February 26th 2012

Nothing from the scouting camera this week, much to my surprise after the multiple shots of raccoon and deer from the week before. Batteries hanging on at about 80%, so that wasn't the issue either. The past week has been mostly warm, with some heavy rains Friday night that left some soggy ground in places. Where I'm accustomed to seeing raccoon tracks along the stream I saw these, which could be raccoon but seem too small and missing the fifth digit:

Maybe from a fox? Who knows. My tracking ID skills are marginal at best. Whatever the case, the skunk cabbage is sprouting apace:

A year ago it would have had to melt its way through about 18 inches of snow at this time.

The big news is that after a lot of hemming and hawing I took the plunge and set the camera up near this magnificent snag:

I've walked by it dozens of times now, and noticed the many cavities and scrapes along the surface of the trunk:

Also found some evidence of rodent nesting material at the base, which hopefully would attract animals that hunt rodents:

So those are the good points. More problematic is the snag's location relative to the school's ballfield, which can be seen in the pictures. The most logical spot for the camera is barely off the main trail heading into the woods as well. The pine sapling that was best placed has no low branches or any other shrub cover nearby. Camouflaging the camera was a challenge and involved piling up oak and pine branches and hoping they don't get blown directly in front of the camera lens. I'm not even convinced the pile of branches is enough cover, although I suppose if you're not looking directly at the camera it will avoid detection.

No ticks today, I stayed out of the thicker undergrowth.

February 15th-19th, 2012

Plenty of pictures with the fresh batteries in the scouting camera. I also changed the capture settings, disabling video for the time being to go easy on battery life. From the tracks in the stream bed, I figured raccoons and deer would show up and I wasn't disappointed in that regard:

 peek-a-boo

 these two appear to have plenty of ticks on them

Poked around the area I had the camera set up last month, near the trees that raccoons have been using as toilets. Noticed a half-buried shoulder blade which I think might be from the deer carcass that was here a year ago:

I dug it up before taking the picture

also noticed a nearby tree with a couple of gouge marks:

I'm guessing those are from a deer

And some fresh raccoon scat:

Having visited what is most definitely a raccoon latrine area multiple times recently, it was quite disturbing to find out about raccoon roundworm which is just nasty. While I haven't been sniffing or certainly touching any raccoon scat, I'll be a little more careful about where I'm stepping back there. In fact I'll probably give the general area a pass for the time being.

Speaking of infection vectors, with warmer temperatures I picked up a grand total of 23 ticks on this visit. Most of them latched on in the denser undergrowth in the latrine area. YTD total almost doubles as a result, to 47. 

February 12th 2012

Once again skunked on the scouting camera, alas. It did take one picture and accompanying video on the morning of the 8th, but nothing in the frame of either. Batteries are under 50%, surely has a lot to do with the lack of pictures. I had meant to bring fresh batteries but forgot, planning on doing that this Wednesday. Wandered around for a bit despite the cold windy conditions. The original forecast for this past Saturday was promising from a tracking standpoint, up to 4" of snow potentially, but it never happened. The temp did drop from Saturday into Sunday, from the mild conditions prevalent this winter to something more seasonable, and this created good conditions for preserving lots of raccoon tracks in the frozen mud alongside the stream:

 near the bridge

back and forth action here

more muddy footprints from the raccoon(s) on the bridge as well:

More scrapes in the pine needle litter, likely from deer rooting around for food I'm told:

Finally, I had to chuckle at the scratch marks in the planks along the swampy section of path. One can imagine someone's dog coming to a screeching halt:

No ticks this morning, I'm thinking the sub-freezing temps puts them in a state of torpor. YTD total 24

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.