Tag: trail-cam

Watch: Partially blind cougar shows why she’s still a super mom

A cougar nicknamed Uno because she has only one good eye was caught on a trail camera recently proving why she’s still a super mom.

A cougar nicknamed Uno because she has only one good eye was caught on a trail camera recently proving why she’s still a super mom.

The nighttime footage, captured by cameras monitored by Nathalie Orozco and Mark Girardeau, shows Uno dragging a deer carcass through the Southern California wilderness with two cubs in tow.

As viewers can see, light from the infrared camera reflects from only one of Uno’s eyes. Biologists believe she’s partially blind in the other eye, perhaps because of an old injury.

But it’s clear that she’s able to fend for herself and her offspring.

On Tuesday, Girardeau shared the footage to his Orange County Outdoors social media pages.

“Uno scored a nice meal!” he exclaimed on Facebook. “Every animal in nature has its role: deer graze the grass and spread seeds while mountain lions keep the deer population under control to prevent overgrazing.

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“After bears were extirpated from Orange County, mountain lions are the only animals left to play this vital role as the keystone species that they are.”

Uno before being collared. Photo: ©Mark Girardeau

Girardeau told FTW Outdoors that he has been monitoring Uno’s habitat with trail cameras since 2019. Biologists from UC Davis put a tracking collar on Uno a year ago. The mountain lion is cataloged as F312.

“This is a decent sized deer as you can see Uno struggling to move it to a safe place before retrieving her kittens to feed with her,” Girardeau continued, adding that Uno’s cubs are about 7 months old.

The father of the cubs is believed to be Toro (M313), who also appears sporadically in trail-cam footage.

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Young elk displays fancy footwork in front of trail camera

A young elk appeared to dance in excitement after detecting a trail camera in the Yukon Territory.

On Monday we shared footage of a wary coyote that detected the presence of a remote trail camera and bounded comically away from the device.

On Friday, Yukon Wildlife Cams featured another clip showing a young elk reacting to a trail-cam far more enthusiastically. (See footage below.)

“In contrast to Monday’s coyote video, this young elk seems to enjoy the spotlight,” wrote David Troup, who maintains several cameras in Canada’s Yukon Territory. “If you’re outgoing and gregarious, learn how to make an entrance like this and you’ll be the life of every party.”

The grand entrance involves an impressive horizontal broad jump as the elk positions itself in frame. The critter then “prances and dances” in the background, as one commenter describes.

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Troup’s cameras, which showcase wildlife in remote portions of the Yukon, typically reveal purely natural animal behavior on game trails.

But as he mentioned in the coyote post, critters sometimes detect the cameras “whether it’s by sight, sound or smell,” and react accordingly.

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Watch: Bear smells worst kind of trouble on tree, reacts accordingly

Video footage captured in Canada’s Yukon Territory shows a black bear hightailing it to safety after smelling porcupine scent on a tree.

After a bear has experienced the sting of porcupine quills, it’s understandable that the mere scent of a porcupine would signal a flight response.

The accompanying trail-cam footage, featured Sunday by Yukon Wildlife Cams, shows a black bear exhibiting remarkable speed and agility after sniffing a tree that had presumably been claimed by porcupines.

David Troup, who runs Yukon Wildlife Cams, explained Sunday via Facebook:

“The highly acute sense of smell that bears possess provides them with information to do such things as find food and in this case, avoid potential danger. The tree of interest was scent marked many times by porcupines over the summer, and this wet bear’s fight or flight instinct seemingly kicked into gear.”

One comment reads, “Must’ve had quills before.”

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Another: “I wish my dogs would react the same.”

And this: “Always amazes me how fast these large bears can move.”

Troup’s cameras are stationed on remote wilderness trails and he shares footage sporadically, sometimes weeks later. The bear footage was captured in August.

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Mountain lion hunts coyote in eerie footage captured by trail-cam

Nighttime footage captured via trail-cam shows a mountain lion pursuing a coyote into darkness on a Southern California trail, and audio hints at a successful hunt.

Nighttime footage captured recently via trail-cam shows a mountain lion pursuing a coyote into total darkness on a Southern California trail – and audio hints at a successful hunt.

The eerie scene appeared on a motion-sensor camera placed by photographer Nathalie Orozco.

Her footage begins with a lone coyote trotting rapidly down the trail, and the mountain lion, or cougar, in a cautious pursuit that turns into an apparent ambush after both animals vanish into the blackness.

In the Facebook description Mark Girardeau, who runs Orange County Outdoors, urges viewers to turn the volume up because it reveals how this likely ended – with the coyote crying out while under attack.

Girardeau writes: “The coyote was trotting along as they usually do and unaware of the mountain lion which just happened to be walking along his normal route.

“Just before entering the frame, the mountain lion noticed the coyote and went into action to secure his next meal. Notice how the mountain lion pounces quietly rather than sprinting.”

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Girardeau explained that mountain lions are ambush hunters that rely on stealth to capture prey.

“After checking the area, we noticed lots of coyote fur but did not locate a kill so we’re uncertain of the outcome,” the photographer continued, noting that mountain lions often drag kills off-trail. “Our guess is that the mountain lion was successful based on other nearby cameras which showed him hanging out in the area for the entire night afterwards.”

The mountain lion, a young male nicknamed Toro, is scientifically cataloged as M313. Girardeau said Toro might be the father of kittens recently born to Uno, who occasionally appears before Girardeau’s cameras.

The footage was captured on private property in the Orange County Wilderness.

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Can you spot the mountain lion stalking the elk?

Can you spot the mountain lion stalking the elk in a trail-cam image captured at Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge?

Travel Guide Book on Saturday shared an image showing the hind portion of an elk and, somewhere in the arroyo, a predatory mountain lion.

Research reveals that the image was captured by a motion-sensor trail camera in October 2019 as part of an arroyo restoration project in New Mexico’s Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge.

Rio Mora shared the image as a quiz for its Facebook followers in July 2020. It’s a difficult quiz and the answer is provided near the bottom of this post.

A common theme in the Travel Guide Book comments section: “It took a while.”

Can you spot the mountain lion? 

Several Rio Mora followers struggled to locate the mountain lion and one used a magnifying glass to achieve success.

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Understandable, considering that mountain lions, or cougars, are ambush predators that rely on stealth to catch prey.

Rio Mora, a week after its original post, shared more images captured by the same camera during a two-minute span. It includes the image used for the quiz and one that shows the mountain lion, clearly visible, following the elk (posted below).

Mountain lion after it had emerged from hiding

The images, which would be helpful if you haven’t already spotted the mountain lion, provide a clearer picture of this predator-prey interaction.

Stated Rio Mora in its description: “The entire photo series is over a two minute period. Unfortunately, it does not tell us the final fate of the elk, but it may answer questions a few of you had.

“You can see that based on the size and antlers it is a male juvenile Rocky Mountain elk that is stalked by a stealthy mountain lion.

“We have asked people who have worked with mountain lions to see if they could tell us anything more about the sex or age of the mountain lion. It is difficult to say for certain, because mountain lions do not have very distinctive features between sexes, but it could be a young adult male.”

Mountain lion in stealth mode

Some followers were stumped even after viewing the image series. Among the comments was this from Judy Hammond:

“And that’s why we have our 6th sense, that gut feeling that we’re being watched or stalked. Always pay attention to your surroundings, especially if the hair on the back of your neck goes up.”

–Images courtesy of Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge

Trail-cam footage features the derrieres of some very large bears

A wildlife photographer in Canada’s Yukon Territory has compiled video footage that shows grizzly bears and black bears wandering away from his trail cameras.

A wildlife photographer in Canada’s Yukon Territory has compiled video footage that shows grizzly bears and black bears wandering away from his trail cameras.

“Bear butts!” David Troup, of Yukon Wildlife Cams, wrote this month on Facebook. “[The] 2021 compilation also offers a great size comparison between grizzlies and black bears, and even a blond black bear.”

The footage shows bear butts in varying degrees of motion as the animals explore the wilderness.

It’s worth noting that Troup’s page also features footage of bears traveling toward his cameras, including a large grizzly bear that is shown charging to within feet of a camera, revealing the bruin’s awesome power and enormous claws.

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In the “Bear butts” clip, Troup told For The Win Outdoors that the footage is from three cameras and that every bear is a different animal.

“The first two are very likely a male grizzly pursuing a female,” Troup said. “I’ve got these two on a pair of cameras pointing in opposite directions the trail – so a coming-and-going perspective, though I’ve only ever shared them separately.”

Troup places motion-sensor cameras at strategic location each season and posts footage to his page sporadically throughout each year.

Five bobcats photographed in Ohio woods – can you spot them?

A trail camera in Ohio captured a remarkable image showing five bobcats traveling together in the Washington County wilderness.

A trail camera in Ohio captured a remarkable image showing five bobcats traveling together in the Washington County wilderness.

The image, shared by Kimberly Murnieks and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, shows how well the cats blend with the trees and leaves.

“Pretty cool to see 5 bobcats in one pic!” The ODNR exclaimed on Facebook.

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The image was captured on Christmas Eve by a motion-sensor trail camera operated by Murnieks’ father, Bill West.

Bobcats are native to Ohio but were extirpated by hunters and trappers by 1850. They began to repopulate in the mid-1900s, according to the ONDR.

The image is remarkable because bobcats are solitary and elusive. Thanks to the advent of trail cameras, bobcat sightings in Ohio are increasingly common.

Watch: ‘Awesome’ grizzly bear suspicious of trail camera

A grizzly bear in Canada was caught on a trail camera recently casting a suspicious “side-eye” glance at the device, providing viewers with an up-close look at the animal.

A grizzly bear in Canada was caught on a trail camera recently casting a suspicious “side-eye” glance at the device, providing viewers with an up-close look at the animal.

The accompanying footage, captured in late September, was featured for the first time Sunday by David Troup on his Yukon Trail Cams Facebook page.

“Awesome Yukon grizzly giving the camera a double-take,” Troup wrote.

Troup, who monitors motion-sensor cameras in the Yukon Territory, acknowledged to FTW Outdoors that there’s “not much to chew on” with this particular clip “other than a gorgeous bear offering the camera a little side eye.”

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But the clip reveals a bears’ natural instinct to investigate objects and/or sounds that might seem out of place.

Reads one of dozens of comments: “Just shows how aware wildlife are of their surroundings. No matter what travels on this trail, they check out the camera. Their hearing is so sharp to hear that camera turn on.”

Troup is still reviewing footage captured during the summer and fall, searching for gems to feature through the winter.

Early last month he featured a clip showing a large grizzly bear walking across snow with. The camera angle was such as to reveal the undersides of its remarkably “huge feet.” (See second image and click here to view the video.)

In September, Troup featured a clip showing a grizzly bear standing to scratch its back against a tree before running toward the camera, passing within feet of the device, revealing. its massive claws. (Third image; click here for the video.)

After his latest post, Troup was asked if bears have destroyed any of his cameras.

His response: “I use metal security boxes that house the cameras; it keeps them secure although they get repositioned.”

Troup added that infrared sensors are exposed, but to date animals have not damaged his sensors.

–Images courtesy of David Troup

Watch: Grizzly bear on snow shows off remarkably ‘huge feet’

Trail-cam footage captured recently in Canada’s Yukon Territory shows a large grizzly bear walking across the wintry landscape with paws the size of snowshoes.

Trail-cam footage captured recently in Canada’s Yukon Territory shows a large grizzly bear walking across a wintry landscape with paws the size of snowshoes.

“Look at those huge feet!” David Troup exclaimed Saturday on Facebook.

While massive paws might be standard issue for such an immense creature, a camera must be uniquely situated to capture footage of its moving paw bottoms in such close detail.

As viewers will note, the bear pauses after walking past the camera to stand on its hind legs and sniff a tree previously marked by grizzly bears and black bears.

Troup told FTW Outdoors that his motion-sensor camera captured the footage in late September, but he held off on posting the clip until Saturday.

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Video shows elk, not shown proper respect, knocking a man over a wall 

Troup explained that he’s still sorting through a backlog of summer and fall footage to share with his Yukon Trail Cams Facebook followers throughout the winter.

“I bring in about half my cameras for winter as wildlife activity slows down but human activity increases with easier access to more remote spots via snow machine, skis, and snowshoes,” he said.

In September, Troup posted a clip showing a large grizzly bear charging in slow motion just feet from one of his cameras, revealing its powerful gait and enormous claws. (Click here to watch the viral video.)

Beforehand, the bear stands and scratches its back against a tree trunk in an impressive display of scent marking.

Troup said that camera location was about a mile from where his “huge feet” footage was captured.

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How many wolves can you spot in these photos?

Zoologist Roland Kays on Sunday tweeted a trail-cam image showing members of a Michigan wolf pack in the darkness and asked his followers how many animals they could spot.

Zoologist Roland Kays on Sunday tweeted an image showing members of a Michigan wolf pack in the darkness and asked followers how many animals they could spot.

We’re asking the same question, using the same trail-cam image and two others that show a different number of wolves (see immediately below).

Can you spot the wolves in all three images? (Answers are provided at the end of the post, with red circles showing animals that aren’t as clearly visible.)

The images were captured on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula via motion-sensor cameras monitored by Diana Lafferty, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Ecology at Northern Michigan University.

The top image was captured in September 2020; the other two were captured in 2019.

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They show members of the Echo Lake wolf pack, which inhabits a territory that spans about 30 square miles across wilderness and rural communities near Marquette, Mich.

The five-member pack hunts as a social unit and preys on white-tailed deer and smaller mammals.

The top image was captured as part of an ongoing trail-cam research project run by NMU Master’s student Tru Hubbard and Lafferty.

Kays, in his Twitter post, tagged Snapshot USA, a collaborative camera-trapping project he leads at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science, along with Bill McShea of the Smithsonian Institution and researchers from other states.

Below are the answers (five wolves in the first image, four in the last two) and we apologize if the animals were too easy to spot.