Wildlife, living next to nature

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Why yes, yes they do.

Thanks so much for finally answering that question. We now know that, yes, the Pope does indeed shit in the woods.









You thought I was gonna say bear dinja?

I know it's a Pope pooper cuz o' the toilet paper. Bears don't use tp.

Bears use rabbits.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Not according to the Charmin commercials.

[Gravdigr]

Damn! That was Charmin. I was all set to tell you just how fuckin' wrong you were. That they weren't Charmin bears.

But they are.

My apologies for doubting you sir. It'll never happen again. Til the next time.

[Gravdigr]

Charmin is made from rabbit fur.

[xoxoxoBruce]

And steak is made from cows, but I ain't eatin' a cow.

[Gravdigr]

Nothing about that pic looks genuine. It looks like someone tried real hard, though.

[xoxoxoBruce]

It won a major international photography contest so I guess they tried hard enough.

[Gravdigr]

Or there weren't many entries.

[xoxoxoBruce]

You're right, only 320,000 entries.

[BigV]

That's a lot of crappy pictures

Skid marks leading up to the vehicle
In line with the tires
Car was moving away and is still pointing away

Did it leap into the air and do half a barrel roll and then land non destructively on its roof?


Weird

[xoxoxoBruce]

That skid mark is not from the tire, it's only on one side. It's snow pushed aside by the roof.

[Carruthers]

Somewhere in the beginnings of this thread, I posted pictures of our front and back lawns after they had been raided by Badgers looking for autumnal grubs.
Frankly, they left a hell of a mess. I wasn't too bothered as neither lawn is a horticultural work of art and the turf was mostly left in a state where it could be reinstated reasonably easily.
My biggest gripe was that I never got to see the creatures only the aftermath.
The only time most people will have ever seen a Badger is when one has perished on the road.
I've been fortunate in having access to some private land in recent years, spotting the elusive creatures there but never in our garden.

Fast forward to last Spring. One evening I went out into the conservatory to lock up and normally I would just rely on the light from the living room but for some reason I switched on the conservatory light which illuminated the back garden. There staring back at me was a black and white striped face!
In an attempt to get a better look I started leaving out peanuts in the garden and we've had nightly visits ever since.
They have poor eyesight and it is possible to shine a torch without frightening the creatures so we can get a good view.

I recently treated myself to a trail cam or camera trap which arrived on Saturday.
I didn't attempt to use it that evening as it snowed most of the day and into the night.
Yesterday evening I set up the camera but due to operator error (note to self: read the sodding manual) it didn't work.
This evening I was blessed with more success because, mirabile dictu, not just one but two Badgers turned up!





There's still a bit to do in terms of where to place the food in relation to the camera and adjustments to make for best results but I think I'm off to a reasonable start.
Taken within the last hour, by the way.

[BigV]

WOW!

[xoxoxoBruce]

Does that camera do video too? Just don't try to direct them, they resent that and can be hazardous to your health.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Does that camera do video too? Just don't try to direct them, they resent that and can be hazardous to your health.

Yes, it also does video and time lapse. I'll probably have a go at video in a few days time when I hope to have a better understanding of using it for stills.

After I posted the previous two images I placed the camera in the front garden with a switch off time of 0330.
There is a distinct track on the lawn which could only have been made by a Badger so I placed the camera as best I could in relation to that track.
Results aren't brilliant, I have to say, but they give me something to work on.




Badgers are very territorial and boundaries are often marked by linear features such as hedges, field edges, ditches etc. and I think we might straddle two territories.
Those visiting the back garden arrive from the direction of the stream at the bottom of the garden and return on the same path. I'm pretty sure that they never venture out to the front.
The Badger in the above image is a hefty looking chap and I don't believe him to be one of the back garden regulars.



There isn't exactly a shortage of foxes around here so I'm not surprised that this fellow turned up.

I'll have another try tonight and experiment with the placing of the camera in the hope of better results.
With luck the snow should have thawed by then as well.
I don't know if that affects infra red photography in any way but given the temperature difference between surface and subject I'd be surprised if it didn't.

Incidentally, the crude cropping is due to neighbour privacy concerns. I thought it might be best if I included them out.