Snoozer {denned bear) was sound asleep when I checked yesterday. I purchased a hand recorder hoping to get an audio of Snoozer snoring. We’ll see how that goes.
I managed to swap out the SD card in the trail camera facing the den entrance. The camera is too close. I have a plan “B” The pictured bobcat takes the opportunity to look into the hole to see where all the ruckus is originating. The pic is a video clip lighten up.
The bobcat near the entrance is a good reference point to estimate the size of the opening Also, was surprised to see the bobcat that close to bear.
Jim

TC Bobcat / Snoozer Snoring

Now that I know this bobcat uses this new area and rather cross the ice than the beaver dam my trail camera was moved to a dead tree overlooking the small pond.

Have a better field of view and much better light with the trail mounted in the open. The bobcat prefers to use the ice instead of the dam.

I often wondered once a deep woods bear dens for the winter will it come out after hibernating. The picture reveals the answer. This bear is fairly remote but certainly could travel to reach houses. So my next question did it? I walked a forty yard circle around the den area and the bear did not wander far from the den opening.
It was amazing listing to the bear SNORE!
There is a TC a short distance from the den opening. Two things crossed my mind as I thought about tip toeing to get the SD card...
I didn't want to disturb the bear and put undo pressure on it and have it abandon the den.....
After seeing the tracks ooooooh did I SO want to get that SD card!!!
Second thought was, if I were to muster up the _ ALLS ,what is the worse thing that could happen.
1) bear exits den , Jim diarrhea's  himself, bear is offended and keeps on going !  LOL
or bear exits den and it doesn't end up a good day for Jim.
I did set up a second camera.  Pulling SD card will need to wait to another day Stay Tuned !
Jim

Camera Trapping New Location

Red squirrel taking a leap !

I have been camera trapping  a new area  and need to learn the country side. Bushwhacking five miles this morning setting out trail cameras is always a good way to start the day I find it rewarding  and challenging to learn  new spots,  I started hiking this location in October. Its a big piece of woods and will take some time to figure out. So far a cow moose and bobcat have tripped the motion sensors on the TC's. Both captures were at night , its  a start.
The effort this morning was to beat the snow storm coming later today. I randomly set out trail cameras on this hike. It would be neat to get a pic of a bull before it drops it's antlers. The cameras are in DEEP and may need to wail till spring t retrieve.

The pic above is a bobcat about to cross a beaver dam. This was a good find. Any animal  that wants to cross the dam must  step into ac constrained spot with a TC mounted watching.

Jim

Coyote Unique Markings

It was a very eventful morning !

Finally located a bear den with a bear in it. "Sorta" makes you pucker a bit when you look into the opening with a flashlight and you see a bear and can hear a soft snore (lol)

Check the markings out on the chest and front legs of thise coyote. Very unique and should be easy to identify  again. I set a second camera trap in the area. While I was checking this camera trap a beaver glided within a foot of me and the gave the slap of the tail on the water. Bout' scared me to death.....

A couple of weeks ago while bushwhacking I stumbled upon a deer yard. There were deer droppings EVERYWHERE.Back in December this area in Massachusetts had about two feet of snow. Also found consistent bobcat scat in the same area over the last couple of weeks. I set out several TC's .
It will be interesting to see if the deer return to this area with the next significant snow.

Jim

With the holiday last week it gave me a few extra days hiking . I was hoping to catch a coyote or bobcat walking the ice. No luck ! Still a lot of open water out past the cove pictured above.

Bushwhacking for bears ( looking for bear dens) came up empty this weekend. I was poking my head in every tree cavity and root ball I could find The hole in the picture above was big enough to partially crawl into. I needed to do that to check and see if anybody was home and there was!
 A fairly large porcupine turned its back to me as a way to protect itself.This was one of two holes I located that housed a porcupine.
I sure hope that I don't stick my head in one hole too many and have my head handed back to me...Gulp
Jim

Fisher Checked Out Den Site

A fisher checking out the prospect bear den. I was hoping a bobcat might also check out this large hole . I left the trail camera. . Maybe some critter will wander around during the day light hours.

A lot of effort put in the last two weekends looking for a bear den. Its amazing how many root balls and blow downs you find bushwhacking  that could house a bear. No luck yet but I will continue  looking until the snow becomes to deep.

I have scouted out several new areas in North Central Massachusetts for camera trapping in 2020

I also would like to set a few camera traps some distance away and leave them for months, haven't quite figured out a plan for that yet.

Jim

Challenging Set

This set is on a steep embankment above the shoreline. I was really hoping a bear might of used it for a winter den. No luck.! It was a bit risky making this set with the snow. Bobcat sign has been consistent  in this area. On a rainy  summer hike a bobcat did give me a quick opportunity to snap a picture with my SLR camera.

I]ts hard to believe another year has passed! The year ends with reaching 3200 miles hiking the "Quabbin Woods" and what a year it's been! It started with locating a second bear den , camera trapping six or seven different bears throughout the year and having a large bear walk out in front of me while hiking!

I would like to thank you all for reading my blog!
Wishing you happy holidays
Jim

Presentations. I've had a number of inquiries about speaking at club events this year. You can find several of my wildlife talks on the cover page of my website .

Also added a short video of bears camera trapped in 2019