This trail cam video capture was a really nice surprise! These bighorn sheep are part of the translocation of bighorn to the Catalina mountains by Tucson that started in 2013. I suppose it’s possible that some of these individuals are offspring of the original animals that were re-introduced at that time.
Tag: wildlife conservation
A mountain lion rests at a desert oasis
This mountain lion has been caught on my cameras on and off for nearly a year. The drainage she frequents also supports javelina and white-tailed deer, primary food sources for mountain lions in this region. When I was going to check the cameras, I came across the carcass of a deer fawn that was partially eaten and cached. I suspect that the mountain lion had very recently killed and eaten part of the fawn and was relaxing by the waterhole with a full belly.
A black bear and cub take a swim
After a few months away from this location, I recently returned and reset a trail camera pointing at the small seep-filled pool. Since it has been so dry, despite some monsoon rains, I was hoping this spot would attract wildlife like it had in previous years. This morning I checked the camera and as it turns out, just yesterday there was a fun visit by a sow and her cub. Notice in the first clip of them, the mother bear pulls her cub into the water, encouraging her to swim.
Bears being bears
It’s the time of year in Arizona when the temps are hot and the black bears are always happy to find a watering hole, either to drink or wallow. The following three videos are from the last few weeks during one of the hottest and driest periods this summer.
Black bear action
The bear marking tree had some new visitors this week. While I was hoping to see the two yearling cubs again, the camera captured a different fun surprise, a sow with three new cubs (first video). The videos from the previous visit appeared to indicate via sounds that the two older cubs from the other bear family may have tried to climb a tree next to the camera, so last week I placed a second camera looking at that tree. The next surprise was a male bear using that tree as a marking tree (second video).
A Band of White-nosed Coati
This trail cam capture was a fun surprise, a band of white-nosed coati foraging in a creek-bed. I set up the cameras about two weeks earlier, hoping to catch bears or mountain lions. I was happily surprised to see the cameras had captured the action of this band of coati as they worked their way down the creek. Pay close attention to the youngsters as they climb up and down trees and explore:
Of Mountain Lions …
When I first learned about game cameras I was immediately interested in how such camera traps could catch activities of wildlife undisturbed by human presence. I was also excited by the possibility of catching images or video of large predators in action, specifically mountain lions. I am no hunter and do not support trophy hunting or predator hunting and abhor these practices for many reasons. That said, so-called ‘game cameras’ are an essential tool for wildlife research and monitoring.
It took me several years to learn how to find the right place to set a camera trap that would catch large predators like mountain lions, but I finally caught on and learned to see their activity by tracks and associated preferred haunts.
Here are a few mountain lion videos that my camera traps have captured this year.
Mountain Lion & Fawn:
Mountain Lion in the Desert Heat:
Bear, Skunk, Bobcat and Mountain Lion:
Mountain Lion on the Move:
First Mountain Lion of 2018:
My Earth 