It's a wild wild life....

Here are some trail cam shots from a new Trail Cam I got called Garden Pro. I'm not endorsing them one way or the other, but compared to my old camera, they sure have improved.

Coyotes

The bucks have not started shedding their antlers, but it looks like there might be some really nice ones out there to pick up once they do. This guy looks like he is scenting a deer. But I have no idea....

This spot is like a highway for the does this year. They come and go in groups up to 8 sometimes. They cross back and forth multiple times a day.

Then there is always one that loves to stand in front of the camera and smell it. Or do they know they are doing the forest version of a selfie???

We always get a big kick out of these type of shots.

I can't be positive, but I think this was the Big Trophy Buck that all the hunters were asking me about this fall and then again during gun season.

I think this is the same fella I 'shot' in November in the meadow just east of where he is standing in this photo. If it is the same fella, I'm pretty tickled that no one nabbed him during the hunting seasons.

He is absolutely regal.

This shot below is him chasing some girls as it was breeding season. 

Many other photos we saw from the trail cam included hundreds of photos of does and young deer walking by along with nightly walks by raccoon who travel the same trails as the deer and coyotes.

We don't feed any of the wild animals as it is illegal in our county plus they are surrounded by abundant sources of food which include hundreds of acres of corn fields and soy bean fields to glean off from.

This photo is from this summer. I took it while taking an evening walk. 

I think we have plenty of deer around here!

It has been a mild winter so I think their numbers will increase.

Oh! One more Wild Life shot!

Eleanor! She is an outdoor cat who belongs to our neighbor. She has been spayed and has all of her shots.

She divides her time by hunting at my place and at the neighbor's place. He feeds her inside his workshop.

She likes to sit in the shed and observe me doing chores on most afternoons. She is not a friendly cat as in ... -- don't come near me--. I don't try to pet her, but I do talk to her every time we meet.

Oh Deer...it is that time of the year

The leaves are gone from the trees and the foliage in the woods has died back making the spotting of deer easier.

This doe was feeding under one of the apple trees on the other side of the driveway. She and three others walked alongside the fence and up the driveway to investigate what my neighbor's woods had to have for munchies.

The photo below is part of the reason why electric fencing is awesome and awful. During the rut, the deer just tear it down.

The hot wire will be removed as none of the mules bother the fence any longer. This hot wire kept our elderly mule from jumping the wire fence and crossing into the neighbor's land. It is disconnected like all of our valley fencing is right now. 

 Then there was this guy yesterday morning who was scanning the meadow as does were busy eating around the apple trees.

At first I couldn't figure out what I was seeing. I thought it was bare branches of a dead tree and with the long lens I was able to see this magnificent buck. No matter how much I dislike what deer are to cars and crop damage, ...

there is nothing like seeing a buck like this.

He was built like a beef bull. Thick in the neck and everywhere else.

Eventually the chase was on. I don't know if any of the girls were actually ready for him. But they ran across the meadow and disappeared into the woods below.

I went back out in the evening and sat in the little tree stand I'd made this summer. For a long time nothing happened until I saw these does at the apple tree.

This doe seemed to be enjoying the afternoon sunlight.

This one across the meadow walked along quietly browsing. I can generally see them walking this route late in the day.

As the sun went down some little ones came out into my meadow.

Then a little buck came through browsing and sniffing the air. He walked along as if he owned the world then dipped into the woods.

This is the time of the year where I get to enjoy the movements of the deer. There are a LOT of deer this year. 

I don't hunt for venison but I never turn down the meat if someone gives some to us. I like it. If I did hunt though, I imagine I could feed the two of us well. When Rich hunted, our freezer was always stocked.

Right now? I'm happy photographing them and watching. 

Bear Poop, Tide Detergent, Moth Balls

Well there it was... Friday the 13th!

We had 19 degrees in the morning and it felt a bit cold. I took a walk to the creek just after sunrise to see if there was any ice formations or tiny ice crystals on the rocks and grass.

I found one spot where the splashing water caught on a plant and formed a beautiful little ice formation!

The morning light in the creek was really quite beautiful and I took my time exploring. I'm glad I did. 

I found this:

Do Bears Poop in the woods?

Of course they do!

And they do it in the middle of a creek too!

I'm pretty sure this could be the same bear I saw while picking berries this summer. Generally the bears move on from our area to look for a mate. 

Black Bears are seen around here once in a while but generally it is a rare sighting, unless the population up north forces more bears south.

Anyway. The bear has stopped here more than once. There were a few piles on these rocks...well unless another bear decided to use this spot a toilet too? The under layer which is older is corn, the top layer is apples. There was another pile, but I didn't think you needed to see that.

Interesting! I thought it was a pretty cool find. 

I woke up early with a start in the middle of the night and for some odd reason I thought of Moth Balls. 

I'd used Moth Balls to deter the Ground Hogs from infesting my shed last year. They were making nests under a pile of old lumber. I had tossed Moth Balls under the lumber and dumped ammonia on top of the lumber and around their holes. They abandoned my shed within a few days. 

It smelled awful too, so I opened the doors and turned the exhaust fan on to keep it from being overwhelming.

So what about Moth Balls? 

It is a perfect critter deterrent. I use a few moth balls around the engine of the riding lawnmower's engine to keep the mice from chewing on the wires. 

How would Moth Balls work on deer? 

Rich said scented detergent would repel deer too. 

So being sly, and not wanting to deal with the guy who wants to shoot deer as they come up the trail out of my woods and towards where he parked his stand..........

I took some Tide Soap powder and spread it on the logs in the 'shoot' zone. Since we had a skiff of snow, it looks exactly like snow!

I added Moth Balls to the area, placing them here and there. I didn't need many and the smell was nasty. 

I had some old Tide detergent I'd purchased by mistake. Someone told me to use the powder in my machine. One, it doesn't work well, and two, I bought scented Tide. We don't use any scented soaps or softners at all. 

I can smell someone who uses scented laundry soap 20 to 30 feet away now. 

Being the Good Neighbor, I will call my 3 neighbors and let them know that the Bear is still hanging around.

I doubt he/she is a big concern. But I can't wait for some snow to hit the ground so I can do some tracking. I think I enjoy working out the stories that tracks of animals leave in the snow.

I would love to 'hunt' with my camera and get this fella in a nice shot I could frame.