Critters on the Trail Cam

Thought I'd post some of the other critters I caught trying to sneak around the old trail camera. As you can see some of these actually showed up Christmas morning. Opossums, raccoons and skunks, oh my.

Wile E. and the Trail Camera

On the Sunday before Christmas I relocated my trail camera to an area I had seen coyote sign during hunting season. It took three days but he passed by early morning on Christmas Eve. It was raining, notice the fog. Then again on Christmas morning he made another pass.

Red-Tailed Hawk on the Trail Cam

I set a trail camera up overlooking a deer carcass just to see what would show up for the free meal. In the week it was out I got 170 pictures. I think 100 of them included a black and white cat who had to have gained 10 pounds. Along with a opossum this Red-Tailed Hawk visited twice.

The Return of Smiley

I caught Smiley, the bobtailed opossum, on my trail cam videpo. He stopped by for a snack back on July 1st.

What Lurks in Your Backyard After Dark?

Smiley the opossum isn't the only critter to make tracks through my backyard. His old friend Stinky stopped by to see what scraps were left. Usually he's digging around looking for grubs. As long as he passes on and doesn't leave a calling card, I'm OK with that. 

Smiley

Camera trapping the back yard. I dumped some scraps at the edge of the lawn and strapped the trail cam to a gas grill bottle. I might have had it sitting a little too close. But, nonetheless, old Smiley here stopped by for a snack. I've seen him before taking this stroll just after dark.

Pepe'

This is the same set up that I caught to fisher at. Only, I think, This little stinker is actually eating the sardines I used for bait. I haven't rest the camera since pulling it from here. I'll put that on my to do list for this weekend. 

Bushnell Trail Cam - Striped Skunk.

The Buttonbuck

More from the trail cam. This is also proof that there are still some deer out there, just don't let the game commission know. I read an article this past week that there were major changes coming to Pennsylvania hunting. According to the article the commissioners were talking about starting squirrel season a week earlier. I guess as long as they don't put a tail length restriction on them we'll be OK.

The Fisher

OK, so not all my trail cam pictures are squirrels. Some are but once in a while I get what I'm after. I had an inkling this Fisher was in the area. I saw him last fall. so I set the trap, cleared some brush and broke out the sardines. Two days later his image was mine. I wish I could have caught him during the day. I did find his trail in the snow after I retrieved the camera.

Big Game Camera Trapping

Yes, I think I told you all that I got a trail camera. Not just to feed my hunting habit but as a tool to take more pictures of interest to me. And thereby of interest to you. You remember the cow elk I got pictures of roaming the high county of Colorado after shooting hours don't you? (damn elk) Well it works just as well back east. I first waited for most of the big game hunting seasons to end before I deployed my camera trap. So, two weeks ago I went out in the fog (remember the fog?) and set the camera up on a potential trail I could find myself high above next fall. Evidence of such an active trail would have me pacing and waiting until October to climb a tree and wait for the sunrise to bring me a new and beautiful day. I let the trap set for a week. I could picture all the deer. Seven days. I could image that the big buck made it through all the hunting pressure unscathed. Saturday morning I hurried out to retrieve my treasure. The camera tripped 8 times. Seven times it was the wind blowing the brush near the camera. Once it was Rocky here. The long wait til fall is no match to the time I will have to myself, while suspended 15 feet above the ground, to see a squirrel climb a tree. Wish me luck.

I Once Shot an Elk at Midnight

That's right I shot, not one, but two elk shortly after midnight. OK, it was catch and release elk hunting and I didn't have a cow elk license anyways. I had set late morning on the first day and read the instructions while watching a nearby meadow. And then I found a likely tree and set it up. Besides these two cows I also caught a turkey walking by. I may play with this camera some more this winter. 

I don't know what happened with the date. Some were OK, some said 1-1-12, some said 10-26-16 and even others said 2-28-2035. But figuring from the pictures of me when I pulled the camera the clock was about 4 hours off.