Time To Set Camera Traps

 

The picture above is one of several new swamps I'll be camera trapping this year. This winter I've spent many days bushwhacking in effort to locate new areas to camera trap. I'm not giving up on my old spots, its nice that they produce year after year.

New areas bring new challenges and uncertainty of what wildlife will frequent them. 

This beaver dam is shaped like the letter "S"  To begin, the  camera trap was set back about 25' . I really wanted to set the trail camera on the tall stump right at the end of the dam. that will come once the vegetation starts to grow. I'm really excited about this new spot. Stay tuned!

This is another new spot near a beaver pond. I would like to leave the camera sets out till fall. It will depend on how many people show up on the video.

Tomorrow I'm off to set out more TC's. Some bears are now out and about..

Jim

Bobcat Close / Probably To Close For Trail Camera

 

Bobcat is a bit blurry. The camera trap is about six feet away, The camera was set on eight shot rapid fire. I know if this were set to video, then a pretty sharp video grab could be pulled. One of the trials and tribulations of learning. I went back this morning ,put in new batteries and set to video.

 

The picture above isn't the same bobcat that was featured last week. This is a new area .    Camera  traps were set out on New Years day. The Lithium batteries held up well !

 

By early April I'll have all  my  trail cameras back out. I wait until the shed hunters are done scouring the woods.

I figured this would be the last weekend  where I could use the ice in exploring new areas to camera trap .This spot  looks promising. It will be a challenge to get into with ice out. I may need to look into a lightweight pair of hip boots.

Jim

 

Bobcat Activity Picking Up " Mating Season"

 

There were a number of interesting visits to this prior bear den site. The frequency of late day bobcat visits picked up during early February. This activity poses a number of questions. Was the bobcat looking for a meal opportunity? , possibly sizing up a den? , just curious?

This location is in north Central Massachusetts. There are two Bushnell Aggressors positioned outside the entrance. Both camera sets are about 15’ feet away. One facing the entrance and the other facing parallel to the fieldstone wall.

When I checked the cameras yesterday both had dead batteries. That is probably why no activity videoed late February.

Lithium batteries were new in both cameras late October.  I think that was a good run on batteries for winter use.   

Jim

   https://youtu.be/UU2rv1Fph4k

Ideal Conditions Snowshoeing

 

What a enjoyable morning snowshoeing ! Conditions were perfect. The mild ice storm earlier in the week, left just enough crust to support me while wearing snowshoes.

The several inches of new snow made for ideal tracking conditions. I was surprised not to see any bobcat tracks. Deer , moose and coyote tracks were all that I came across.

The miles put on snowshoeing were in effort to  find a deer carcass on the ice. Such effort a few years ago resulted in a wonderful photo opportunity photographing a bobcat gorging itself. Not the case today, only thing seen was a distant immature eagle flying by.

Tomorrow I'll give it another try while watching for eagles.

Jim

Dead Of Winter

 

Beautiful sunrise yesterday morning. 

I hiked five miles  seeing nothing but a Red Shouldered Hawk glide by . Promise of spring is just a month away. 

The snow did give up tracks from coyote, deer and porcupine.  

Another reason to spend more time outdoors !

 This light weight canoe will provide more opportunities to sit in a quiet pond with camera in hand and  possibly to  reach more secluded areas to set trail cameras . My wife and I enjoy camping and fishing. The canoe will provide more  to do while camping.

Jim 

Deer In The Headlights Look!

Hiking has been good, but trail cams have been SLOW. About all I got last week was a deer staring into a trail camera. Ever hear that saying, " Deer In The Headlight Look" dumb founded !

I've been scouring topo maps and  Google Earth looking for new areas to camera trap. Bears are my primary focus. Hopefully with new areas, will also add more bears. Over the last two tears I estimate that each year 12/15 different bears were captured on video/picture.

 I reviewed  all my bear pics / videos over the last three years force ranking the top five and now have a number one.

 I absolutely love this trail cam pic ! There are three cubs in this family. The goal in 2021 is to  video / photograph a family of bears getting all in one frame. 

Stay Tuned !

Jim

Dead Of Winter

 

Activity has been slow all around. The porcupine still calls this home. I was hoping it moved on. The bobcat that showed interest in the den site in December and early January with frequent visits has not been seen in several weeks.

Ideal ice conditions  looking for coyotes. The recent cold weather has froze many of the coves over. These are perfect conditions watching the ice for coyotes. A week ago this area was open water. Tomorrow morning I'll head in early and sit for a while with my camera. 

Hiking is easy right now . Not sure that's going to be the case after the Nor'easter on Tuesday

Jim