Signs Of Early Spring

It appears the bears have left the den site sometime on the evening of March 5^th. The last time stamp showing one cub was at 1:32 PM. I was hoping to capture a picture with all four bears, thatdid not happen.

The sow didn’t spend much time outside the den during the daylight hours, TC’s were programmed off during night hours to minimize disturbance.  One cub which I nicknamed: “Homemaker” (assumption on my part that it’s the same cub) was constantly outside the den during the day racking in leaves and ground matter into the den entrance.

One trail camera was left at the den site to confirm they family of bears have moved on.

Jim

Snoozer Chronicles (2-29-20).

Surprise !!!!
Was I surprised when I checked the SD card today. I had made an assumption that there was ONE bear because it showed up in the den site late ,after ( 12-14-19) I couldn't of been more wrong! There is a sow and three second year cubs taken up residency in this den location.
Also today I found skunk cabbage sprouting in a swamp. I do believe it;s going to be an early spring !

I's to bad it was raining this day. The lens was fogged. I set up a different camera. Hopefully with the warm week coming the camera will capture some daytime pictures.

Jim

New Areas Slow

My Apologies for missing last weeks post. An urgent trip came up.

The new area iv'e been camera trapping has been rather slow. I thought the beaver dam above would be a likely spot to set a camera trap. I did get a bobcat and two coyotes passing during the night hours. The pic above is the only day time capture.

Snoozer Chronicles ( 2-23-20) I checked the den site yesterday. There was a set of  foot prints in close proximity to the den area . I can only surmise that who ever it was spotted my trail cameras. Nothing was touched and I'm thankful for that. I did pull my Reconx camera concerned about theft.
All I can do is hope the person who located the site remains respectful.

There's something about being in front of a bear den that makes  your senses super keen ! That is  until you bend over to change the batteries in the trail camera and a partridge flushes behind you .

The darn thing had me standing there wondering what the heck just happened !!!!!

Jim

Snoozer Chronicles (bear den) Feb. 8th 2020

Snoozer Chronicles (bear den) Feb. 8th 2020

First indications this morning checking the den suggested the bear may have moved on. It’s been a relatively mild week in N. Central MA with just a trace of snow and ice left in the woods. I also received two reports (with pics) this week of bears raiding bird feeders. Theses bears were both within fifteen miles of Snoozer.
So, that got me to thinking it wouldn’t be out of the realm of things if the bear had moved on.
I set the hand recorder inside the den opening for three minutes. There were no evident sounds indicating anything was breathing as in the prior week. All the more to support an empty den.
Well, I guess there is only one way left to check to see if anyone is home!
The beam of light illuminated the bears back. With that validation I was on my way.
Anecdotal Science
With the last two bear checks you could clearly hear the bear snoring. That would suggest it was doing just that,sleeping and not hibernating. This week you could hear nothing. The hand recorder didn’t pick up any sound. That might suggest the bear is truly hibernating with its system slowed down

Jim

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