I did get back to the peninsula to check trail cameras and wasn’t disappointed. The video provides several tips on trail camera placement and things to look for when setting trail cameras. Bear activity is beginning to pick up with the start of bear mating cycle in Massachusetts. Sows with yearlings will start breaking up the family group and sending the cubs on their own. https://youtu.be/kIlFO_8OnTY

There is no shortage of water here in central Massachusetts. I’ll need to stay away from most beaver dams until the water recedes. A wet hike this morning checking TC’s and high waterproof boots were aa must. The forecast for next week looks good and I should be able to check all the bear bite tree sites.

Jim

Bear Bite Marking Tree

 

I returned to the peninsula last week and set up more trail cameras. A medium-large bear scented the tree from last week's cover photo. Looking forward to returning this week to check tree cameras. Stay tuned !

 In another location, a bear stripped away bark creating a very visual bite mark tree. https://youtu.be/VxNacWt9bIw

Jim

Another Bear Hot Spot Found !

 

Last week, I set trail cameras at my final bear hot spot. To the east, I noticed a game trail leading into the swamp and decided to follow it. Surprisingly, a small beaver dam provided access to dry land, forming a fourteen-acre peninsula filled with bear-marking trees. The photo above shows one of the main bite mark trees. I couldn't hike back to the truck for more cameras, I moved one from an earlier setup to this new area. This week, I'll return with more cameras to cover the new location.

Jim

 

I've had a busy week exploring the Massachusetts woods—hiking and paddling, I checked three eagle nests, two with females on eggs. I'll revisit the active nests in May when the eaglets have grown a bit.

Next week, I plan to set trail cameras in one last area  for bears before their May breeding season starts. My other bear cameras have shown activity this year. Surprisingly, a bear freshened a bite marking tree last week, which is unusual this early from what I’ve seen in past years. The video shows the bite marking tree and an SD card error.

https://youtu.be/D8blQqOTxLI

Jim

What A Great Start Camera Trapping Massachusetts Bears

 

The trail cameras in Massachusetts have been busy this week. Typically, it's May before they capture a sow with first year cubs, but on April 1st a sow with two cubs was videoed. Additionally, five sows with nine yearlings were videoed over the last several weeks. These yearlings will be independent in six to eight weeks as mating season begins.

I have several trail cameras set up to capture bears in their habitat. The picture above shows a sow in her environment .

Jim

New Spring Beaver Project

 

The picture above is an area that I haven’t been in for many years. I was surprised to see a new beaver lodge built on the shoreline, I guess you could call it a bank lodge. The lodge being close to the shoreline and having a few trees around was an ideal location to set trail cameras. This will be my Spring / Summer Beaver Project. Trail Cameras were set back in February. Earlier this week I hiked in to check SD cards and was surprised to see minimal beaver scent mounding activity . Just as I was leaving two beavers were working their way towards the lodge, so I slipped away undetected.

Jim

1.                                     A coyote over looks the beaver pond.

 

A bear gives the lodge a quick glance. I'm hoping to get a picture of a bear investigating the lodge.

Bears On The Move - Early Scent Marking

 

Massachusetts 2025 bear activity starts with a bonus. A single bear crosses a newly monitored beaver dam, then four days later a  sow with three yearlings crosses the same dam. Then earlier this week  a bear scent marks a popular tree from last year. I was hoping this area would remain active again this year. Now that the tree is scent marked other bears in the area will also leave there scent.

Jim

New TC Location Has Potential - Best Lifetime Deer Shed Find

 

It’s been a productive week in the Massachusetts woods ! Bear TC’s have been set in the new areas . I spent one morning scouting a  twelve-acre swamp that really didn’t show much potential  using Google Earth and OnX Satellite View. Was I in for a surprise? Approximately nine acres of this swamp are thick tangled bushes and swamp grass. Three acres on the backside are a camera trappers dream with two beaver dams and two active lodges.

Earlier in the week I found my first deer shed of 2025 and what a find ! My Best Find Ever !!!    

https://youtu.be/U4Ko5jC6f4c

Jim

Backside of new swamp.

This Was A First - Fisher Resting In Tree

 

It was a productive week making TC bear sets, I have the new areas finished and have made sets in prior year locations.

I enjoy hiking with a camera in hand as well as setting camera traps. Saturday morning a female fisher was seen sleeping high in a hemlock tree . It was overcast and dark in the clump of branches where she was resting. Watching patiently, it took about three hours before a sliver of sunlight reached the top of the tree. I was able to squeak out two halfway decent pictures, One with her sleeping and the other with a slight twinkle in her eye. No doubt this fisher had a den nearby with recently born kits.

This week more TC’s will be set out in hopes of capturing an elusive short-tail  weasel.

Jim

Time To Make Spring TC Sets

 

The snow is gone and what a pleasure bushwhacking again and not breaking through the snow crust. There has been little activity on the trail cameras. I’ve been on a mission to try and get a short-tail weasel video. From the looks of it, and input from other camera trappers, it’s a rare trail camera capture. I got a long-tail weasel at a Fisher scent post last week. Typically,  LT Weasel turns white in the winter in MA, this one was still brown.

I started setting my Spring 2025 bear camera trap sets. What a great feeling knowing winter is behind us. My first sets are in a new area ( Pic Above) . Last fall I located two new spots with “ Bite Mark Trees” Tomorrow I’ll set trail cameras  in the second location.

Jim

Fisher Activity Consistent

 

The Fisher in the pic above returned to the “ Dig Tree” four times over the last several weeks. This site is becoming a “ Scent Post” transitioning from a dig site.

Fisher activity is consistent at two of my new scent post locations. The scent post in the video is a pine tree that had blown over during a windstorm exposing the root ball. The fisher is using one of the broken roots as a scent post. It is the height of fisher mating season  in MA. and female fishers are giving birth ,then mating a few days later.

https://youtu.be/22JxjViFlLM

Earlier this week I made two trips to set up TC’s at my Spring Beaver Project. The sun is strong, and it won’t be long before the ice gives way to an open pond. I will put a video together soon sharing the setup.

I put  many miles on bushwhacking  this week for sheds. Nothing yet , but hopefully soon 😉

Jim

Surprise Visitor Checking TCs

 

A tough week hiking. Several days of high wind and crusty snow made for challenging  bushwhacking conditions. I did manage to visit all my fisher scent post sets. The efforts in the last month following fisher tracks have paid off with three new scent post locations.

Also, I had an interesting visitor while checking trail cameras. https://youtu.be/jjU67FCiMCc

Jim

 

Fisher - Unique Daytime Capture

 

It was a good week tracking in central Massachusetts with one trail camera videoing something quite unique. Last week while tracking a male fisher the trail took me to five different dig sites. Dig sites are where a fisher will dig into stumps , ground or standing rotten trees foraging for rodents and insects. The last dig site was in an ideal location to set up a trail camera. It was a long shot hoping that a fisher would return to work the tree. I got lucky !  https://youtu.be/Eg1kzU_0LfE

I was hoping to find a bobcat track earlier in the week. Checking several  different locations resulted in no tracks. While checking trail cameras mid-week, I did cut a bobcat track. A quick SD card swapped out and I was off tracking the bobcat track. It wasn’t long before locating a squat and dump imprint in the snow. The bobcat followed the edge of a pond before heading to a ridge that led to a road. The cat “ Spritzed “ on log ends as it traveled through the thick stand of hemlock saplings. The trail ended at a culvert with porcupine tracks leading into it. Not sure if the bobcat jumped to the road or back tracked a short distance and stayed on the porcupine trail. It was time for me to end the trail. I got a new pic to add to my bobcat tracking library.

Jim

Picture - Bobcat crouched and left a deposit. Very much as a cat in a litter box.

Fisher Tracking - Unique Camera Trapping Set

 

The inch of snow Massachusetts received  earlier in the week was just enough to provide decent tracking conditions. That along with locating a fisher track early on made for an eventful few mornings tracking  I was able to follow the fisher tracks just over four miles and was never more than a half mile from my starting point. The fisher trail wound through hemlock swamps and places that had downed trees. https://youtu.be/zZJLl9iaEBw

 

Finding this unique location in 2018 and setting up a trail camera has produced incredible videos over the years. The first few years had special tenants before a porcupine moved in. Then after that, bobcats visit the den monthly during the colder weather. https://youtu.be/Z_2VpIfXRc8

Massachusetts – Worcester County

Jim

Bobcat Food Cache

 

Following a fisher track in the snow led me to a food cache where a partial opossum lay under a pile of leaves. While investigating , no blood was visible on the  blanket of snow, just drag marks from the dispatch site to the base of large diameter tree. Speculation on my part. Fisher dispatched the opossum, dragged it to the base of the tree, then went tree bound with it. Once in the tree , started to eat it with pieces falling to the ground. Then the bobcat found the pieces that fell and made the food cache. The bobcat was concerned with something in the tree constantly looking up. In the end neither the bobcat nor the fisher claimed the last of the food cache. The video shows the culprit.

Jim

How Big Do Massachusetts Bears Get - Beaver Lodges and Trail Cameras

 

It was a beautiful morning to be out scouting Spring prospects for camera trapping locations. It has been years since setting any trail cameras in this area, the    “ SAFE” ice provided opportunity to really scout the back of the swamp. Beavers are still using the pond and have built a bank lodge in an ideal location to set camera traps. I will explain  in the video. https://youtu.be/lnKFxVMD1z0

This time of year, safe ice conditions give opportunity to get into swampy areas that are typically a challenge to reach any other time of year. I will use the ice to scout other locations next week.

Thank You all that attended my bear presentation at the Rutland MA  library yesterday. There was a good turnout with an interactive audience asking lots of  good questions. The video clip  “ How Big Do Massachusetts Bears Get” sparked interest in guessing bears’ weight. Hard to believe bears get that big in MA. https://youtu.be/sMlfKn1U59A

 

Jim

Fishers - Good Tracking

 

Last week I had a couple of eventful tracking days following a male fisher. In the fishers travel he checked out a pervious years scent post that has a trail camera monitoring. I stopped following the track after it led me to a food cache. A neat find for sure ! I’m not convinced the fisher made the cache which had only the head of an opossum buried in it. I set a trail camera to see what animal returns .

Late last week I was able to check all my winter trail camera sets replacing batteries as needed, I don’t check them as often in the winter, concerned with leaving my tracks.

An early January bear checked out a den site that one of my trail cameras has been monitoring for thee years. It went inside the den tree , checked it out and moved on.

Jim

Black Bear Presentation Jan 2025

 

Taking trail cameras to the next level learning about Massachusetts Black Bears. Now that I can find bear sign has offered me opportunity to set camera traps and see more into a black bears world. In this presentation I will share the interesting things I’ve learned about Massachusetts Bears

Jim

Black Bear Whammy Tree

 

 Bear Whammy Tree –  Yes , there is such a thing  as a bear whammy tree! Seeing my first whammy tree ( in video ) was a real surprise and eye opener. The tree was literally  beaten up I had two questions after seeing this. What  happened to the tree and why? What happened is shown in the video,  and why.? A “ Bear Whammy Tree” is another means for bears to use  trees communicating their presence in an area. A whammy tree is  visual sign along with  scent marking . Whammy trees are made anytime of the year. I have several other videos that time stamp this activity  in July and  September.

 

Summary – Camera Trapping has helped me learn  about bear behavior and  the three types of bear marking trees used to communicate. Over the last few months, I have found more bear marking trees. It will be interesting to see what’s instore for 2025 learning more about Massachusetts Black Bears

 

Jim

Video 1 – Bear Bite Tree  https://youtu.be/JyxLAjBSKiw

Video 2 – Bear Scent Marking Tree  https://youtu.be/97Mp_MBfiUo

Video 3 – Bear Whammy Tree  https://youtu.be/hNFnAfmVtt8

 

Bear Scent Marking Tree - Massachusetts

 

Video 2 -This  Black  Bear Scent marking tree with ritual trail passing at its base are good examples showing  different black bear age groups that use the same marking tree throughout the year. The camera trap watching this tree was triggered forty-two times in 2024. The compilation shows  a good age mix of bears  scent marking  on the same tree. Most visits occurred between May and August. Bears will scent mark all year long with the highest activity  typically during the mating season.

This is the second of three videos sharing my experiences learning about “ Bear Marking Trees” in Massachusetts

I’ll share the third video next week

Massachusetts. Browning Elite HP4

https://youtu.be/97Mp_MBfiUo

Jim