The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is one of my favorite animals to track in snow because it does a lot within a relatively short distance. It winds through the forest, often from from the base of one large tree to that … Continue reading →
A recent trail camera video I captured at an otter latrine got me to thinking about river otter winter adaptations. These animals do not wait out the cold months in hibernation. On the contrary, they are active and appear comfortable … Continue reading →
I’ve discussed moose feeding sign before but thought I’d share this video of a moose browsing in winter because it’s in color and gives another look at how these animals create the sign we trackers find in the field. Watch … Continue reading →
Like many other mammals, white-tailed deer use scent to communicate. They deposit secretions from glands on their heads, on their legs, and between their toes, and all of these are used in scent marking at deer scrapes, important communication spots … Continue reading →
In my last post about the badger (Taxidea taxus) I discussed badger dens and showed a video of the the various species using, or at least visiting, old badger digs, and we saw that a badger revisited some of the … Continue reading →
Last week I posted about an interesting encounter with an aggressive ruffed grouse. During that nearly hour long encounter, Bob and I got to see the bird consume grass seeds, partridge berries, and mushrooms. Watching animals eat and studying the … Continue reading →
If you read this blog regularly you may be starting to think I’m obsessed with ruffed grouse. I promise that I have plans to write about many other species but this has, in fact, been the year of the grouse … Continue reading →
Often when I camera trap I target some kind of animal sign to get a certain species or even a specific behavior. Some examples from past posts are an otter latrine, a bear marking tree, a woodchuck marking a sapling, … Continue reading →
This woodland jumping mouse (Napaeozapus insignis) was captured by my camera targeting a ruffed grouse dust bath in pine-hemlock-hardwood upland forest. It’s my first jumping mouse, so it was a small consolation for failure to get the bird actually dust … Continue reading →
Many bird species bathe in “dust” (sand or soil) as part of their plumage preening process. The bird prepares a new spot for dust bathing by scraping a patch of dry, fine, loose soil or sand with its feet to … Continue reading →
