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

Elk for Tanya

Tanya, one of my fave bloggers, lives in Australia. She gets to see kangaroos. I think that's cool!

I get to see elk. They're cool, too, but they're not roos, nor wallabies, nor any of the other cool upside down animals they have down there.

Tanya was sad I didn't' get photos of our close encounter with the elk yesterday, but here's something even better--just for you and just for her. Mr. Boom set the trail cam up last week in the hills to see what he could see. The camera is seven feet up in the air, attached to a tree. Keep that height in mind while you watch this video...



Elk are very shy, and tend to run when they see human beings. In fact, while we were up hunting this afternoon*, we saw a mama elk and her baby, along with another elk of middling size laying down in a meadow chewing their respective cuds. When they saw that they were seen, up they stood and up over the crest of the hill they trotted. They can move silently, so silently that you wouldn't believe it based on their size alone.

But, when people aren't around, they're not so quiet and staid. Here's a side of elk neither of us have ever seen before.




This last video is kind of neat just because it's taken with the infrared function of the cam.

Three elk, one watering hole.




Heh, I wonder what kind of people are going to end up here based on that description?

*No grouse were harmed, or even sighted, in the making of this hunting trip.

The culprit (by Kat)

Ladies and gentlemen,
distinguished members of the jury,

I submit to you this evidence of the cold-hearted chick killer.

No eye-witnesses were prepared to present their
uh,
beaked testimony to the court.

However, the next night the killer returned to the scene of the crime.

Luckily, the two remaining chicks were under the court's,
uh,
I mean the new coop's,
protection.

No one was harmed.

Evidence number one:



Evidence number two:

Hooray for trail cams!
Infra-red spy gear to the max!