Time To Put Out Trail Camera's

The swamps are " Coming Alive " with activity. The above trail camera set was by far my most productive set in 2019. I was able to setup another camera trap for 2020.
Bears have been pretty active in some of my other areas. I hope to get a number camera traps set out in the next few weeks.
While out and about this morning a gray fox crossed the road a good distance in front of me. Slowing down to look were it was headed , I spotted  an out crop of large boulders . I have driven by this area many times and never noticed theses rocks. Next time by you can bet a trail camera will be set out.

Jim

The bears had left the den site on March 5th and returned for one day on March 8th. 

Not sure why they came back and only spent the day. Maybe the safety of the secluded den site.

The opportunity presented the best sequence of videos . Glad they came back !

Jim

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