Fall Is In The Air !

 What a beautiful morning hiking. I had to wear a vest. Temps were in the high forties. No  Bugs!  It's been slow with my camera taking critter pictures. Sure glad I have trail cameras to fill in the gaps.

Pictured above is what is typically called a bachelor group of bucks. In this picture there is clearly a dominant buck with two subordinates. As November approaches and the whitetail deer rut starts, the larger buck will have no tolerance for the smaller bucks. This is a first for me getting three bucks together with a trail camera.

The trail cameras are still capturing bears. There are two areas that I can count on weekly pictures. Interestingly the cameras that I moved into a new place last week for moose, have caught the attention of a bear. Its almost as this bear followed my scent to each of the camera locations and intentionally smacked the lock around.

 Turn the sound up!

Jim

Time For Moose

 I met an older gentlemen (older than me that is) on my way to a remote swamp yesterday. The brief conversation we had was quite enjoyable. It focused around nature and we each shared several memorable experiences.

Somehow we got onto, remember when…. Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom use to be a premiere nature series on television. Oh how times have changed!

Time to start getting ready for the moose rut. I’m hoping this remote swamp in North Central MA has a king of the swamp! If moose droppings are any indication we should be good to go.

Jim

Nice Hiking Weather Starting! Bear Observations

 

The swamp pictured  above is an ideal location for camera trapping. No shortage of bears using this location.

Yesterday’s weather hiking was pretty good. It started out in the low fifties, but once the sun broke through it warmed up into the upper seventies fast. I hiked just over seven miles checking trail cameras and taking time to sit with my camera, hoping to catch a wandering bear. I did watch a distant eagle fishing with no success.

I keep track of the miles hiked with each outing.

With Isaias toppling many trees earlier this month in north central Massachusetts, it made for a number of bear den prospects. A blow down exposing tree roots makes for an ideal bear den. The picture above is a good example. 

Investigating, a sow with three cubs could easily fit comfortably in the back of this uprooted tree.

It’s been a good year capturing bears on trial cameras. I thought it would be interesting tabulating the video times to see if bears are more active day or night. The anecdotal study shows some interesting data. Over a five month period twelve to fifteen different bears (guess on my part) triggered camera traps in three different locations forty two times. The forty two data points suggest that 46% (19 of 42) of the bears were videoed between 6:00 AM – 12:00 Noon.

So, what’s all this mean LOL !

You’re more likely to see a bear in North Central Massachusetts during the daylight morning hours than you are any other time of the day.

Jim

New Spot More Bears !

A few months back I started camera trapping this new spot. Things started off slow with an occasional deer or moose passing by the trail camera. There was barely enough activity to keep me interested in this new location. Sure glad I stayed patient !

Three bear captures in one day ! That's a first. 

Sow with cubs , then about an hour later the sow walks by the TC alone. That evening a male walks by the camera. Check the scar out on its head. Most likely occurred fighting during breeding season. I've named him Scarhead.

The sow and three cubs is a new bear in my camera trap area. 

Lots of Bear Sign

 

With this hot summer, clearly animal movement has slowed down. Historic camera trap locations are coming up empty. It’s not very often I check a SD card and there’s been no activity. I did manage to get a bobcat drinking water directly in front of a camera, a moose sniffing a camera, and the backside of a bear crossing a beaver day

I did find three stumps / logs that appeared to be ripped apart by a bear looking for ants.

 Jim

Curious Bear

 This is a first for me camera trapping. Having a bear tinker with a trail camera four times over a four day period. Typically, any given year at least one bear messes with a camera. This regular visitor has been more inquisitive than annoyed by the camera. It will be interesting to see if the next trail camera check shows this bear still around.

Turn your volume up and hear the bear sniffing the camera trying to determine what it is. 

Several weeks ago, I started relocating cameras in effort to capture moose. So far so good! All areas have captured at least one moose video there has been three or four different bulls, several single cows (calf not seen), and one cow with two second year calves and two cows with a single calf from this year.

 Jim

Animals Moving Hot Weather / Blueberry Time !

I’ve added several new locations to my primary camera trap line. Parking my truck and trekking to all the sets on this line falls just short of six miles. In addition to the enjoyment of camera trapping, the exercise is great! That topped top of sitting in a remote location enjoying nature while eating a snack makes for a perfect morning.

A few comments on the video. These are two of my new locations. It was nice to capture the daytime bobcat.  This is only my third daytime bobcat this year. I really like the early evening lighting on the deer crossing the beaver dam.

Berries are turning ripe. It won't be long before the bears find this location.

https://youtu.be/jnkeMpn1_aE