Camera trapping

I start camera trapping this time of year and have just finished the preliminary edit of over 2000 files. I think I left in location too long. This hollow log was the site of all the activity. While I am determining a story line for a short video I'll share some of the more interesting clips. The trap is set up in an area where travel or activity is likely and left in place for at least a week. This location was used for almost 2 weeks with over 90% of the recorded activity from field mice at night. No lures or bait is used.

Spring Turkeys

Spring is here and turkeys are noisy, busy, and on  the move. There are a couple dozen turkeys at Townsend Woods SNA that I have been trying to record for the last 6 months. The only shots have been distant shots with them walking away. This trail cam was in place for a month and recorded these birds. Some of the birds seem to be aware of the camera attached to a tree. 

Raccoons

I set a trail camera up in front of a culvert last week suspecting there were raccoons sleeping in it and hoping to get a behavior pattern to film them as they were coming and going. 800 images later I have a pattern. I should say 798 shots later, two shots were of a squirrel. There was daylight activity once in the week and the rest was well after dark. Maybe I'll check their pattern again in the spring.

Tension

This has not been a good winter for collecting trail cam images. The deep snow and cold weather have kept wildlife close to home. Compounding that was a 3 week period when the camera was in position with dead batteries. Yesterday I changed cards at a watering hole camera where the seepage keeps it ice free in all but the coldest temperatures. While reviewing couple thousand squirrel images I noticed this hawk and squirrel.

Technical: Lightroom 5's vignette tool was used to highlight the hawk and squirrel. Bushnell Trophy cam used with slight cropping.

Bucks Sparring

I love recording animal behavior and a Bushnell Trail Cam is a perfect tool to get scenes of animals acting normally.  The camera trap is set up at a location with high potential of activity and left in place at least a week before checking the card.  Occasionally I'll use an attractant but it is more fun reading the signs and setting up a camera. Material will be eventually used to give a presentation called "Meet the Neighbors" to show the variety of wildlife in the park.

Be Careful

This young deer had its first experience with ice a few days ago. Another deer also slipped in front of camera trap the but was too close to get a good recording.

This pair of deer got out a little further out on the ice and had to be rescued. I noticed one is a buck. My wife and I frequently talk about my creative route finding. I wonder if this discussion took place between them. Deer Rescue

Gray Fox/Red Tape

This gray fox was captured on a trail camera located in a state park.  I have had two cameras set up for about six months, donating images for use by the park.  Imagine my shock when I walked into the office and was told, "I just found out we should have had you get a photography permit which costs $50 . . . we will wave the fee since you are donating images." Without a good working relationship with the park manager my chances of getting this shot would have been very slim.

Apparently there is a permit system in the state park system for photography and filming. The permit is on a per park basis and may require general liability insurance.  Approval is determined by the resident park manager. I would suggest getting to know the park manager if you will be photographing in a state park on a regular basis, better yet offer to donate images.

Technical: cropped to remove borders, 1/30 sec. ISO 800, Infrared exposure