Trail cam pics and a walk in the January woods.

In late December I placed my trail cameras in the woods for the first time in nearly a year.  Today I went to switch out the memory cards.  Although I managed to get pictures of red fox, raccoon, squirrels, and deer (including several bucks) I was disappointed by the results and ended up moving both cameras.

A fox runs in front of the camera

Part of a herd of deer, including two bucks, passing by the camera

After moving the cameras I used the opportunity to take a walk through the woods and take some photographs.  There was no snow on the ground, but lots of ice.  My favorite photos of the day were probably those showing leaves locked in ice.  Here are a few of the images that I captured.

Bright sunlight has been a rare sight in recent days

This picture was not planned - the plane flew over just as I was taking the picture.

Flowing water carved this channel down through the ice

Many shades of brown

Living and dead trees stand bare in the winter swamp

Oak leaves trapped in ice

Coyote scat on top of a pile of deer scat

Water levels have dropped several inches since this ice formed

Eastern Hemlock

Silt covered leaves, topped by a single clean oak leaf

A boardwalk crosses an eroded area on the trail

Northern White Cedar

The bright trunks of aspen trees glow in the sunlight

Trail camera pictures (December 2017)

I went this morning and removed my two trail cameras from Mission Creek Park.  Animal activity has decreased greatly in the past month.  During November the two cameras recorded over 1,600 pictures combined.  The same two cameras in December recorded less than 600 images.  Part of the difference was the primary deer rut (mating season) occurred in November; by December bucks had largely stopped chasing does so there was less deer movement overall.  A second factor affecting movement was increased activity at the park - Snow means crowds of people sledding!  Finally, snow and cold weather hinders the movement of many of the smaller animals that I typically capture on camera such as opossums, raccoons, and squirrels.

Here are a few of the images captured since December 1st. 

A buck chasing a pair of young does on 02 December

A small buck on 04 December

Snow fell on 09 December - it's still easy for squirrels to dig through at this point

A herd of does and fawns in deeper snow on 18 December

Deeper snow makes it more difficult for squirrels to search for hidden caches of nuts

With mating season mostly over bucks have started to form small groups - there was a group of three small bucks that appeared on camera several times over the past three weeks.

Another one of the three young bucks

 

The squirrels seemed to be spending as little time on the ground as possible

2017 Deer Deason

 
Today is opening day for the 2017 Michigan firearms deer season.  Good luck on a safe and successful hunt!

Sparring bucks - Trail Cam pictures (18 October 2017)

I went out about a week ago and retrieved the memory cards from my trail cameras.  Both cameras are located along busy wildlife trails.  As Fall progresses toward Winter, the animals have become more active in their search for foods.  In the case of White-tailed Deer, they have also become increasingly active with the approach of mating season.  Also known as "the rut", mating season for White-tailed Deer is preceded by a period in which bucks actively seek does and compete with other bucks for mating opportunities.

As I tell students, "Bucks have antlers to fight, with other bucks, over girls."  This always gets a laugh.  Despite all the time I have spent in the woods, I have never seen this in person, but now I have captured it on a trail camera.

This small buck appears to be watching something in the distance...

It's another similar-sized buck.  The two size each other up for a moment...

Once they lock antlers, the goal is to push each other around until one buck decides that the other buck is more powerful and flees.

Most bucks will typically only engage a buck of similar size - a small buck will typically not attempt to fight a much-larger buck, but will submit without conflict.  Even if that occurs, the large buck may chase away smaller bucks in order to preserve his own mating opportunities.  The small bucks above would probably have fled immediately if confronted by the buck shown below.

A trail camera surprise

On Sunday (01 OCT) I retrieved the memory cards from my trail cameras.  It had been a month since I had last checked the cameras.  In that time one camera had recorded over four hundred images.  The other camera taken exactly nine hundred ninety-nine photos.

Of those 1,400 pictures the majority were of squirrels (Fox, Grey, and Red) and White-tailed Deer.  Raccoons and/or Virginia Opossum appeared on camera almost every night.  After being absent for much of the summer, Wild Turkey are again making regular appearances on camera.  A Red Fox appeared several times and a Coyote once or twice.  One image might show a weasel.

The most exciting photos were also the most surprising.

That's a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) coming in for a landing.  If you look closely, you can see that this hawk has something clutched in the talons of its right foot.  I'm not entirely sure what it has, but it could be a Red Squirrel.  While most people associate Red-tailed Hawks with open fields and roadsides, it is not unusual to find them in a forest, especially more open forests with widely scattered trees.

The hawk stayed just long enough to have three pictures taken and then disappeared.  this brings my tally of species recorded on trail camera to at least seventeen.  I wonder what will show up next?

Trail Cam Bucks

Trail cameras (or camera traps) have many uses. 

Biologists often use them to document animal species without disturbing their normal behavior patterns.  Maybe this is because the animals live in remote areas with little human presence.  Or they may use them to document species that live in populated areas, but are rarely seen because of nocturnal or secretive behaviors.  Ecologists often set these cameras on timers to record changes over time - for instance a camera may be set to take a photo at the same time every day thus recording vegetation growth or the melting of glacial ice.

Among non-scientists, trail cameras are used in similar ways.  Many landowners use them to document the different species that call their land home.  Probably the most common use (and the use that they are most often marketed for) is for the documentation of deer numbers and habits, especially the habits of bucks.

Over the past eight months my trail cameras have documented lots of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus).  Most of the deer are does and fawns.  Occasionally a buck shows up on the camera.  This is always a thrill.  My latest set of trail cam pictures included images of three different bucks

First was a four-pointer or "forkhorn".  Here in the eastern United States, we count the total number of points on the set of antlers.  In the western United States points are counted differently and this would be considered a two-point buck as it has two points on each side.

The second buck to appear on camera was a six-pointer.  It has evenly matched antlers with three points on each side - so Out West this would be a three-pointer.

The final buck has appeared on camera several times.  I don't think I have shared any of his photos before.  Even after viewing numerous photographs, I'm not sure how many points this deer has on his antlers.  I think he has a pair of brow tines which are not visible from this angle.  If he does have brow tines, that makes him an eight-pointer. 

I believe this is the same deer photographed on my second camera.  In this picture, he definitely seems to have brow tines.  It is also possible that these are two separate deer.  It is difficult to tell based on the camera angles and distances.

One Day in the Woods (Trail Camera Pictures - 03 August 2017)

Have you ever wondered what happens in the woods when no one is there to see it?

Trail cameras allow you to find out.  I currently have two trail camera, also called "camera traps", located in one of the local parks.  These camera are triggered by motion.  Any time an animal walks (or flies) within range of the camera's sensor the camera is triggered. 

One of my cameras is a Cloak 8MP IR camera by Wildgame Innovations.  This camera takes individual still photos or (30 second) videos.  I currently have this camera rigged to take photos, but am thinking of changing it to record videos.

My other camera is a Bushnell Trophy Cam - I am not sure which model without looking at it.  This camera can be set up to take videos, individual still photos, or sets of three still photos.  I currently have this camera set up to take photos in sets of three.

The amount of photos that a trail camera captures depends entirely on location.  If the camera is placed along a well-used game trail, they will record lots of activity.  If they are placed in an area that animals rarely pass through, the number of images recorded will small.  Both of my camera are placed along well traveled deer trails.  On most days they will record at least a few animals.  Rarely, a day will pass without the cameras being triggered.  Other days are exceptional for their activity.

Here is one day's activity as recorded by the Bushnell camera.  This camera was triggered sixteen times over the course of the day and recorded forty-eight images.  I have omitted a few photos where the animal that triggered the camera had exited the frame before the second or  third image was recorded.  Each image has a time stamp in the lower right corner so you can follow along with the action.  From here I am just going to let the photos speak for themselves.