At the Tributary

Except for during big game hunting seasons, during the last two years I’ve had a camera trap at a spot where a wildlife trail crosses a small tributary stream. 

Other videos from the tributary were posted here. This year was no different with the camera strapped to the same tree from early last year until early November. Unfortunately several batches of bad batteries shut down the camera for a number of weeks in late summer.

If you really like white-tailed deer this video’s for you. As for squirrels, raccoons, both species of fox, birds of any kind, small mammals – not a one showed up on the videos taken by the camera.

Here come the deer –

The video clips display a wide range of white-tailed deer behaviors: bedding down several times beneath hemlock trees which provide important thermal cover on cold winter nights; that snow accumulates on their backs without melting due to the insulating qualities of deer hair; constantly testing the air for the scent of danger; repeatedly dipping their heads to test the air high and low and to simulate feeding to deceive a predator; repeated swiveling of the ears to pick up sounds and their direction; stamping the front feet when they're nervous to alert other deer and to signal a potential predator "I know you're there"; in the summer and early fall does travel with other does and their fawns and bucks form bachelor groups – there's safety in numbers with more ears, noses and eyes to detect danger.

That was a young bear and not very large, probably 18 months old, chased away by its momma and looking for a new territory.

The eastern coyote was probably just testing the deer or they all may have been fleeing from something (possibly a human) but in my experience fleeing coyotes don't just lope along – they FLEE .

I like videos of deer as much as anyone, but enough is enough so next year that camera will be elsewhere to see what it can see.