Our middle daughter Helen always offers sage advice when adventuring into the woods. For example, she has on more than one occasion reminded me that before peeing in the woods, I had better check for trail cameras first. I admit that doing so had never once crossed my mind; and since hearing this wisdom, I've been terrified that someone out there has captured me in a most compromising position!
In the beginning of January, Wayne gifted to me, my first trail camera. It wasn't a spontaneous gift mind you, I had a growing mental list of reasons why such an investment would benefit us. One of which was to keep track of that dog-baptizing skunk that hangs out under the deck stairs. Truth be told however, it was pure jealousy that caused me to alert Wayne to my thoughts on the subject.
Last fall, when it seemed as if everyone in Vernon had captured and posted pictures of bobcats, (usually captioned, "It's a big one") I began to wonder exactly how I had failed so miserably in my attempts to invite wildlife into my own yard. Then one afternoon as I was walking by the corner of the house where rhododendrons cover the edge of the deck, I flushed a big beautiful bobcat from the bushes. Now, I didn't go on social media to share this remarkable experience; because without photographic evidence, I didn't want to be accused of conjuring up a fish story. I think everyone sees where I'm going here.
Photographic evidence, Who is raiding the compost?
#1, Clever crows.
#2, I would have expected nothing less!
#3 Tell me it ain't so!
Photographic evidence, Who is eating the bark off of the roadside hedge?
#1 How cute is this fluffy bunny? I'll allow it!
#2 There it is.
Photographic evidence, Who is chewing the gas cans, beams and wires in the shed?
#1, What a surprise!
#2, Clearly making a fool of me and my camera!
Perhaps I was looking at this all wrong? Maybe what I needed was a more optimistic approach. After all, I had already proven to Wayne that the new camera was worth the purchase by solving three household mysteries. It was time to follow my dreams and photograph that big fish!
Yes, the key to success, what was actually needed here, was to scrutinize who was taking advantage of the various natural features of my yard! I was done attempting to catch the criminals, I wanted to be a star! Errr, I mean, I wanted a picture of something exciting.
I decided that the camera should be lowered and directed towards a den that had been in use previous years.
Photographic evidence, Who is benefiting from the natural features?
#1, it sure looks like a squirrel
Clearly the time had come to apply science to my efforts and so I got out my tools of the trade while remembering Helen's sage advice of, "look before you go."
# two (even their scat is cute!) Hi bunny!
# two
Of Course! What had I been thinking? There it was in plain sight, in fact there it was everywhere around our blackberry bushes! The frustrating thing was that near the start of my quest, I had focused on this very location and abandoned it for more promising sights.
Hey bunny, I owe you a debt of gratitude!
Had I missed something important? I decided to go back through the pictures taken on the day that the squirrel had camped out by the den (and in front of the camera). It was there that I found my bliss! You may be thinking, "that's the most peculiar bobcat that I have ever seen a picture of." That's because it's actually a picture of a deer.
Locating deer scat around the blackberry bushes, and making another location adjustment towards the scat, revealed a return visit.
That's three deer in one shot, clearly I was now accredited!
So now that I actually have some game-cam creds to my rep, I believe that I can say with some authority that it is only a matter of time before I too am posting bobcat photos on social media. How am I so confident? Because I have evidence that large mammals are comfortable in this space. Also, mice, squirrel hairs and rabbits top the list of food resources for Eastern bobcats;* and goodness knows, I have plenty of squirrels available! Here kitty kitty!
I'm not saying that I don't have work to do before that day comes, one backyard blackberry patch does not complete a habitat. To this end, Kirk, a wildlife expert up in Maine gifted to me the book, Nature's Best Hope, A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Douglas W. Tallamy. Favoring experiential learning, I often spend too little time engaged in more traditional academic pursuits. As Wayne can well testify to, this results in a great deal of trial and error on my part (along with sums of money unwisely cast about). So thank you Kirk and Wayne for gifting to me the time to learn and contemplate, and for knowing me so well. -Norma Manning
This was great. Love the pics. Very fun. Maybe I should get one. Hmmm
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