Trail cam excitement

Remember I wrote that on Sunday we took a drive up into the hills to get away from it all? One of the things we did was set up the trail cam.

You know, just to see what there was to see on this little trail next to the road...

We took another long drive up this evening to retrieve the trailcam. Since dusk was on us, we expected to see lots of animals we could photograph. We only saw three, however. The first was a deer, but he was too quick and ran off before we could even get the camera out. The second were some spawning sockeye, but they were too deep to get a photo. The third was a bat, but he flew away quicker than we could hit the shutter release button.

Returning home, we were further disappointed to find that only three videos had been recorded on the trailcam. Three of our four cats were crowded around the cam, however. The first one sniffed and hissed. The second one sniffed and ran. The third cat took a few licks of the bungee chord, raised the fur on his spine, and dismissed himself as well.

The first clip on the trailcam was Mr. Boom, looking around quickly, thinking he'd heard something nearby.

The third clip was a video of us retrieving the camera.

The second clip--shot a mere hour before our arrival, and the only one that we hoped might contain an image-- is below.

There are three animals in this clip. One is obvious, the another is in the background toward the end, and the third is in the midground at the very end.

This was the third time setting up the camera this year. I think we got it *just* right, don't you?!

UPDATED to add: Mr. Boom put the video up on Youtube. The quality seems to be a little bit better on that site than it is in Blogger. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D1FsrybiR0

Weekend walk in the woods (by Kat)

Last Saturday, we took a walk in the woods. This road goes up and up and up and up.

These false hellebore (Veratrum sp.) were poking up through the snow.

Belligerently, they yelled at us from their poky little noses:

SPRING IS COMING


I wish I had Mr. Boom stand next to this log to add some scale.
The stump was nearly up to my chest.


More false hellebore.
These had convinced the snow to move on,
and were reveling in their sunlit little spot of forest floor.
(I'm not anthropomorphizing... I heard them for reals.)


Suddenly, we came up this site.

This is what a bear does in the woods in the spring.

And here's his or her view.
Not bad, eh?

Two hours later, we were back in the rig, heading back toward home.

I'd like to add this scenery to my bathroom.

Why should the bears have it all to themselves?