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I guess its that time of year again...

Chuck(G) said:
We regularly have a bear parade through our property. Drives the dogs nuts, but the bears pay no attention. Don't see as many porcupines and skunks as formerly, however.
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Our only regularly scheduled parade is a metric ton of turkeys, once a year, just strolling through the neighborhood southbound.
 
Chuck(G) said:
I had a female retriever at the time who had a fetish about the things--she'd dig up the burrows and clean them out. Squeak! crunch, crunch...sometimes 10 in a single outing.
The moles are around; I don't mind them too much, as we have heavy clay soil here and any aeration is good in the long run. If the population gets out of control, inevitably a snake moves in to handle things.
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I remember my husky (when I still lived in Pa) loved hunting the voles. They must have been good eatin for him.
 
I'm on an island, so no bears, no deer, no porcupines, no moose. (mooses, meese?)

I do have lots of eagles though. The record was 15 bald eagles on the beach at the same time. (A dead seal washed up.)

Foxes come too. Here's a good friend of mine:

Fox Mar 17.jpg
 
beautiful creatures. So strange that they have cats eyes. I remember when i was in Alaska how many bald eagles ( golden eagles too) they were as plentiful as crows.. I remember seeing a mid air fight of a bald eagle and a golden eagle.. The bald eagle lost and fell from the sky into the bay.. We thought it died until it eventually started moving and flew out from the water. Saw my first moose shortly after.
 
VERAULT said:
beautiful creatures. So strange that they have cats eyes. I remember when i was in Alaska how many bald eagles ( golden eagles too) they were as plentiful as crows.. I remember seeing a mid air fight of a bald eagle and a golden eagle.. The bald eagle lost and fell from the sky into the bay.. We thought it died until it eventually started moving and flew out from the water. Saw my first moose shortly after.
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Bald eagles are surprisingly wimpy. I've seen them getting attacked by ravens, seagulls, even little black birds - and they just sit there, making a pathetic cries. I thought they'd be tougher than that.

eagle getting attacked c.jpg
 
VERAULT said:
I was trying to find out where i can buy a dozen rat snakes.. i mean they are large scary black snakes but relatively harmless.. im sure it will scare the heck out of my wife....
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Why do you want to scare the heck out of your wife?
 
Mr.Amiga500 said:
Bald eagles are surprisingly wimpy. I've seen them getting attacked by ravens, seagulls, even little black birds - and they just sit there, making a pathetic cries. I thought they'd be tougher than that.

View attachment 1254494
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I've seen more of them eating trash around landfills than anywhere else. They are probably the most lazy and cowardly of the raptors
 
VERAULT said:
Well a hungry male bear can be scary but unless they are starving they are more scared of you... the most terrifying thing to run into would be a bear cub... you dont want to walk into a bear cub for very obvious reasons... my wife stumbled upon two cubs at the foot of our long driveway. Thankfully she had her car.
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As long as you don't approach the cubs the mama will leave you alone. I've ran into a few in the woods but kept my distance
 
maxtherabbit said:
As long as you don't approach the cubs the mama will leave you alone. I've ran into a few in the woods but kept my distance
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Problem is they sometimes remain still until you walk right up on them, and then you are screwed if she sees you near them.

maxtherabbit said:
I've seen more of them eating trash around landfills than anywhere else. They are probably the most lazy and cowardly of the raptors
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I used to have an Osprey nest in town at the top of a telephone pole in a busy intersection when I lived on the Connecticut shoreline. I even witnessed feeding chics in it a few times. Ospreys are fun to watch when they are catching fish. Seems every lighthouse offshore we visit has an osprey nest on it.
 
Whenever we go hiking my wife periodically hollers something random, since bears really don't like noise.

Michigan is a complete pain regarding pepper spray laws, so our hiking pack has a "Birdie" on it, which is a small pull-pin device consisting of a strobe light and 120db speaker. Pretty disorienting to anything/person coming toward you.
 
I know everyone is from different regions or parts of the world but here are some critters we have caught on the trail cams. We have gotten everything on camera except Rabbits (they are everywhere but they are camera shy.. And pheasants). Bats, Owls, and most birds dont get thier photos taken much either. I should do a better job backing up the good photos,, but thats work!

baby turkeys.JPG

Baby Turkeys


cayote.JPG
Cayote


Fox.JPG

Fox



hawk.JPG
Red Tailed Hawk... Must have caught a chipmunk or mouse.


IMG_20220925_142521.jpg
Taken last september. 24 turkeys. This is two packs of turkeys that just decided to comingle for a while. Eventually they would fight and both groups went thier different ways.


Newborn deer.JPG

Newborn deer


opossum.JPG
opossum


raccoon.JPG
raccoon

skunk.JPG

Skunk

I had some good ones of bears and bobcats but I cant find them. I lost a hard drive a year or two back and I most likely didnt backup in enough places and since re-written to the SD card.
I try to keep the hi-lites.. Seems the CCDs on both my trail cams are breaking down as they tend to take too many photos of shadows and not enough of actual animals crossing the sensor. I need to buy a solar power source as batteries are a pain and dont last in frigid months.
 
Mr.Amiga500 said:
Is it entirely random? I'm picturing a woman in the woods suddenly shouting out pi to 10 decimal places.

(That should scare any bear.)
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Haha, that ought to work.

It depends if other people are anywhere near. If there aren't people around sometimes we just yell "Bear!" in a non-scared tone of voice.
 
24 turkeys! There are no turkeys where I am now. No opposums, cougars or groundhogs either.

The biggest animal around here is the coyote.

coyote 2 Feb 19.jpg

There are also lots of raccoons. I don't know why people don't like them. I think they're awesome - polite, gentle, intelligent creatures who get a bad reputation just because they rip open trash bags. (use bins, not bags!)

wash baby July 27.jpg

I've been around hundreds of raccoons over the decades and have never seen one with rabies. Vicious pet dogs are a far bigger danger.
 
Mr.Amiga500 said:
24 turkeys! There are no turkeys where I am now. No opposums, cougars or groundhogs either.

The biggest animal around here is the coyote.

View attachment 1254549

There are also lots of raccoons. I don't know why people don't like them. I think they're awesome - polite, gentle, intelligent creatures who get a bad reputation just because they rip open trash bags. (use bins, not bags!)

View attachment 1254550

I've been around hundreds of raccoons over the decades and have never seen one with rabies. Vicious pet dogs are a far bigger danger.
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I had a pet racoon for four or five years when I was about 12. We had dogs and other pets like Fish, Lizards, and birds. My older sister found the baby on the side of the road half starved next to the roadkill that was her mother. She wasnt old enough to ween yet. She fit in your hand. I named her Gizmo (you know because I liked the movie Gremlins). We gave her cat formula in a kitten bottle until she was old enough to eat solid food then she ate dog food from the dog dish. She would wash everything in the water bowl with her hands first of course.

Anyway A buddy of mine came over and I asked him to stay outside beause she was roaming the house.. But he didnt listen, he came in and she was a territorial adult female (she wasnt fixed) she attacked him and scrated up his leg. My mother tended to his cuts which were minor. But he told his mom and his mom called the police and they came and shot our pet. Devastated my mother. I mean I still have very old fang scars when she actually bit me hard on the leg once (my sister provoked it). We were all fine.. the animal never spent alot of time outdoors. Here the panic is rabies.. Rabies this and rabies that. They villafied the raccoons and all they are guilty of is being opportunistic omnivores.... Just like us. I agree... Great pets and too smart for thier own good.

My mother also had a descented skunk in the 1970's. That was sort of a trend I guess. And I remember when the pet stores sold baby alligators.. Anyone remember the movie Alligator?
 
Mr.Amiga500 said:
24 turkeys! There are no turkeys where I am now. No opposums, cougars or groundhogs either.

The biggest animal around here is the coyote.

View attachment 1254549

There are also lots of raccoons. I don't know why people don't like them. I think they're awesome - polite, gentle, intelligent creatures who get a bad reputation just because they rip open trash bags. (use bins, not bags!)

View attachment 1254550

I've been around hundreds of raccoons over the decades and have never seen one with rabies. Vicious pet dogs are a far bigger danger.
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Wait until one takes up residence in your overhead. My insurance company paid out about 5K by the time all of the damage was repaired.
 
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