Moose Feeding In Ponds

 

Its the ideal time to sit and watch small beaver ponds and to setup a trail camera to watch lilies. This respectable Massachusetts bull was captured on video ( pic video grab). 

The picture above is a camera trap set that videoed the moose in the first picture. It takes time and effort and usually wet feet to make a set like this. 

Last week when checking this set there were three bucks feeding on the shoreline about one  hundred yards away, An awesome sight to see. I camouflaged myself against a white pine and watched the trio feed in the direction of the trail camera. All three bucks had antlers with one supporting a very large rack. It was exciting watching them in close proximity of the camera. I thought for sure I had some impressive whitetail footage. Unfortunately the deer fed just outside the field of view on the camera. 

Jim

Trail Camera First

 

Pretty “ Sticky”  hiking yesterday morning , seventy three degrees with ninety percent humidity. It didn’t long before becoming soaked. I did manage to make it six miles checking SD cards. One trail camera captured a first, a bald eagle landed on the beaver dam positioning itself perfectly for the trail camera,

Deer flies are out in full force. If you’re considering a Massachusetts hike, a head net is advisable for sure.

Jim

 

I never realized beaver dams have a role in a deer’s feeding pattern. Setting camera traps on beaver dams the last several years has shown that deer constantly visit dams to feed. It appears they feed on lily stems. One day last week while checking camera traps I saw a very large buck out on a beaver dam midmorning, pulling vegetation from beneath the water’s surface. The doe above is a snag from a video. There is not a week that goes by that several deer aren’t on this dam feeding.

Jim

Bears Plentiful

 

Camera trapping bears in Massachusetts continues to be productive. It's surprising how many sows the trail cameras have videoed this spring. Today is the first day of  summer ! A new season . Blueberries will be ripe soon. I have camera trap sets in several areas with lots of wild berries.

The picture above is a grab from a video. I really like the composition of this clip. Certainly worthy of hanging on the wall. It will be interesting to see if it breaks down when enlarged.

It 4:15 AM and time to head out before it gets to hot. The anticipation of checking SD cards is always a motivator ....

Jim

Persistence Pays Off

 

Persistence Pays Off.

One of my camera trapping goals for this year is to capture more of the animal and its environment. In the past my style of camera trapping was to basically capture a portrait of the animal. 

The sow with the cubs is a “grab from a video” . I have learned that in most cases a video grab will give you more options with picture selection and most  pictures are worthy of hanging on the wall.

It took seven weeks to capture this sow with two cubs crossing the beaver dam. 

Risk versus reward. This is a secluded swamp with little human interference. There were no trees close enough  to the dam.to mount a trail camera. The rotted stump just to the right of the sow was punky and I was not comfortable affixing a camera to it. The only option left was to fabricate a place to secure a camera. The ideal place would be on the end of the beaver dam. I found a  beaver chewed tree from the dam and sunk it in the mud, then reinforcing it with a few smaller sticks.. Now all I needed was a bear hopefully with cubs to cross the dam during the day. The rest is history.

 Jim

Moose Starting To Visit Ponds

 

What miserable weather for Memorial Day last weekend in Massachusetts !  It rained heavy at times and temperatures stayed in the mid 40’s all weekend. I did hike each day with rain gear . It wasn’t the most enjoyable hiking conditions as I checked SD cards in three different areas. Bear  activity slowed down with only capturing two bears on video last week. I was somewhat surprised at this with bear mating season in full swing.

I moved several cameras that were positioned inside the wood line of swamps , out into the swamps. Moose will start visiting secluded ponds in search of new plant vegetation. One of my goals is to hopefully capture a good video / picture of a moose in the water feeding. The video below was captured using two trail cameras. One above the dam pointed at the center of the dam and the second TC positioned below the dam pointed at the center.

Another anecdotal project I’m working on this year is monitoring a swamp over four seasons. So far so good, except for losing some winter coverage to a hard drive crash. Lesson learned for sure !

 

Jim

Bear " Baby Sitting Tree "

A few weeks back I located an area that had seventeen piles of  bear scat in it. This find really caught my interest. Why would there be so much  bear scat in one spot. Further investigation showed an abundance of skunk cabbage which had been eaten by the bears. I left it that, the bears found  safe haven and just stayed in this general area because it provided food, water and safety. 

The more I thought about it the more questions I had. A return trip provided the answer. A big ole' elm tree sat directly in the middle of the scat piles. Not sure how this was missed the first time! I guess the excitement of locating all the scat piles kept me focused looking  down at the ground.

Once I looked at the tree, there was no doubt this was a bear " baby sitting tree" What a find !! The wear marks on the tree trunk were very obvious. 

A closer look revealed small claw marks.

This is a tree the sow would leave her cubs while out foraging or just sleeping next to the tree trunk.

This sow has four yearlings and most likely are on there own now. Next March I'll put a camera trap watching this tree in hopes the sow uses it for her cubs of the year.

Jim