were slightly blurry. Hmmm...

Concerned, I hiked in to check the new camera and review the SD card from the non-cellular camera. Sure enough, a small bear had been messing with it. I moved the trail camera to a new location and will order a metal security box as soon as one becomes available.

 

Jim

Bull Moose Finally Moving -Rut

 

My wife and I just returned from what may be our last camping trip of the year. The weather was not ideal, and foggy mornings made it difficult to sit in any swamps with my camera.

Before we left, I checked a few trail cameras and finally started seeing moose rut activity. The pictured bull passed a camera while calling, with his dewlap hanging noticeably. I’m hoping this week’s SD card check brings more videos. I currently have eight “Moose Sites” monitored by trail cameras.

Although I do not have many cameras still set up for bears, one area has produced consistent activity. Three bears are using this location: a small bear I call “Resident Bear,” which has triggered cameras regularly since spring; a medium-to-large bear that appears every few weeks and is getting noticeably fat; and a sow with two cubs that has been visiting often. During last week’s video check, one cub appeared to have a back-leg injury. As it passed the cameras, it held the leg up and tried not to put weight on it. The cub trailed slightly behind the sow and its sibling but remains under its mother’s watchful eye. I hope the injury is minor and that one of my trail cameras captures the cub again before denning so I can see how it is doing.

Jim

 

                                                                   Gardepro Trail Camera

This secluded beaver pond has drawn a variety of wildlife crossing the beaver dam. Gardepro trail cameras are monitoring the small pond. The cover image is a video grab of a young bull moose feeding crossing the dam, while a young buck and several doe’s feed on swamp grass. I’m hoping a larger bull with an impressive set of antlers crosses the dam. They are certainly in the area—fingers crossed.

I have moved and repositioned many of my trail cameras, raising them higher on the trees in hopes a bull passes by. The moose rut has begun in North Central Massachusetts, which means bulls and cows will be moving more often, especially during daylight hours.

Jim

                                          Gardepro Trail Camera

Fingers Crossed , Hoping Another Bear Visits Snag

Four months passed before a second bear visited the dugout snag. I found the snag in early May while bushwhacking for bear sign and hoped a curious bear might enter the cavity while a trail camera monitored the opening. The ridge now has white acorns scattered across it, which likely explains why this bear was in the area. I’m still hoping one investigates the opening in the coming months. The stick across the hole helps me see from a distance whether anything has entered. So far, the only other visitors have been a squirrel, a pileated woodpecker, and a fat raccoon.

Video I posted back in May when snag was located

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8teXJp-H4rk&t=2s 

Jim

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