Anyone in northcentral Pennsylvania who called the season that recently ended “winter” should feel a bit ashamed. By the calendar it was winter, but on the ground it was more like early spring. We had a bit of snow which melted in only a few days, and some cold days that were followed by really warm weather. But since we need a name for those three months, I guess we should say that was winter.
December at the cave featured bobcat videos, but felines were absent during the following months. An opossum dominated the videos during January and February. Opossums aren’t usually considered attractive, but they're interesting critters – the only marsupial in North America, mouths that contain 50 teeth, able to survive winter with only a sparse coat of hair, immune to rattlesnake venom, have an average life-span of only two years and possess a prehensile tail.
There are reports of opossums using their tail to carry things but documentation of that activity is sparse. Well here’s some documentation as an opossum makes repeated trips to gather dry leaves to refurbish it’s bed in the cave – and you’ll even see it use its hind legs to add leaves to its bundle –
Did you notice that there was no eye-shine from the right eye of the first gray fox? It appears the fox may be blind in that eye. Speaking of gray fox, mated pairs of gray fox frequently hunt together. Many of my camera traps have gotten videos of gray fox pairs as they’ve hunted and traveled together.
We’ll see what spring will bring to the cave.
That is really cool! You are right about the eyeball!
ReplyDeleteI have never seen an opossum.
Great post - great video, Woody. Oppossums make me laugh; this was a clever, hard worker. And porcupines - be still my heart. Opossums and porcupines warm my heart. This is she only time I see porcupines. Thank you. Kim in PA
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed your video, especially the opossums.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThe Opossum is a strange looking critter, great photo and video.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a great weekend.
You always see so many amazing animals and it's neat to figure out details when you see the video. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWHO says possums aren't attractive?! I adore their beady little eyes and floppy hind feet that leave flower-shaped footprints in the snow. And I miss them terribly. When our inner-city home was surrounded by a wooded vacant lot, we had regular nighttime possum visits to the food we put out for feral cats. But a new property-owner felled every tree, and we haven't had a possum visitor since. Thanks for sharing your wildlife camera shots. I hardly ever see wildlife at our back door anymore. I think all the feral cats (neutered and released) are now dead, and the possums and raccoons and even the gray squirrels have abandoned our now-tree-shorn neighborhood.
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