A Little Bit of Everything

Plenty of pictures to go around after the latest remote cameras check in Northern NH and Vermont. Two of the cameras had been deployed for over two years. These are just a few.

Remote cameras and bears mix like oil and water. Almost every time a bear shows up, the camera gets  "inspected". You can guess what happens next (taken with an IR camera).

 A coyote taking a roll in the snow.

A coyote pup inspecting a pole with velcro. The pole provides a reference size and collects fur which can be used for DNA analysis. In a show of force, a bull moose snapped the stick at the base a month after this photo was taken.

 

 Legs for days. A Snow shoe hare showing off.

 A porcupine sauntering across the snowy crust.

           A few pictures taken in Wyoming of a mule deer and a small black bear traveling on a great ridge trail set. The bear was only photographed once but this deer in velvet was photographed multiple times (events). Time of a visit and frequency are important in gathering more information about this animals behavior, home range, etc, but this is a fragment of the information that the photographs from remote cameras can provide. Animal health, activity patterns, predator prey relationships, and powerful educational tools among others are a few of the reasons why remote cameras are growing in popularity with hunters, biologists, and those who love the outdoors. This is the same ridge trail where I photographed a wolf. This camera was only up for 10 days but exemplifies the diversity of wildlife over a ten day period on one trail.

        This black bear stopped, climbed, and then smelled the tree where there was recent bear activity. I was hoping the bear would climb just a another foot higher before pausing but I was happy with this picture considering the variables.

What you don't see that tells the story

 

Sometimes the things you don't see can tell you a lot about the animals you observe. In the case of this black bear, which was photographed in August of 2010, he has no right ear. It could have been lost due to a number of causes, most likely of which was frost bite.

Bear on the log

Every once in a long while you find a location with a nice background that appears to be ideal. You imagine a rare animal posing perfectly for the camera, and the tall grasses blowing slowly in the wind. I forgot the most basic rule of the book on this one, you can't get a picture of an animal that isn't there. I was hoping for a bobcat, but I forgot the golden rule: Location, Location, Location. This black bear wasn't a bad picture, just not what I was looking for. I was also hoping that he would walk just a little farther down the log.