Trail Camera Tales - Redux

Earlier this month I published a series of photos chronicling the critters that stopped by to visit a pile of chicken parts that were leftover from making soup.  The final post was published on Sunday, April 15th. 

I returned to that camera today to swap-out the SD card and see what has transpired over the last three weeks or so.

Looks like it was continuing to get visitors - including crows, a gobbler, a deer, robin and a raccoon.

Trail Camera Tales - Epilogue

Saturday, April 7 – Dawn brings clear skies, sunshine and cold.  With no overnight visitors the crows return yet little remains.  As evidence there is a noticeable lack of traffic as the photo count drops.  The girls and I return to check things out and all we find is bare turf in the excavated snow with not a speck of chicken or a bone remaining.  The dogs give it an obligatory sniff, we fetch the SD card and depart. 

This has been a fun experiment and given the persistent hostile weather conditions I suppose the additional food gave the crows and the hawk a leg-up.  I consider it morbidly grim that chicken parts were used to attract bird to the camera.  Curiously, over six days and 1944 photos there were no other bird species evident. 

Trail Camera Tales - Chapter 5

Friday, April 6 – Dawns with more snow.  The morning was dominated by snow squalls that came to near whiteout conditions with accumulations filling what remained of the excavated bait.  Undeterred, the crows resume their excavation.  A whitetail cruises thru as the snow accumulates.  As the afternoon arrives the skies clear and the sun emerges.  The Red-tail hawk returns.

Trail Camera Tales - Chapter 4

Thursday, April 5 – Dawned with continued excavation of the lure.  A group of whitetail deer move thru and a yearling buck gives the bait a sniff.  The crows persist in their excavation of the snow.  A persistent worker the crow is.  The Red-tail hawk returns at noon and after picking at the scraps flies-off.  As darkness fall you can observe how extensive the excavation has become.  If I had to hazard a guess the bait has been substantially reduced in size.  After four days a nocturnal visitation occurs.

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Trail Camera Tales - Chapter 3

Wednesday, April 4 – Dawned with 8 to 10 inches of snow on the level with drifting up to 14+ inches.   Because it has been cold I presume that the block of chicken parts has remained largely intact – shrinking slowly in size as the birds pick at it.  The crows worked diligently throughout the day to excavate the tasty attraction.  The Red-tail hawk returned late in the afternoon and departs after about ten minutes of snacking.  There still have been no overnight visitors.

 

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Trail Camera Tales - Chapter 2

Tuesday, April 3 – Dawned with snow – the last big storm of the season.  Follow the time lapse as the snow accumulates.  For scale, observe the white spruce tree in the background right of center as the lower limbs catch the snow and are eventually buried.  The crows and the red-tail hawk alternately visit despite the stormy conditions.  So far there have been no overnight visitors.  Strange.

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Trail Camera Tales - Chapter 1

If you follow this blog you may recall that last month I made a giant batch of homemade chicken soup.  And as a consequence of that project there remained a giant batch of chicken bones and meat schnibbles.  Which I filled an entire gallon Ziploc bag.  And froze for some scheme I had up my sleeve.  On Monday, April 2^nd I hatched the scheme.  I deposited the frozen bag of chicken parts directly in front of a trail camera to see who might pay a visit.  1944 photos later I’ve assembled a compilation of the events as they unfolded.  I left the date and time stamp on each photo for purposes of documenting the chronology.   Check back daily for a day by day update of the over six days of what happens to chicken parts.

Monday, April 2 – The very last thing I did before leaving town was to hike over the trail camera situated a couple hundred yards from the house and deposit the contents of a gallon Ziploc bag five feet from the camera.  It was a frozen block of compacted chicken bones and meat bits and I figured it would be irresistible to the critters.  Predictably, within minutes the first of a bazillion visiting crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  arrived along with our resident Red-tail hawk (Buteo jamaicensis).

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Selfie

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From the weekend before last (that would be ten days ago) and from the trail camera furthest north (think active scrape and all the YUGE bucks that paid a call) there is yours truly scattering a bag of stale peanuts within range.  Stay tuned to see if this profligate waste of stale legumes catches anyone's attention.

What's Happening on the Active Scrape?

Locating the trail camera over an active scrape has produced any number of deer pictures. A Couple of days ago I sweetened the deal by sprinkling some Doe In Rut deer urine nearby.

Smelly stuff.  Blech!

Will be checking it at the end of the week to see who's been visiting.

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Hunter's Helper

When out seeking deer this time of year the skilled hunter takes great pains to be scent free.  Showers  are taken with scent-free soap, clothing is laundered in scent-free detergeant.  Deer pee is used as an attractant.

I figure if a guy is going to drink beer it doesn't hurt to drink Doe In Heat lager from O'so Brewing company...

Learn more about O'so Brewery here.

Hunger Days

Took these pictures on Friday evening just as the sun was setting.

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The neighbor left some standing corn for the critters last fall and the deer and turkeys have been picking through it lately for gleanings.

This is a critical time for the wild creatures as things haven't greened-up just yet.  And farmers that make a practice of doing this help the critters bridge the gap.  Or are they allowing the less fit to survive?

Deer Attractant

If I drink enough of this do you think I can draw-in a big buck?