Red Fox

Beautiful red fox. Added two more from back in February when we had two feet of snow on the ground. Supposed the be back up in the 90's here next week. I could go for a little snow. I've always said that I can put on enough to stay warm but I can't take off enough the stay cool.

Bucks from the Week of 8/22

Got a couple of more shots of some nice bucks. Unfortunately we started harvesting the corn on the farm I have my cameras on and that means that many of the bucks I get pics of will be poached by spotlighters before hunting season even opens.

Bat???

Below is a three shot series of a doe taken ten seconds apart. What is that above the doe in the first pic but not in the second or third pic. Looks like a bat to me. I'm sure the doe triggered the camera and the bat? just happened to be flying by.

Couple of Bucks

Couple of nice bucks from back in July.

Virginia Elk Restoration Program

Looks like the game department has finally decided to take the plunge and attempt to restore elk to Southwestern Virginia. Kentucky started a restoration program about a decade ago and it looks like Virginia is going to model ours after the Kentucky program. The Elk picture on the right was taken in Kentucky. Below are a couple of links to articles about it. Doubt they'll ever get far enough north for me to get one on the trail camera though.

VA DGIF Draft Operational Plan

Bluefield Daily Telegraph Editorial

Roanoke Times Article

Fish and Wood Ducks

I was somewhat surprised when I got these nighttime pics of fish. I think the fish are either Crappie or Bluegill. I wouldn’t have thought that the fish’s body temperature would be high enough to trigger the camera but it must have been. There are no ripples in the water to indicate that something passed by on the surface and the camera was right on the edge of the water so nothing could have passed in front without disturbing the water. It was so close in fact that I almost lost the camera. We got a day and night of heavy rain and by the time I got to the set the water level was at the bottom of the camera. I had set this trap trying to get some pics of the Wood Ducks that past through each spring and stop at the cabin pond for a few days. The Wood Ducks arrived on schedule but they must have been camera shy. Didn’t have a lot of luck but I did get one nice Wood Duck pic along with some Mallards and Canada Geese.

Monster Quest

O.K. so it probably doesn’t qualify as a monster but what is it? I’ve had friends suggest everything up to a kangaroo…..I have friends with vivid imaginations or they may have had a beer or ten. I caught it on camera on two different occasions. I’ve come to think that it’s either a raccoon or an opossum that has lost all of its hair either due to an extreme case of mange or some other ailment. Going by the more pointed nose I’m leaning toward it being an opossum. Anyone else want to hazard a guess?

Sow and Cubs

Got these pics last summer. The cubs were generally either eating or fighting....typical kids:).
These three also apparently loved to have their pictures taken. I've got a bunch of them at three different locations.

Looks like mamma heard the camera.

Note mamma bear in the background scratching her back on the tree.

Coyotes

Some of the coyote pics I've gotten over the last year. The coyotes are pretty wary and rarely do I get more than one pic even though I have my cameras set to take a three shot series 10 seconds apart. Most pics are at night.

Looks like the camera starting up alerted this one and he started
to crouch down.

Rare day time pic.

Bear

A couple of bears from the Cedar Ridge trap.

I think the bear in front needs to get the same hair dresser as the one behind.

Fading Sun Buck

Broke one of the rules of setting your cameras in this set...always face to the North or South to avoid the sun. But I think it turned out well.

Dawson

My trailcam partner. He's always ready to go check the cameras.

Nosy Fawn

Fawn checking out the camera.