Deneen and I put our camera trap out trying for River Otter over a month ago. I went out to check it today. Here is a video I shot while out, it contains the results from the trap.
Latest from Camera Trap
I programed the wrong year into my camera trap, these picture where from earlier this month. I left the trap out at the same spot on the old access road across the street from the yurt. Only these deer where captured with the exception of the hind leg of some furry creature so obscure it was not worth posting. Many animal left tracks with yards of the back of the camera and I scared a whole flock of Wild Turkeys when I rushed out to check it tonight.
New Spot for the Camera Trap
We finally set up the camera trap here in Northfield. Deneen and I put it out near one of her sit spots. It is pointed at a well used trail but I poo pooed the spot because the trigger is slow and animals (and people) moving down a trail often do not get captured in the image. Well as you can see I was wrong. Great shots of a coyote, deer and in the last picture, the tail end of a bobcat.
Good to get reacquainted with the neighbors.
Porcupine Under the Garage
Deneen and her nephew Jace put our camera trap behind her parents house in Maine where we had seen tracks going in and out from under the neighbors garage. While they were out they saw the culprit in person trudging through the snow. The porky was well known to her family, its trails are visible year round as well as the damage it caused the trees as it feeds.
The camera did good work and captured many more pictures than I put here. The animal seemed to come and go from its den under the garage multiple times a night.
A couple winters ago we saw Grey Fox tracks going under the garage as well as the Porcupine. I don’t know if they were sharing winter quarters (Grey Fox, unlike other canines, will use dens year round to sleep in) or if the fox merely went under there several times looking for mice. No sign of grey fox yet this winter.
Vulture Behavior
I recorded this posture by Turkey Vultures over carcasses. These are only a few examples, it happened a couple other times as well.
I cannot determine if this is mantling like hawks and owls do or a signal to other vultures or something else entirely.
Bobcats and Coyote Share a Meal
In this video I compiled all the pictures from the night the two bobcats and the coyote were on the deer carcass together.
More Camera Trap Pictures From the Deer Carcass
More pictures from the game camera. This Eastern Coyote came. Seems to be a different individual than the other coyote in previous photos. Neither coyote fed.
It started to snow around 5 am while the Coyote was there. Then this Bobcat (which I later determined to be a male, both bigger and lighter colored than the other Bobcat) came to the carcass. It immediately covered the carcass with leaves and eventually fed from it.
We had removed the hide in order to take some meat for ourselves and then placed the rest of it here with the hide back on. Our manipulation of the hide may have effected the way the animals feed from the carcass. The Bobcat started here at the shoulder then moved to the rear end.
He looked over his shoulder many times toward the field.
Early that night and again the next morning the first Coyote came back. I have the pictures in opposite order here because it’s a pain to change it.
On the thirteenth both male and female Bobcats are on the carcass when one of the Coyotes come in. I wonder why it waited until now to eat from the carcass? There were plenty of opportunities when no one else was around.
The female was much less comfortable with the Coyote and was never in the picture when the Coyote was close. The male however would not leave the carcass. I have many more pictures of the Coyote and male Bobcat together like this.
Here are the two Bobcats eating peacefully together.
More to come.
Deer carcass visitors on camera
I placed a smallish road killed deer in front of our game camera in a high wildlife traffic area. In this and posts to come I will document what animals came to investigate and feed off of the carcass. As you will see by looking at the dates and times on the bottom of the pictures it was there for a while before anything but birds actually ate from it. The coyote seemed particularly shy, maybe do the the flash of the camera. Evidently they all got used to it after a while.
Thats us carrying it out in front of cameras former position. It will be moved 20 yards or so into the woods from this position.
No disturbance the first night. Crows come the next day, eventually many of them every day.
Vultures come on day 2 and are present until 11 am. Nothing has visited on night 2.
The first night time visitor is on night 3 when a Raccoon shows up but does not feed from carcass. Some crows come around the following day, day 3.
On night 4 a shy Eastern Coyote comes by and from 11:06 to 11:10 moves in and out but does not feed from the carcass. We found this strange. I have read that coyotes become suspicious of bait placed by humans if they have experienced trapping but have know reason to believe there has ever been trapping in the area. The coyotes here, probably this very one, has eaten the suit I have put out in the past using my bare hands and must be familiar with my scent and humans in general. All this is taking place in a patchy rural and suburban landscape.
Day 4 a Red Tailed Hawk comes on the scene. I did not know them for scavengers but it comes at least twice on this day feeding.
Night 4, 2 Deer come. This made me feel bad.
Now things start getting interesting. Closer to dawn on night 4 our resident female Bobcat gives it a sniff but does not feed yet. In the next post you will see more of this animal and other large predators get down to business.