Fisher pauses to smell and look

This fisher (Martes pennanti) paused in front of the camera to observe a visual attractor above the camera and to leave his calling card. Even some of the smallest mammals show a curiosity in things such as a visual attractor that they know don't belong in the woods.

Snowshoe Hare changing color with the season

A photo series showing the transition of snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) from brown coat (summer) to a white coat (winter) over a period of weeks in Northern N.H. As expected, showshoe hare are very prevalent in certain locations but in all my time in the woods I hardly see them.

Moose and Calf

A couple moose calf pictures from the spring in northern N.H. The first was shot through the mothers legs, the others are self explanatory. Moose in N.H. have declined significantly due largely to winter ticks, and this has resulted in significantly lower moose hunting permits (and thus less revenue). A single moose can easily have > 50,000 ticks which remain on the moose for months to complete their life cycle. Moose in particular are victims of the tick because they cannot reach or groom as well as white-tail deer. It is common to see hair loss or bald spots of moose from scratching, which gives the moose the local nick name "ghost". Moose calfs are the most susceptible to the winter ticks because high densities of ticks literally suck more blood from a calf then it can produce in the spring (April is known as the month of death for moose). Mortality of N.H. moose calfs can be over 70% in bad years while adult mortality rates can be as high as 20%. Luckily this calf looks in good shape, but the true test of survival will be this april.

Sources:
http://www.unbc.ca/nlui/wildlife_diseases_bc/winter_tick.htm
http://www.georgesmithmaine.com/articles/georges-outdoor-news/february/2012/more-moose-fewer-lottery-applicants

Antelope and magpies

The last few pictures from this camera set in Wyoming. An antelope paused to smell the scat (above). Flipping through the pictures it was clear that the scat started to disappear faster then it should decompose. The culprit was a flock of magpies. Magpies are considered to be extremely intelligent birds, but I can't say for sure what they do with the scat after they carry it off.

           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.

       I'd like to post a link to a blog with some good info and great wildlife photographs. Zach Dautrich has given me a true interest in birds and is the reason why I often pull the car off the road and grab the binoculars. He is extremely knowledgeable and regularly updates his blog. Click HERE to view his recent posts and read about some of his inspiring work.

The West is bigger...

         Things are just bigger out west, or at least it seemed that way in Wyoming. It's a different type of landscape from New England, one that's often open enough to easily watch wildlife from the road. In the early hours of the morning, dozens of mule deer in bachelor groups devoured everything in their path. I couldn't guess the score of antlers, but it was clear that we saw some huge bucks, maybe even record breakers.
           Holding true to crepuscular activity (animals that are active primarily during twilight), we often saw these deer on the side of the road between 4-6am. The high beams would inevitably flash across the field and in the distance the glint of eyes from a lifting head covered in a dark velvet crown. This photo was a decent buck that we often saw on the drive to work. There were a few much larger bucks that I would have loved to chase around. Photographed the first week in July, this guy had a long way to go.