Early Winter Bear ! And A few TC Sets

 

Wow !, The last week of December and no ice ! All that is needed is about half an inch. That will make the beaver lodges accessible by bobcats and other predators. A SD card check last week showed a large bobcat in the vicinity of one of the lodges, The extended weather forecast sounds like at least freezing temps at night. The YouTube  video shares one morning last week checking SD cards in Massachusetts . https://youtu.be/4JnM8ddywo0

The cover pic is from a log bridge set . A beautiful young bobcat crosses during the day. I have another beaver lodge set in the area, hopefully with a little  ice on the pond this bobcat will check out the beaver lodge,

 

Jim

Massachusetts Bobcats Winter Focus

 

Okay , it’s that time of year to start thinking about setting camera trapping goals for 2024. Doing this helps keeps me focused and adds additional purpose to my camera trapping. And by the end of the year ,I’ve learned more about nature. The focus this winter is going to be bobcats. I have found over the years that beaver lodges attract bobcats in search of food. Six lodges , two inactive and four active have been set up with camera traps. The goal is to monitor the lodges for the months of January and February ( 60 days ) . That will provide 360 camera trap days ( 6 lodges x 60 days = 360) The objectives:

-          10% total  bobcat camera trap triggers over the two months ( 36 videos)

-          Of the 36 videos (4) hopefully “ Top Captures “

-          Of the (4)  top capture videos, hopefully one Unique Video

-          Track the data on a spreadsheet!

Looking towards next spring and summer, otters and more bears will be the focus.

Jim

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Thank You for following my blog !!

Winter Sets - Beaver Lodges

 

It has been a busy week re-deploying trail cameras. The focus continues to be on beaver ponds with new and old beaver lodges. Camera trap sets will  be moved slightly once there is enough ice to support a bobcat / coyote. A good example of this is the bobcat pictured above. The easiest access to this lodge without getting wet is to jump from the stone wall to the lodge. This is an ideal camera trap location because this funnels wildlife down the wall. Once the pond has iced over most predators would access the dam from the ice. That’s  when trail cameras will be moved  back away from the lodge, giving a wider field of view and hopefully video a predator approaching the beaver lodge .

Jim

What A Surprise !

 

What a surprise…. Then ?

Earlier in the fall I located a dirt den. I am not sure what animal originally dug out the site. A fox, a small bear ? I searched around the area looking for bones thinking  it might give up a clue as to its past occupant. I did find one single bone  and thought it was just a coincidence . No other bones were located.

This week hiking in to change out SD cards I could see something black in the hole. For a moment I thought it was a bear. Nope ……. A FAT PORCUPINE !!

It will be interesting to see what predators might check out this den during the winter,

 

Jim

Winter Camera Trap Sets

 

A mild December morning , pack full of trail cameras and a short visit from a cow moose on my hike in, made for an enjoyable morning  in the Massachusetts woods yesterday. With winter approaching it’s the ideal time to start making winter camera trap sets. I’ve been seeing numerous bobcat scat piles in one area and thought it would be an interesting winter project to focus on bobcats. A break in a stone wall and several log bridges had fresh sign on them. Last week I also located two beaver lodges with food caches piled in front of the lodge entrances.  This indicates that the beavers will use that lodge once the pond freezes. I have found active winter lodges catch the attention of predators and they will investigate, most likely from caster scent and the possibility of a meal.

Jim

 

Not much is going on with trail cameras this week. Most have been pulled and will be put back out next weekend. I’ve been hiking searching for new locations to make sets for 2024. The log bridges that I located earlier in November show promise. Looks like a bobcat uses it weekly. It will be interesting to see if the weekly frequency is used during the winter months.

Higher elevations in central MA had a little snow early last week. It wasn’t enough to try any tracking. I’m hoping to locate a few fisher tracks in fresh snow and  follow them to a scent post where  a  several cameras’ traps can be set.

I’ve been checking old bear den sites. Unfortunately, no takers . Last spring, I found two dens ( not sure if bear or not)  Trail cameras were set up on both locations early November. Sometime in December I’ll check them again. Both sites look ideal for a fox or coyote den

Jim

TC 2023 Massachusetts Moose Tally

 

I taken the time to review this year’s  Massachusetts moose footage taken with trail cameras and conservatively calculated the number of different moose videoed in 2023.

1	cow with one calf
1	cow with 2 calves
8	different bulls
2	cows with no calves
12	Moose conservative estimate

 

 This is the first year keeping detailed data. It will be a good start for cumulative data in the years to come. I can accurately state that trail cameras this year captured more moose videos than in any prior year.

There's still a chance for a late season bear capture. On November 11^th a bear did cross the stream bridge. I spent more time bushwhacking in the stream bridge area and located a second downed tree laying across the stream. It’s a larger diameter tree so it will be interesting to see if it attracts more wildlife. This winter these logs / tree bridges will hopefully be used by bobcats. I’m going to head back into this location next week to change out SD cards and do so more scouting.

Jim