Recently I've come down with a severe case of cabin fever. I catch it every Spring when the frozen world begins to thaw and my restless mind starts aching to play outdoors. In the past, various therapies have cured my fever, such as shed-antler hunting, birdwatching, 3D archery tournaments, and Cabela's spending binges; but this year I've found my cure in playing around with trail cameras. I first became converted to their use back in July (click here to read), and this actually isn't my first post about it (click here). These are just the latest pics.
On a section of public land near my home the Division of Wildlife Resources has planted a variety of trees and grasses to house and feed the local wildlife. One particularly dense row of cedar trees acts as a natural wall that funnels traveling deer to my yellow "x" where there is a single, heavily-used "gateway" to the cornfield nearby. I've marked what deer trails I know in red.
I placed my trail camera in that "gateway" hoping to get a shot of a buck or two before they shed last year's antlers. What I found instead was this...
...and this...
It snapped hundreds of pictures of coons, rabbits, possums, deer, turkeys, bobcats, coyotes, and more, all within just three days. I never expected to see such a party going on in one row of cedars. Rather than post dozens of the pictures here, I just photoshopped some of the good ones together into one photo. The final product has a cool effect.
Here's a scene from the night life. How many different species can you identify?
Stay tuned for future posts of more critter pics and other fever-curing outdoor festivities.