Wildlife cameras set out in open spaces to capture images of mountain lions, bears, birds, and whatever else happens to amble by, have helped researchers, naturalists and the rest of us learn more about wildlife.
Who knew that multiple mountain lions ventured from the Mayacamas to Sonoma Mountain, and far beyond Sonoma Valley, until the Living with Lions initiative at Audubon’s Bouverie Preserve went live.
Up at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, the Critter Cams have documented badgers moving through, coyotes romping, bears roaming and deer locking racks.
As the cost of motion-sensitive wildlife cameras has come down, non-profits can more easily afford to purchase and deploy the equipment across the landscape. Doing so helps identify important wildlife corridors and brings to light animal behaviors with very little disruption to the wild creatures we love to watch.
Then the big, beautiful bushes started getting eaten. It began not long after the wildfires and droughts in 2017. Deer seemed to be the obvious culprit, but my neighbors wouldn’t agree. Deer right in the middle of the neighborhood? That’s when I decided to buy a wildlife camera and find out for sure.
After asking the advice of friends and doing online research, I purchased a simple-to-use Bushnell Core DS-4K, No Glow Trail Camera with 4K Video and 32MP Images and tree bark camo. Right now it is selling on Amazon for $159. I didn’t get all the bells and whistles, like internet connectivity, as I would find it too hard to use.
At first, I installed the camera with a strap on my front porch railing facing out toward the roses and front yard trees. Confirmed right away – at least one deer every night browsing through the front yard. However, I also got lots of photos of my neighbors across the street coming and going, the postal carrier delivering mail, and of me and my dog. Ooops.
Next, I positioned it on a tree facing my house; and set it up for nighttime images only. Soon, in the middle of Spring, I learned that my front yard is a regular route for deer, possums, racoons and lots of cats.
The nocturnal traffic seemed to ease during the summer, but the deer never stopped. So all the roses are now covered with plastic deer netting that has prevented the carnage. Sadly, the flowers are no longer wild and free like the deer, but more like birds in a cage.
Then in Fall, I started wondering what was eating my near-ripe persimmons in the backyard. Of course various birds like to peck and forage here and there. But some of the fruits were totally ravaged, skin and all. Was it a racoon? A squirrel? A ring-tailed cat? The mind can wonder.
I stuck the camera face up close to the trunk of the tree. After a few nights I checked it out and discovered it was a cheeky rat that liked to climb and even looked down at the camera. Argh! Not long after, I put the camera in a corner of the backyard where something that wasn’t my dog was digging under the fence. Another industrious rat (or maybe the same one, ready to hole up for the winter and raise a brood?) Argh!
Then recently, I put the camera back in the front yard to watch for more appealing wild creatures. This time no deer, no possum, no racoons. Instead even more cats! Gray and white, yellow tabby and calico.
To view what the professionals have captured, go to https://egret.org/living-with-lions/ and https://sonomaecologycenter.org/critter-cam/.
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