Backyard Bucks: South Boston Massachusetts

Filming coyotes has consumed most of my free time over the last year. While tracking coyotes two weeks ago I found a muddy deer trail bordering some houses and decided to target deer for the fist time in more then 10 years. I was pleasantly surprised to document these giants in some backyards south of Boston. There were 7 different bucks in 14 days and many daylight visits (usually around 7:30AM). I'm looking forward to this location next year when I can deploy cameras much earlier and these bucks will have added some mass to their antlers. I'll also have the chance to look for their antlers this winter.

Coyote Update

In February I set out to film coyotes because they have been the most challenging animal for me to record, even with remote cameras. Three months of tracking rewarded me with some truly incredible locations to film and the opposite problem: too much footage (15-20Gb a day). I’ll have to hire someone to help me keep up with it.

I've been fortunate enough to capture many unique behaviors that have never been documented and hope to turn this project into something much bigger. Here are a few screenshots from just a couple videos of the tens of thousands of videos from this summer and spring. Stay tuned!

Coyote Pups at Den

         While checking cameras at a coyote den site I noticed two pups crawling around outside the den. I took this video on my phone before quickly redeploying a number of cameras at this site. I haven’t posted any of the footage and will probably post very limited screen shots or short videos, but the footage has been spectacular.

        I’ve seen some truly unique and intimate behavior between the parents, pups, and the pups from last year. I  watched every coyote documentary I could find and scoured the internet and never seen behavior like this. I learned a lot of lessons for next year too. My biggest problem is keeping up with viewing and cataloguing all the footage. I’m filming about 15GB of footage a day (total) on 25 different cameras so every few weeks it takes 30-40 hours to get through all the footage.

Eastern Coyotes Pack

This spring I'll be using remote cameras to record eastern coyote behavior. I've found a number of sites that I hope will provide some incredible footage. Out of all the animals I've filmed, coyotes have always been the smartest and the hardest to capture. This means I will have to build an entirely new fleet of specialized remote camera systems, a feat I hope can be done within the next month. This footage is from a scouting camera that was set for a week. I use scouting cameras to monitor many areas at once before bringing in a higher quality camera.

Please select HD from the gear icon on the video and turn the sound on:

Flounder Chasing Bait School on Cape Cod

Similar to the last video I posted, this video shows a flounder following and chasing a simulated school of bait. Once again, I had no idea this interaction happened until I reviewed the footage which shows just how much goes on under the waves that we never know. I think my favorite part is the last few seconds when the flounder glides effortlessly.

As always, select "1080P" quality option from the  gear icon on the bottom right of the video.

Stripers on Cape Cod

I built a camera system to house a GoPro inside an umbrella rig that simulates a school of shad. The stripers were keyed in on a sand eel hatch so this was the wrong umbrella rig choice but still recorded some interesting interactions. While we saw no evidence of fish above the surface, there was a lot happening under the waves. We were fogged in with only 100ft of visibility so video quality would be greatly improved on a sunny day. As always, watch in HD.

     

Fall in Northern Vermont

A full assortment of pictures from a recent camera check in Northern Vermont. One remote camera has been taking pictures in the same location for over a year and half with the same batteries. The coyote picture was taken at a new test site along a river bank. It was located in dense growth along a logging path and I was expecting few if any pictures, yet it yielded some of the best results and most diverse species. After all the years camera trapping, I am constantly surprised and continuing to learn.