The Log

For all of 2017 one of my camera traps has been mounted with a view along a fallen aspen log in order to document the species that use the log as a travelway.

Interesting and some humorous photographs have resulted, here’s a sample:

Gray Squirrel –

Red squirrel –

Hermit thrush –

A blue jay in the almost dark –

A coyote walked the log –

Some photos haven’t been of something on the log, but are instead of a nearby visitor, here a wild turkey –

And a pileated woodpecker on a nearby dead tree –

A white-tailed deer –

One morning a black bear walked the log –

Surprisingly, a spider even triggered the camera –

By far the most frequent users of the log have been raccoons that have contributed more photographs than all other species combined.
  
Raccoons can be a real pain in the --- (insert the word of your choice) for those of us who run camera traps. If bait is used to lure a predator in view of the camera, raccoons will devour the bait; their curiosity and dexterity mean that they can occasionally even open the waterproof case; at the least they move the way the camera is mounted on a tree or stake or smear the lens glass with saliva, mucous or mud.

Some of the raccoons that have been caught on camera –

Although they may be a pain in the ----, raccoons are intriguing animals that provide an abundance of good photos. I plan to leave the camera trap in place to capture more photos.