Menagerie

From the trail camera trap line is a virtual menagerie of critters.  Including....

A bobcat 

A squirrel and a blue jay gathering acorns

A skinny red fox

A skunk in the daylight

Mama deer and her triplets

Our resident bearded hen (and brood)

And a buckaroo

Traffic Jam

Last Saturday the dog and I ran the trail camera trap line and collected hundreds of images to be discarded.  To be fair, some were worth saving and possibly publishing here or on Face Book.

This particular camera is always a busy location - both day and night.

Interesting to me are these three photos taken within a couple of hours of one another.  A cat, a coyote and a skunk.  There were a pile a deer too but they're not pictured as deer are cheap.  Picture-wise.  

Anyway, you'd think that with all the wildlife traffic here at my woodland version of Piccadilly Circus There might be a need for a traffic cop...

Sniff Sniff

Took the pup out for a potty call.  It was raining and there was a whiff of Pepe Le Pew in the air.

Yessir.  Skunk  

The following day we found divots in the yard where the critter was digging for grubs.  

IR photo is from one of the trail cameras.....

 

 

Variety

From the trail camera trap line I bring you a stringer of various critters who have had their images curated over the past month.

Key takeaways?  

Snow on the ground until just recently.

Plenty of variety.

Coyote

Check out the spurs on this gobbler

Striped skunk

Robin

Cranes

Possum

Deer

Crow

Chickadee

And a teeny, tiny Boreal or Saw Whet owl 

Midnight Stinker

Meet Mephitis mephitis - the Striped Skunk. 

 

Generally nocturnal, this is a solitary and secretive animal that has a distinctive pungent scent.  Found throughout Wisconsin you'll smell it before your spot it.  

A member of the weasel family it is an omnivore that rambles-about in a shambling gait in search of food. This animal does not hibernate but it will hole-up in it’s den for weeks at a time during extended cold snaps. 

This is not an aggressive critter as a consequence of a unique defense mechanism.  If threatened it will stamp its feet, arch its back with tail raised, teeth chattering and launch a spray of oily stink from glands located near its anus. This critter can nail a bullseye at up to fifteen feet. Most predators give this animal a wide berth – the exception being the great horned and barred owl.  

Breeding season begins in February – March with 6-7 offspring born naked and blind in May – June.

Stinker

The beginning of this month this pungent visitor showed-up on this very same trail camera.

Mephitis mephitis - the Striped Skunk.  

A nocturnal animal it is more often smelled than seen which is fine by me.  Eight years ago Girlfriend got sprayed and we had to clean her up before letting her back in the house.

With the freezing temperatures we've had lately I'd just as soon not have to go thru that sort of trouble.  

Stinker

Meet Mephitis mephitis - the Striped Skunk - who has incidentally been showing-up on this trail camera regularly.  More often smelled than seen this is a nocturnal animal - hence all of the photos are in IR mode and after dark. 

The striped pelt serves to provide ample warning to a predator that this critter is not to be meddled-with.  If threatened it will raise its tail and spray up to a distance of more than a dozen feet an odiferous substance that can even cause temporary blindness.

Around these parts - home for this critter is typically a burrow under one of the numerous rock piles on the property.  Skunks do not hibernate but during the winter months will hole-up in their dens for up to a couple months.

A word of caution to my hunting buddies venturing to or from their deer stands in the dark.  Keep your sniffer working....

All In A Day's Work

Tree farm work weekend (again) pruning and clearing. 

Dogs finally had some success hunting shed antlers with the black Lab materializing with one.

click on image to enlarge

Had a close encounter with Mephitis mephitis. Fortunately, Mr. Browning (who always accompanies us in the woods) administered a sudden and fatal dose of lead poisoning. 

Crisis averted.

Never a dull moment…