The trailcam reveals some visitors!

I've set up a Picasa album just to save my photos. They show that the deer visit every few hours. Yesterday, I spotted the red fox. Today, I saw lots of tracks. More on this another time.
I haven't seem this buck in days. I think it is Tigger. The smaller buck has lost his antlers. When the hormones stop being produced, blood ceases to flow to them and the antlers drop off. They don't need them in winter.

This tells a story. I think the story is that the two buck are Tigger and his twin. I hope! I'll have to scour the archives and match the antlers to my boys. Also, the doe and her twins didn't take off. Ours is a winter yard. They scatter in summer, and come together in the cold and snow in gender-specific groups. We've had little of either cold or snow –until yesterday!

You can click on the photos and watch a slideshow. If you do, watch the time stamps. They arrived at 5:00 p.m., the doe took off and Tigger dominated, then they came back at 6:30. What a privilege to watch them from the kitchen window!



They are hard to photograph! I'm trying to learn the settings, but firstly, I should set up the tripod! I should take some classes, but I know I'd forget it all anyway!

Trailcam pros and cons

I've been wrestling with my new trailcam. All of them are for hunters and big game. A lot of hunters in the area have trailcams for hunting, they also feed the deer to lure them in. I'm more interested in actual sights of any critters! I often wonder which critters wander the property at night.



UPDATE:
I have a new trailcam. The Wildgame pooched out on me.
I've been experimenting.

I have a Bushnell. It's pretty good. I have picked up bats, and flying squirrels.
Batty from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
trailcam sept. from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The Moultrie surprises me sometimes.
Squirrels, rabbit from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

These won't pick up birds, for example, and even Butch & Sundance raccoon seem to avoid it. The new one, Wildgame, has a time delay of 15 seconds. The Moultrie, was 5 seconds.

You can see the lights, and the Wildgame requires 12 AA batteries. It's infrared, and doesn't have all that much power at night. Of course, it was developed by hunters, to see what they could be tracking.
This is the latest one I have (Moultrie, left). The videos have a clicking sound.

Wildgame

My old one crapped out. The Moultrie seemed to have much better night shots. I'll just have to see! I returned it to Crappy Tire, and the only one they had in stock with which I could replace it, was the Wildgame.
What I have learned about setting up a trailcam
I am looking for some objective opinions, though. Maybe this is all in my mind!

Moultrie

Wildgame



Here are the coyotes on the Moultrie.
Coyotes from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
I can't tell if we had 3 or 4 coyotes at 3:00 a.m.!


Wildgame Innovations: Butch and Sundance and the Hole in the Wall Gang. The sound is awful.

Butch & Sundance #3 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Great evening munchies of Butch & Sundance. I think there are three of them!