One month time lapse of animals triggering the Bushnell game camera in the Great Smoky Mountains. The creatures range in size from a field mouse to a large male Black Bear.
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Showing posts with label backyard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label backyard. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Blue Jay Alarm Call Alerts Backyard Squirrels and Birds
Blue Jays sound the alarm call and a Gray Squirrel eating mangoes in the Backyard immediately heads for safety without hesitation! After a brief wait the coast is clear and he returns to his mango. Blue Jays in the Backyard work hard for their peanuts as they are largely responsible for the lack of predation of squirrels and backyard birds and their young by feral cats, snakes and Red Shouldered Hawks. This important role is often unrecognized in Backyard ecology. Although there are no doubt many false alarms most animals prefer to be safe than dinner! See Blue Jay taking on a Red Shoulder Hawk!
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The alarm call of the Blue Jay sends a Gray Squirrel running for shelter!
Monday, June 15, 2015
Black Racer Snake in Florida
3-4 foot long Black Racer Snake hunting for Anole lizards along the fence line in the Backyard. This is a good size for a Racer. One of the daytime snakes in the Backyard they will move incredibly fast if surprised in the open - moving almost straight like an arrow they are amazing - thus the name "Racer". Here surprised next to the fence they make a slow stealthy retreat - note - unless cornered they will always retreat. These are sweet,non-venomous beneficial snakes and should not be harmed.
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Friday, August 15, 2014
Whitetail Deer Galloping in Backyard
A pair of White-Tailed Deer visit my parents backyard in southern Ohio. Two of four yearlings to visit that day - they show off their speed galloping to the safety of cover in dense brush.
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013
The Feral Cat Returns to the Backyard
My closest encounter yet with a born-in-the-wild truly feral cat that lives in the scrub/woods behind the backyard. Strictly a dusk to dawn hunter, this encounter took place near dusk when I accidentally came between the cat and its normal escape route to the rear. It is a very dark video at first as the cat hides behind a tree until the end when it makes its escape. Typical of cats raised in the wild it never vocalizes nor makes much eye contact and runs away if it encounters people. In this case I'm holding my distance of about 20 feet and appearing non-threatening as part of a slow process to begin trying to socialize the cat. I'm sure it does eat a few birds - occasionally unfortunate Mourning Doves on the ground in the morning or early evening are the most likely victims. I have the bird feeders away from potential crouching/ambush spots for the cat. Songbirds it can't get to because of the dense undergrowth and tree growth and the constant vigilance of the squirrels, Jays and Mockingbirds mean its hunting in the daytime would be futile - they watch everything. It most likely subsists on abundant lizards and snakes and small mammals such as wood rats and mice - squirrels are pretty good at the alarm and I have never seen this cat high in the oaks or pines - it would be attacked by hawks and mockingbirds if they did in the daytime. It definitely defers to the large raccoon's at night - I think it may lose that fight and wont risk injury! This is the same cat avoiding a raccoon on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBgCHTf8rcE
Whatever one thinks of feral cats - and I definitly don't like it eating any birds, this one is a magnificent creature. As far as I know we do not have native Bobcats or coyotes in this area - this cat would not exists long if we did - and this one cat fills a niche in the ecosystem. Cats like this with a year or more in the "wild" and wild born are probably not adoptable as pets, so I will leave it be and see if I can come to terms with it in the backyard.
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Sunday, April 21, 2013
Celebrate Earth Day - Simple Thoughts on Nature and the Backyard Environment
What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to start in your own backyard. The Earth's creatures have simple needs, clean water, food and shelter - best if its dense vegetation with an open area nearby. Even in urban or built up areas creatures look for little oasis's of habitat that can fill their basic needs. All of these creatures and many more live in the backyard and can live there in balance. The insects are a fundamental building block of this ecosystem. The number one way to make your backyard an empty place is to use pesticides indiscriminately on the grass, trees and bushes - eliminating or poisoning nature's food supply. A reasonable compromise for Earth Day is to use spot bait to treat troublesome Fire Ants and put a chemical barrier right along the homes foundation for nuisance pests and termites and leave the rest of the backyard to nature. There are also options for safer pesticides. Our Screech Owls eat mole crickets, palmetto bugs, large spiders, any fashion of beetles and their larvae, lizards and snakes among other things that live beyond the house in the backyard.
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| Painted Bunting |
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