February 4th 2012

Following another warmer than normal week, I discovered there was nothing on the scouting camera, much to my chagrin. Batteries are fine, plenty of signs of deer nearby but to no avail. I suppose the placement was looking towards an area that was too open. Wandered around a fair amount, including an area in the southern part of the property near Plympton road. Saw nothing there that jumped out at me though. Looking at the map there are still parts in the south end that I haven't visited, I'll check them out in future visits though. In my wanderings I did come across some tracks in the mud alongside the stream:

 sharpie resting between two deer tracks

 raccoon and dog tracks

 raccoon print on the bridge as it walked upstream

raccoon tracks leading up to the bridge

After getting skunked with the scouting camera, I decided to move it back near the stream. Looking over the stream where I found the raccoon and dog tracks pictured above. 

Much closer to ground level this time, in fact this is the lowest I've ever set the camera. A year ago at this time this spot would have been covered in snow. Hopefully the camera won't be knocked over or found. I even made a half-hearted attempt at camouflaging it, which is saying something. 

The ticks made a return on this visit, with all the tromping around I picked up five of them. YTD total now 24.