Trail Camera Video Montage – “Best Of”
Video montage of my favorite trail camera video clips and photos from late 2015 through 2018.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Weasel family
Wild River Otters Playing
While otters are reputed to be playful, I’ve had the pleasure of observing wild river otters playing only twice. The first was in person at Yellowstone National Park in late September, as a pair of otters wrestled while another relaxed … Continue reading →
Do Fishers Slide? What about the other weasels?
The fisher and its cousin the river otter often create tracks and trail patterns of similar appearance. If tracking conditions are poor and tracks are unclear, distinguishing between these two mustelids can be tricky business. However in snow, otters usually … Continue reading →
Gastroliths in Otter Scat
When river otters feed on crayfish, the resultant scat contains pieces of the crayfish exoskeleton, usually reddish in color. If you carefully dissect the scat, you might find something else that came from the crayfish: a small white to pinkish … Continue reading →
Badger in the Badger State
Almost two years ago I wrote about tracking badgers in Wisconsin and setting camera traps for them. I did end up with some badger photos, but getting them was challenging. My first attempt involved targeting an old badger den and … Continue reading →
Weasel Words
Like other members of the mustelid family, the small weasels use their scats to “mark” important resources. They often leave scat on elevated surfaces at territorial boundaries, where they meet or cross paths with other weasels, along travel routes, and … Continue reading →
Marvelous Marten
It has been a long time since I’ve posted here, but now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I thought I’d revive this blog and share some of the material I have accumulated over the past … Continue reading →
Tracking Badgers in Wisconsin
Because their burrows are conspicuous, badgers (Taxidea taxus) are relatively easy to track when you’re in their preferred habitat. They like open landscape, such as prairie, desert scrub, and savanna, with loose, sandy soil. They range throughout the west and … Continue reading →
River Otters Scent Marking – Video
Scent is an important medium of communication for many animals, and the river otter, Lontra canadensis, takes it to a new level. It seems to make a celebration of elimination. I placed a trail camera on a lake shore in … Continue reading →