We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.

~William Hazlitt

And in some cases, we see nature with our trail cameras…

This season seems to have fewer large buck deer than I have seen the past few years, but recently, a beautiful 8-pointer kindly walked in front of one of our cameras. A week before, the same buck was caught on camera (those videos are not included here) trailing a doe that had been filmed running on the same route two minutes before the buck appeared. And just yesterday, while I was changing out the camera cards, this same buck was closely following a doe through the forest. The rut continues and some of the ladies just don’t seem all that interested

–A nice buck strolls through the field of view of one of our trail cameras

The other hot spot for activity in recent weeks has been the ‘possum hole at the base of a fallen tree. I’ve had a camera on this spot for a year now and have seen all sorts of animals coming and going including several different opossums, raccoons, deer, gray and flying squirrels, chipmunks, and a few species of birds. Once again, an opossum has been gathering leaves in its tail and carrying them into the hole. The camera recorded this activity 4 times in the past month. Below is one of those scenes…

–The opossum is getting ready for the cold weather by gathering leaves and carrying them into the hole using its tail as a tote bag

A few days later, the camera recorded a raccoon stopping by the hole and peeking inside. Two hours after that, the camera saw a coyote at the entrance to the opossum den. When the coyote walks away, you can see that the hole entrance has been dug out a bit. I’m assuming this coyote did that, but it had to have been a very quick dig to not capture it on the video (there is a slight delay of just a second or two between the time the camera is triggered by motion and when it starts recording).

–I assume this coyote did a quick dig at the entrance to the opossum den

Five days later, a coyote visits the area 4 more times over a span of several minutes (here is the longest visit). The opossum has not been seen at the hole since the first coyote visit.

–A coyote checks out the opossum den again a few days after the entrance was dug

Cameras caught coyotes several more times in the past week (on one recording, two different coyotes pass by the camera in quick succession). Two nights ago, as we were lying in bed, we heard a cacophony of coyote yips very close to the back fence. So, yesterday, I changed out the camera cards again and was rewarded with three separate coyote videos, all at the same camera. The first was just of one trotting away from the camera at 7:11 a.m. At 7:45 a.m, the coyote below comes toward the camera carrying something.

–A coyote carrying a mystery object as it trots by the camera

We can’t quite tell what it has in its mouth even after cropping and slowing it down in the next video. Could it be part of a deer carcass? Let me know if you have any thoughts.

–A slow motion clip showing the mystery object…still tough to tell

Unfortunately, the time of day that this occurred is the toughest time for the camera’s resolution. Near dawn and sunset, the cameras I have tend to struggle a bit with clarity compared to scenes in full daylight or darkness.

Nine minutes after the coyote trots by carrying what presumably is a hefty chunk of food, a second coyote wanders by the same camera, stops, and whimpers. Not sure what to make of that unless it is just feeling left out of a meal. I guess we can all relate when someone else at the table gets the last cookie.

–This coyote seems a bit bummed it may miss out on dessert

Looking forward to seeing what the cameras capture in the coming days.