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Tag Archives: wildlife cam
Grain Expectations
I can’t find a post about it but I tore the carpet out of the second bedroom around 2006. I guess I should start by saying that upon moving into our house, I did not like the carpet. But we are not home improvement people and I imagined there would come a day when we would do all the floors.
Except to do all the floors you basically have to move out of your house and there is no scenario for that happening.
Last year we pulled up the carpet in the bedroom when we got the new bed.
I decided I wanted to rip out the last of the carpet covering the hardwood floor and some wonderful handymen did that for us over the weekend. The rest of the house was added on or didn’t have hardwood. Can you believe this stuff was covered up?
On Sunday I went over the whole thing with the vacuum and picked up all the grit and dust in the corners. I pulled out any remaining staples and then I washed it down with Murphy’s Oil Soap. Pretty nice, huh?
Now I think we can move everything onto the hardwood and replace the rest of the floor. I don’t know. I would love to do a remodel project but not sure we have the money or the capacity to deal with something like that.
Definitely not worrying about it now.
Check out this jacked skunk. Doesn’t it seem huge? But with a tiny head? Do all skunks look like that? It seems really giant to me. I’m not sure where it lives. I wish I knew just to avoid inadvertently running into it.
Babies!
This one time I caught an opossum with a back full of babies. I can’t remember if I ever posted the clip. I always hoped to catch them again.
According to the search engine AI – opossums have the shortest gestation period of any N American mammal lasting 11-13 days. Then they are about the size of a bumblebee and have to crawl to the pouch. Seems like a lot to ask. If they make it they live in the pouch for 2 months. After that they cling to Mom’s back for another month or so.
It says a litter can be 4-25 joeys. YIKES. But there are only 13 nipples so for most of them: sorry, bub. Generally only 1 in 10 makes it to reproductive age. That explains why we aren’t living in a world of opossum packs.
Last month I caught these pretty big guys on camera again but only for a few seconds and to close to the camera so it’s not a great shot but still exciting. I kept hoping to catch them again but they look big enough to walk by themselves. I’m sure Mom kicked them off right after this pic.
If all goes as planned I am out of town and hopefully have a relaxing weekend. More when I return.
The Mange
Finally! Something I’ve never caught on camera before.
Little mangey raccoon kit. It is so funny and tiny. Other than being bald it seems active and curious.
The new camera has sound, too, so you can hear them drink and squeak if you listen carefully.
I only caught them on camera this one time which is probably a good thing. One website suggested I report it to wildlife officials. I don’t know where they went. Reporting their existence doesn’t seem helpful.
I recognize the mama. She didn’t look too healthy previously and she’s looking pretty ratty here.
Tough out there for urban wildlife.
New Trail Cam
I can’t remember how long ago the trail cam died. It took me forever to replace it and then it took awhile for me to put it out there.
I haven’t seen shots of the backyard in months and the first time I pulled the camera card all the usual suspects appeared: skunk, both opossums, bunnies, and raccoons.
Look how many raccoons — five? Most of the clips don’t have this many. Busy night for the raccoon family.
Skunk Butt!
I don’t know what I did with my video clips. I either have duplicates of everything or I can’t find what I’m looking for. I had to grab this back from my phone.
We knew there was something going on in the garage in Orleans but I don’t know that we were expecting this guy.
I also caught 2 different cats which weren’t a surprise and a fox which also wasn’t a total surprise. I will post that clip later.
All the pet food has been thoroughly secured but that doesn’t keep them from checking.
I have clips and photos and notes tucked away everywhere for posting but it seems like extra brain juice and patience for posting is hard to come by right now. There is a lot going on and when I do have time and energy, I’m putting it elsewhere.
Hopefully more updates next weekend.
Animal Cam: Opossum Edition
Here’s an opossum in the rain. That black planting pot is right at the opening of the spot where he crawls under the shed. He looks unhappy about it and then tears off across the yard.
I think in my earlier post I said the white one was smaller and the brown one was the big one but I had it backwards.
Here they are waddling around the garden together. Are baby possums in the future?
Animal Cam Report
Bunny is a regular visitor to the yard. I can tell he (they) have been around because there are dozens of clips when I download.
I move the camera to the garden for a week and got a good bunny close up.
This is from the very end of summer but it’s a funny one. There’s one raccoon sniffing around the camera and the other two are on the lookout for … what?
Probably other raccoons.
Misheard Lyrics: Nights Are Forever
There’s a documentary on HBO called Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary.
Trailer: here.
It’s about a style of music from the late 70s, early 80s that has come to be known as Yacht Rock. If you ever listened to Toto, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins or Christopher Cross — you do not want to miss this. Bob wanted me to watch it and I was really annoyed and ended up loving it and now I’m telling everyone in my peer group to drop everything and check it out.
It’s great nostalgia. It’s super interesting. The musicians are charming onscreen.
One hilarious moment came during a part when they played England Dan & John Ford Coley “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight.”
Bob and I watch TV with closed captions on all the time. They sang the chorus which starts, “I’m not talking about movin’in, And I don’t want to change your life.”
Bob: Stop! Stop and go back. Misheard lyrics.
And I was thinking the same thing.
If you know the song, it doesn’t sound like “I’m not talking about movin’ in” — it sounds something like, “I’m not talking about millennia.”
Does that make sense? Does it have to? It’s a misheard lyric.
Raccoon World!
I knew there had been activity out there because the water in the bucket was dirty and the pollinator water dish was nothing but dirt.
Look how many have been out there. I think this is a mom and her almost grown babies. I’m not an expert in raccoons so don’t quote me. They are cute but so destructive. All my pumpkins have been chewed on.
They even tried to steal the camera. I guess they don’t like being spied on. I need one of those signs to warn them they are on camera.
Early Morning Scramble Before Going to Bed for the Day
These two are hilariously always active. Sometimes twenty or thirty clips a night. They either barely move or else they sprint across the yard.
I woke up around midnight one night and I was in the kitchen for a drink of water and I saw the motion light go on. They look much bigger in person.
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Tagged wildlife cam
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