What's In Your Backyard? Trail Camera Results

 No matter where you live, you might be surprised at the activity just outside your door when the sun goes down. Place a few inexpensive trail cameras around your yard and find out...

We live in a small development where our property is bordered on two sides by farmland. It is an ideal location to monitor wildlife activity...

With the start of the whitetail deer rut I expected more bucks to be traveling in search of does. I was not disappointed...

 

Sometimes the activity is unexpected...

Until the reason becomes known...

Thankfully, our neighbors are good about keeping their animals under control. But even the normally well-behaved dogs make a break on occasion...

What is more concerning to me is the number of cats prowling about...

It is well known that that cats, both domestic and feral, kill millions of songbirds every year. Natural predators pose a threat to birds as well...

We have at least two red foxes that are regular visitors...

One myth that trail cameras help dispel is that if coyotes live nearby, they will kill every cat and dog in the area...

Deer hunters often blame coyotes for their lack of hunting success. We have plenty of coyotes and way too many deer for their own good...

Other regular visitors are opossums...

Groundhogs...

Yes, they often climb trees...

Wild turkeys use our trail and piney woods...

The cameras have captured hawks and owls...

Even the occasional mink...

The most unusual visitor of all was a Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig...

Thanks for visiting, be well, and come back soon.

Mid November Rutting Action

I have been going out every day hoping to photograph whitetail deer activity. Some days the action is frequent and feverish. Other days I am lucky to see any deer at all. Dedicated whitetail followers will know what I mean...

I was watching a trail when a doe came into view. She was skittish and constantly checking her backtrail. This is often an indication that a buck is following...

When a buck locates a doe that will be ready to mate soon, he will often follow her for however long it takes. Ater mating he will be off seeking another doe... 

During the rut deer will often come in sight several times as the doe leads the buck on a game of hide and seek...

In this case the doe led the buck out of sight, leaving me wondering if I would ever see them again.

 A short while later she reappeared heading straight for me...

The buck was not far behind. He followed her as she went into some thick cover and out of sight again...

This time they did not reappear before it was too dark for decent photos. A young buck did come by to see what all the commotion was about... 

Elsewhere, other bucks were busy visiting scrapes and licking branches...

Smaller bucks spar while mature bucks look on. The smaller bucks will not likely get a chance to mate for another year or two. The older, larger bucks claim the does for themselves

This young buck is testing the air, hoping to catch the scent of a doe that is not being tended by a bigger buck...

While other bucks visit every doe in sight...

These does have reason to look worried because the rut will continue until everyone of them is bred. Only then will things get back to normal...

Thanks for visiting, be well and come back soon...