Who’s in the Cabbage Patch!

Over the last several years I have targeted skunk cabbage patches in the spring in hopes of catching a North Central Massachusetts bear feeding. This has been an ongoing goal of mine for many years with no success. Reading a number of American Black Bear books over the winter and putting a bit more thought into WHERE a camera trap should be placed resulted in locating an active skunk cabbage patch. All the bear’s needs were met in this location. Assuming the top of the video is north, here’s what convinced me to set a camera trap in this location. To the north of the camera is a young thick stand of white pines that provided cover. This is where the two bears entered the cabbage patch from. Just a few feet east of the trail camera is a small brook that flows through the skunk cabbage. To the south is an open hardwood ridge that most likely wouldn’t see these bears until fall, when they would be foraging for acorns or beech nuts.
Maybe it was luck, or possibly putting more thought into why I would put a camera in this location, or a combination of both.
It resulted and meeting the goal!

Jim

Snow In May !

Crazy weather for the first week of May. It’s snowing, cold and windy. There’s not much accumulation, but the snow is fluffy enough that is makes the woods look all the same. I’m camera trapping a new area and checking one set during this snow will require using my GPS to locate the trail camera. This area is covered in mountain laurel.

 The activity on this TC has been a bit slow. This new area’s habitat will support everything from a mouse to a moose, so I’ll give it some time. The SD card this week showed a single deer, bobcat and daytime fisher. This is only the third fisher that I have camera trapped during the day. I’m pleased with the catch!

Jim