Critter Cam 2
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11/3/18 We have a really beautiful fuyu persimmon tree, covered in fruit. Yesterday I noticed that there was a broken branch underneath it, and a lot of half eaten fruit, so I asked my spouse to move the critter cam to the tree. (Oh, and did I mention bear poop? LOTS of persimmon-colored bear poop under the tree...) So he moved the camera, and we got to see who our visitors were this morning. Looks like at least three different bears, and they are definitely NOT starving...
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11/4/18 Bear is back--at least the fat one! Our son came to visit and arrived late last night, around midnight. We were all sitting in the kitchen when this activity was going on not all that far from the house. This is one bear that won't starve this winter!
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11/5/18 Tried for hours yesterday to upload this video! As I've said, our Internet is horrible right now and I never know when it will work. (We're still working on that!) Anyway, watch this short one and pay attention to the fox while I try and upload today's video. I can honestly say that critters DO love persimmons!
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11/6/18 Night before last, we had our first shot of a tree-climbing fox. Tonight it appears he's with friends...most of the menagerie showed up for this one. My persimmon tree is still standing, but if the bears decide to climb it, that may be all she wrote! It took over an hour to load the smaller video. Hopefully I can get this one up.
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11/7/18 I think we've had enough bears eating the persimmons. Someone told me to spray ammonia around the tree and that would keep them away. We shall see...is the lure of persimmons worth filling up your nostrils with the stench of ammonia? They're running out of branches to break!
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11/8/18 I'm not sure if the ammonia did its job or not, but there were no bears here last night. There were, however, five raccoons in the persimmon tree at one time, which it appears is enough to keep the foxes away, too! They wandered around and one went part way up the trunk, but the raccoons owned persimmon territory last night.
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11/9/18 2nd night without bears! Ammonia is working so far...or they just decided persimmons weren't worth the climb! Unfortunately, they've eaten all the fruit I can reach without a ladder.
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11/19/18 We had a new critter visit last night! We've known there were coyotes in the area, but hadn't yet seen one. This video is a compilation of a couple of nights, mainly because we haven't had as much activity since the apples are just about gone, and the persimmons are up too high on tiny branches where even the foxes don't seem to be finding them. Anyway, we've got foxes and deer, and at the end, a coyote! What I love is how healthy all the animals look. Lots of food and water for them around here, I guess.
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1/2/19 I haven't been posting critter cams, because it's been pretty quiet out in the woods. Just the occasional deer or skunk, not any raccoons since it turned cold (Our pond froze just before Christmas and hasn't thawed yet--ice is an inch or so thick) but we know they're out there. I've been told that the bears at this elevation don't hibernate, so imagine they'll be back, and the deer are gathering together in small herds, usually with one large buck and a forked horn or two, but mostly does and yearlings.
My husband took this video up near the burn pile a couple days ago when I was walking up the hill--totally oblivious to the deer in front of me. I didn't even see Doug, but I'm like that a lot when I'm outside. It's where I do a lot of my "writing." Thinking about the story while doing otherwise mindless jobs. Anyway, this is a daytime "crittercam" courtesy of Doug's iPhone. I love watching the deer. The ones we see around here are all so fat and healthy looking, but that's because everyone has apple orchards! They'll probably skinny up a bit now that the fruit is mostly gone, but they are definitely beautiful to watch. |
1/13/19 When we moved here, there was a large flock of Canadian geese that hung out at our pond and ate anything that didn't get out of their way. Once the weather started to change, all but four of the geese eventually left. The four that stayed were obviously new chicks from this past spring--they were smaller than the rest, occasionally hung out with a larger pair (parents, maybe?) but in the past weeks, they've been the only geese around. I'd pull apples down off the trees and break them up, and the geese, while not tame, would come racing across the orchard to eat. The are most definitely not afraid of us. In fact, when I'm working around the yard, they'll occasionally follow me. Waiting for an apple, I suspect.
This morning, two strange geese flew in and landed in the pond. Our four stood up on the hillside, squawking and raising hell at the newcomers, and then the four of them flew off the hill, landed in the pond, and the fight began. It did not end well for our four, and I wish Doug had gotten out here sooner to get video when it started, but this is a good look at the the big goose fight of January 2019. I suspect we'll see more in the future. |