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