Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Spring Visitors


A camera trap has been watching a small opening in a brushy forest since 2013 and has only missed a few months in all that time, chiefly after a photo has shown a human walking past and the camera has then been removed for a while lest it disappear. My cameras are usually checked at monthly intervals; the memory card changed and the batteries replaced with freshly recharged batteries.

The camera’s location is in what was once an agricultural field, but that was over a century ago. As is the case with almost all abandoned fields in northcentral Pennsylvania, the field was then gradually occupied by trees after it had first become a field of goldenrod. Now some of those pioneer trees are quite large while others trees are small, having begun growing much more recently.

When this camera was checked it had taken 386 videos during the month of April, primarily gray squirrels and cottontail rabbits, but also a number of other species. This location has been very productive of interesting photos and videos, including those of the mammals attracted to a small hole in the ground as seen in this post.     


Now, three years later the opening and the hole are still attracting wild creatures. Here’s a sampling of the most interesting of April’s videos. Many of the mammals left their calling cards by defecating, urinating or scent marking in or near the hole.Did you notice the porcupine scent marking the two small woody stems by straddling and walking over them at 4:25 into the video?

This has been a great location for a camera trap so I’ll probably keep one there for a long, long time.

7 comments:

betty-NZ said...

I think you struck gold there with all the wonderful creatures passing by! There was some marking territory, too! What a great place to capture your neighbors!


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Marcia said...

I think you captured a woodland latrine! Or at least the bobcat's latrine.
Did the bear damage your camera? It was really taken with it.

eileeninmd said...

Great video, you did find a great spot to capture the critters.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend!

Anu said...

Hello. These animals seem to want to be filmed. There are so many of them. Wonderful place for the camera. Great video.

Adam Jones said...

I'd love to have a camera set up like this, with so many different animals visiting.

Powell River Books said...

I have a trail camera, but I live on a floating cabin and don't get many unannounced visitors. I put mine out if I think something is eating my garden plants or to discover who is making nocturnal noises. It's usually packrats that live up on the cliffs and prefer my tender lettuce to what nature has to offer. I've also caught what I think was a mink or weasel that was climbing on window screens and running up on the tin roof. The worst was a Norway rat that got on our float somehow. The aren't native to our area. We trap and relocate the woodrats to an island nearby, the noisy weasel took off after a week, but the rat got taken out in a kill trap. Fortunately there was only one. - Margy

Barbara Rogers said...

This was most enjoyable...seeing all those critters who had curiosity about the hole in the ground, or the camera itself!