Trail-cameras – Northern Desert Photography

I am a Scaredy Cat, Scared of Cats and…

I believe that I have mentioned that I am scared of the dark. Even when looking at trail cam photos that are taken at night, I have a little dread of what I might see. So, imagine my feelings when this guy showed up on my cameras. What he was doing out there between 4:00 AM and 4:30 AM I will never know. I can’t imagine wandering around in the dark without benefit of any light source in this area. He doesn’t look like an avid outdoorsman and honestly looks pretty creepy. I am also sure he had no idea of that there are so many mountain lions in the area.

I used to go out to check cameras right at sunrise. No more. In addition to the suspicious activity with humans, there are now 6 mountain lions I have showing up on cameras. Momma lion with her half grown 3 kittens and two of her full-grown kittens from last year who are on their own now.

Monitoring the area for the last 5 years I have never gotten daytime photos of the lions until this summer. When the cats where entirely nocturnal I was more comfortable. Now they appear to be bold enough to be seen at any time of day. I am waiting until midday to retrieve my memory cards, staying hyper vigilant and upping my game from bear spray to wearing a sidearm. I think I will carry an airhorn as well as it could be a good deterrent.

Mountain Lions

After about 5 years of monitoring the area with my Trail Cameras, I finally got daytime photos of the Mountain Lions. It was a jackpot of photos so forgive me for sharing probably too many of them. It looks like Mama Lion has said farewell to last year’s mostly grown kittens. She now has 3 healthy half-grown kittens following her around. They actually lay down in front of one of the cameras and relaxed, played around and groomed themselves.

I was thrilled to see all the excellent daytime photos but was also alarmed to look at some of the times stamped. They are pretty much active in the area at some of the very times I am out grabbing the memory cards out of the cameras. It has been very hot and not so many people are venturing out there during the day which explains the Lions unusual daytime activity.

I hope the fawns can avoid the cats, but I am sure with three mouths to feed some will undoubtedly fall prey to the Lion family. One of the photos shows a kitten with a deer leg in its mouth. By the size it looks like a mature deer, but it is inevitable that the Lions will take a toll on the fawns.

Great Horned Owls

This spring I encountered Great Horned Owls both in person and on my trail cameras. An owl family set up housekeeping near my camera route. On a particularly windy day the mama owl and baby roosted low enough in the trees to avoid the gusts and I was able to get some photos though the lighting was bad.

More Deer this Year

I haven’t posted trail cam photos for a while as I have been busy with my new camera equipment. I have been checking them regularly and am excited to see more bucks showing up than at any other time this early in the season. I usually only have a few small bucks appear during the summer and the big ones seem to hide until autumn romance time. I am also seeing lots of fawns and at least one set of twins. Here are a few of the most recent trail cam pics of bucks. Some look like they may have some decent antlers going into the fall.

Mountain Lion and Bobcat Updates

I checked that trail cameras yesterday and was pleased to see that I have my first Mountain Lion showing up since February. The dates indicate that this Lion showed up the first week of September. This Lion is alone so maybe a young one or a lone male. I am pleased to see that he/she is still only a night visitor to the area as I have no desire to meet it in person. Still carrying my bear spray on my belt just in case.

On to the Bobcat…these are not great photos, but I believe it is a mama Bobcat sitting and waiting for a kitten or one of it’s kittens to catch up. You have to look closely at the photos to make them out. I apologize for the quality.

Young Coyote

I checked the trail Cameras on Monday and when going through the photos was pleased to see I got a series of photos of what I think is a young coyote mousing under a log in front of the camera. Pretty good photos for my cheap trail cam. Hope you enjoy them.

Close Call!

While going through the trail cam photos I noticed what I am going to say was a very close call. A coyote is stalking a mule deer fawn and the mom confronts him. I think this ended happily for the fawn. Lets look at the photos.

At 6:43 AM the fawn is passing through this grassy area. Mom must have passed through earlier. The camera never picked her up.

Same time and date the fawn is looking out front having moved a few steps forward.

Twelve minutes later a coyote is seen. He/she is sniffing the grass where the fawn paused and I think urinated.

Coyote is sniffing around and looking for the fawn I would guess.

Now you see the doe come back and apparently confront the coyote while the fawn I hope stayed hidden. I didn’t get anymore photos of this incident. I hope it turned out okay for the fawn. Coyotes do kill and eat fawns and yes, it is part of nature, but I have to root for the baby here. I think Mom saved the day.

Bobcat Update

I seem to have one healthy Bobcat frequenting the area. I don’t know if it is male or female. I checked the cameras yesterday and in June. These are the photos I’ve collected over June and July. No kittens to be seen.

Fawns

I am remembering why I didn’t leave the cameras out in the summer. It is unpleasant at 90+ degrees to walk out to them and retrieve the memory cards. Also, I forget how lush the grass growth is at the height of summer. Rattlesnakes are constantly on my mind as I tread carefully along the trails to get to the cameras. The sets across the river are going to have to wait as even with an early start its too hot to walk to them and back. Alright, enough complaining. As I walked along the trail yesterday morning I was watching for tracks as usual and spotted my first set of tiny deer hoofs in the dirt.

After seeing these I was excited to check the cameras and see if I had captured any newish fawns.

This little guy looks about two to three weeks old. I am using the cheapest trail cameras they make as I worry about them getting stolen. I think they take pretty good photos sometimes. This is a keeper.

I think these two may be twins. This is a common occurrence with Mule deer births.

Mom and newish fawn headed to the river for a drink.

I think this little guy could hear the trail cam click. It is such a quiet sound, but even young animals have the wariness to pay attention to small details and sounds

All the moms look healthy and well fed. They are sporting their reddish summer coats.

Autumn Romance

Late Autumn is when the rut occurs for Mule Deer in the west. Mid November to mid-December seems to be the peak time based on my yearly observations. At this time the male deer are not very cautious and rampage around even in mid-day looking for does to breed. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the trail cams were placed to advantageously capture some of this behavior.