Moose

I’ve started to raise my trail cameras targeting moose. In most cases the cameras are set about four feet high on the tree. That’s a starting point. I came very close to capturing a nice video of a cow and calf moose a few weeks back. I never expected the moose to enter the water directly in front of the camera. Since seeing this near miss video, I have hiked back in and set the camera up on a different tree. This set is 5.5 miles round trip. I certainly don’t want to check this weekly. My goal is to capture a bull in the water during the day. We shall see……..

Jim

Bears,Bears And More Bears

t’s been my best year yet camera trapping black bears in North Central Massachusetts and the opportunities continue. Ever wonder if bears are active in the middle of the day. Check the time stamp out on this video. The young bear thinks better than to exit the beaver dam on the opposite side. It stops, uses its nose, then determiners it’s better to go back the way it came.

Jim

Lesson Learned

Sometimes things don’t go as planned. The good and not so good. The video shows a male bear following a female. Some real good video of their butts! The male bear scent marks a white pine at the end of the video. Several weeks ago the same tree was tore up by a bear (pic). There is a trail camera set on each end of this beaver dam. Looking at the trail camera picture you’ll see brown cattails on the far end of the dam. That  was the camera that captured the video in the post. The trail camera in the picture is set on the opposite side of the dam. That video DIDN’TL capture any footage of either bear. Yesterday’s TC check showed the batteries were (3/4) fine!.......hmmmm. This TC did capture other animals two days prior. My guess is the batteries were drained. Lesson learned. Be mindful of the number of pics & video a camera is capturing. Especially in a hot spot. Sure wished I thought of this earlier, before those two bears crossed UGH!!!

Jim

Bobcat Activity Slow

Interesting in the areas that usually capture bobcats has been slow. Not sure if its due to the increased bear activity. I have seen few tracks and no scat . Gypsy months have impacted the area the last several years killing many trees. The chipmunk and squirrel sightings are few & far between. Maybe the bobcats have moved to areas with more abundant food.
Jim

Big Week For Bears !

Yesterday camera trap check was incredible. The above pic is a snip it from one of the videos. This is a new beaver dam for me, and up until this week it has been slow.  This set captured three different bears crossing the beaver dam in a three day period. Two of the bears were pretty impressive with their size.
Bear activity is high  being in the middle of mating season. Hopefully I can get another busy week at this location.
A TC check this morning wasn't as spectacular with capturing several deer and a twilight evening moose.

Jim

Eventful Hike !

Yesterday was pretty eventful hiking. The morning started out spotting a young bull feeding, and having enough light to get a reasonable picture. A short time later I was surprised to find a few bear tracks in the mud. It’s been a few years since seeing any tracks.

The plan was to reach a distant swamp early in hopes of catching a moose feeding on lilies.  That didn’t happen, but I got a bigger surprise on my hike out. Reaching the intersection of an old cart road there was a bear was moping along walking in the opposite direction. He did stop to look.

Deer flies were a nuisance on my return hike. A head net will be a must next time out.

Jim

Bear Activity Good

I’m off to a pretty good start with bear photo / trail camera captures this year. On my last hike I rounded a corner on a cart road and there was a bear headed my way. I find it exciting whenever a bear crosses my path.
Trail cameras have been setup in five different areas in north central Massachusetts in attempt of capturing bears. Interesting in one area several female bears with cubs have similar white patches on their chest. One might conclude somewhere in the mix they carry the same genes and their home range overlaps.

Jim