The turkeys appeared on my camera again, this time with a large male that I don't think was present last time around.

I got several other pictures but this one was clearest.

And a little video of the turkeys walking past the camera.

The post Wild Turkeys on the Trail Camera first appeared on Tropical Boating.

The neighborhood bobcat passed by again. This picture was taken about 30 minutes after a picture of my cat in the same spot.

Bobcat by chicken run

The bobcat passing by the Omlet Eglu chicken coop and run, which still seems to be bobcat-proof.

Bobcat

Another bobcat visit.

Bobcat

This one was followed by a picture of Kailey the Cowdog, who was set off by bobcat scent again.

A closer look.

I'm not sure what this is.

Still not sure.

Bobcat

Update 10/13/19: the bobcat passed by twice more.

Bobcat

And can definitely smell chicken dinner inside the Omlet Eglu coop, but can't get to it.

Bobcat

Passed by a while later and didn't approach the coop at all.

Chicken Coop Possum

And then a possum showed up. It looks like the back half of this one must be inside the chicken run. There's a movie taken a couple of minutes later that looks like it was up on top.

MOULTRIE DIGITAL GAME CAMERA

Got a rare daytime visit from the bobcat yesterday afternoon.

Bobcat Cropped

A closer look...

Bobcat in Daylight Nov 2019 from Tom Ray on Vimeo.

I wish the accompanying video were longer. It stops just as the bobcat looks like it's getting ready to charge at the squirrel.

Raccoon Posing

I get lots of pictures of this raccoon but it doesn't often pose right in front of the camera.

Flying Squirrel

Hah! A stunt squirrel!

Coyote Eyes

I wasn't sure if this was a dog, coyote, or something else when looking at this picture but the video cleared things up. Two coyotes!

Coyotes On Trail Camera from Tom Ray on Vimeo.

Bobcat

The bobcat dropped by again a couple of nights ago.

A New Years Eve bobcat visit to the pond.

Not a bobcat but a pretty cool picture of a heron landing on a branch in the pond.

The post More Bobcat Pictures first appeared on Tropical Boating.

We like to watch the sun set over Shell Creek every evening and then return home and close up the chickens in their coop for the night. Last night we showed up and Kailey the Cowdog suddenly alerted to a scent and took off across the yard. I was wondering whether our trail camera had captured whatever set her off and it did.

I got several bobcat pictures just after 7 pm. The appears pretty dark but the image at left is cropped in and lightened a bit so it shows up better. In the background you can see that our chickens are hanging around in the end of their run just a few feet from the bobcat. I guess they have great faith in the fencing!

Bobcat Alert

There were quite a few more pictures in the ensuing 13 minutes with the bobcat prowling all around the coop but the bobcat just looks like a black blob in most of them. The picture at right was taken right about the time that the bobcat would have heard us approaching the yard and it's looking that direction.

The cropped and lightened version of that one. The chickens continued to hang around out in their run through all the intervening pictures, apparently going to sleep in their coop only minutes before we arrived. I'm pretty sure the bobcat was trying to reach them through the cage and I did find a couple of tail feathers on the ground so maybe it was almost successful. All four are fine this morning.

Late Night Bobcat

I wondered whether the bobcat would return late at night. Yep. I got a few pictures of it slinking along the pond drainage ditch and this picture of it right next to the coop.

The post A Couple of Bobcat Visits to Chickens first appeared on Tropical Boating.

Early last night at least one coyote was around our game camera for about 10 minutes.

Coyote

It showed up at 8:11 pm.

Coyote

Still around at 8:21 pm.

Coyote

And completely unaware of the camera, it seems.

Coyote

Some of the pictures showed it going one direction then (in the same minute) showed it in a different area going the opposite direction. The camera doesn't record picture times to the second, so it's possible, but it also made me think I might be looking at more than one coyote. No picture showed two and they all look like the same animal so I'm not sure.

The post Return of the Coyote(s) first appeared on Tropical Boating.

I walked by my trail camera a week or so ago and noticed it was down by the base of the tree, not strapped to it at knee height where I had left it. I wondered how it could slide down the trunk of a pine tree, then noticed the face of it was cracked and noticed the nearby large branch and figured out what happened.

The branch fell and gave it quite a wallop, knocking it to the base of the tree, shattering some of the glass over the LED flash bulbs, and cracking the plastic case. I brought it inside and went to release the battery tray, only to find it was already loose.

The picture shows the old camera where I found it, the new one strapped to the tree in the shadow, and the offending branch still waiting to be hauled away.

The pic at left is a closer view of the old, smashed camera. Today I put the batteries from the old camera into the new one and tried to fire it up but it didn't work! No power. Closer examination revealed that some of the AA batteries had been smashed enough to not make contact with the conductors in the ends of the battery tray. The positive pole still stuck up enough to contact the negative side of another AA battery so I was able to arrange them such that the smashed batteries were touching another battery and it worked.

The new Moultrie 180i has a different back-light on the display and it's not as easy to see in sunlight. The new one is also "Moultrie Mobile" compatible, meaning it has a cellphone built inside so you can access pictures through the cell network. The cheapest plan for it was $65 so I will just continue to get the camera card manually.

The post Replacement Trail Camera first appeared on Tropical Boating.

I got 16 new bobcat photos on the trail camera over the past few nights. The bobcat continues to seem completely unaware of the camera and its infrared flash.

Bobcat

Bobcat

Bobcat

Bobcat

Bobcat

Bobcat

Bobcat

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Bobcat by chicken run

UPDATE August 14, 2019:
Just the other day I remarked that the bobcat passes by the chicken coop frequently but the trail camera doesn't catch pictures showing any real investigation of the coop or chicken run. Early yesterday morning, it proved me wrong. It had to go out of its way to pass between the chicken run and the pond and the only reason I can think of that it would do so is that it wanted some chicken dinner.

Cropped bobcat view

A cropped-in view of the bobcat.

The post More & More Bobcat Pictures first appeared on Tropical Boating.

I'm not sure if I keep seeing the same hawk or if more than one of them is trying to figure out how to break into our Eglu coop and have a chicken dinner. Either way, glad the coop and the run extension that I made seem hawk-resistant.

Libby with Gopher Tortoise

There is a thriving population of gopher tortoises on our property and on neighboring ones. Some of them make the mistake of wandering inside the "doggy zone" that is enclosed by an Invisible Fence. Our dog, Libby, grabs them and carries them off to a quiet place where she puts them upside down and guards them. She knows I will take them away and release them so she tries to avoid me, which tips me off that something is up because she's my shadow.

Libby with Gopher Tortoise

I don't know what happened to this one because I never found her with it. I guess she lost interest and it escaped because I haven't found a dead one. The weird thing about this is, the game camera often catches her carrying one but I have never seen it capture her carrying it again an hour later. I'm guessing that's the same tortoise and it escaped and did not quite get out of her turf before being caught again.

Bobcat Eyes

The local bobcat is still around and still has not figured out a way into the Eglu coop to get a chicken.

Bobcat Side

This one is further proof that the game camera's flash and noise are not noticeable to bobcats. The previous version of this Moultrie camera had a visible flash and a moving camera carriage that made noise and a second shot like this one would always show the animal looking right at the camera. That bobcat seems oblivious.

Bobcat Tail

And a shot of the tail. No, it's really not a panther.

Hawk in Flight

The post A Hawk, A Bobcat, And A Naughty Dog first appeared on Tropical Boating.

The game camera got this shot of a red shouldered hawk yesterday afternoon. I'm still impressed that it can shoot pictures fast enough to get things like spread wings on landing.

A closer look shows something furry, most likely a squirrel, under the hawk. I hope it was the one that has figured out how to steal bananas from me.

The post Hawk Got Another Squirrel first appeared on Tropical Boating.

The trail camera got a pretty cool black and white picture of an oak tree that was split in half by Hurricane Charlie but survived.

The post No Critters But… first appeared on Tropical Boating.

The coyote showed up again, wandering past my Japanese persimmon tree.

Coyote Again

The streak of light is likely an insect flying near the camera and lit up by the flash.

The post Coyote Again first appeared on Tropical Boating.