February 26, 2013

Critters in the Night


Have you ever wondered about all of the creatures that may be visiting your yard during the nighttime hours? We have! We finally gave up again this winter season with feeding the wild birds. The feeder was getting knocked down every night. Sometimes it was dragged off dozens of yards away. Empty, of course. We put out a deer block every couple of weeks, and even it has been dragged off into the woods.

Enough was enough. Curiosity got the best of Mr. Jim! He ordered one of those infrared wildlife cameras (on sale, of course) and strapped it onto a tree. And we got photos! These are the worst photos you’ll ever see on my blog. And you’ll also have to enlarge them to see the details. But they sure do tell the tale of what goes “bump in the night” while we sleep!

Guess what critter was discovered to be the most frequent diner at the deer block? Mr. Raccoon, you are so busted!



A plump, masked bandit visits every couple of hours during a typical night. Dining etiquette includes dancing on top of the deer block too!



The photo evidence shows that there is a pair of them that shove the block off of the brick platform and roll it further into the woods. So the mystery is finally solved. (Sorry, but the images for that activity are clear enough for presentation.) Raccoons were probably eating all of the bird seed too.  Here’s another vantage point of the midnight snacking.



One of the neighborhood foxes comes through about once a night.



As can be expected, we have a few deer show up, either alone or in a pair.





And even a buck has made an appearance, though we have never seen one during the daylight hours! The round object he’s investigating is an outlet cover for our roof drainage.



The jury is still out on the identification of this critter. But I suspect that it is a dog.



But the star of the nighttime critter parade is undoubtedly the raccoon!



What a scoundrel…

17 comments:

  1. oh, yeah, they definitely are troublesome varmints! good thing they're cute... :)

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  2. Oh ---I want one of them.... We have so many night critters up here.. Would love to capture them on camera... Love seeing your deer. Such clear photos. Awesome. We have lots of raccoons and possums around here. I put away all of the food at nights --but the raccoons come on the deck every night and clean out the seed in the deck cracks...

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  3. Raccoons and deer love bird feeders. These are great photos of your local wildlife. I have the feeling the second last critter photo might be a coyote. I have to bring my bird feeders in at night in the spring and fall due to raccoons (I don't feed the birds in summer). Pamela

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  4. That is just precious. Yes, those Raccoons are opportunists for sure and they are not afraid of anyone or anything. These are fun shots!

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  5. That camera was worth every penny. Great shots! And now the mystery is solved

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  6. A right royal scamp who is so cheeky it looks as if he's taking a bow! The dog looks like a coyote to me, but what do I know.

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  7. Racoons are cheeky, and what a parade of critters you have.

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  8. Wow! It's like Wild Kingdom at your house! No bears yet, though? They must be still asleep!

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  9. That's pretty cool that you were able to capture that. That one picture almost looks like it could be a fox.
    At least the mystery is solved......for now!

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  10. How funny! And what a variety of animals pass through! That sure looks like a coyote, my friend. We have them around here and they look a lot like a dog and are about the same size as a medium dog. We have some daytime photos of ours! lol My hubby sat down with me to look, too. We both laughed at the 'ham' at the end!

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  11. I love the photos, lol. How fun to catch the thief in action.

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  12. We have raccoons too. They were really bad when we had outside cats and would put their food on the deck. Those darn raccoons would come right up and eat it while we would watch through the deck doors. They are cute though but boy, they will steal you blind.

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  13. Looks like he spotted the camera in that last photo and you guys are busted, too! LOL!

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  14. You have a LOT of critters in your area, passing through during the night. Love that cheeky raccoon.

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  15. What a busy place! A whole 'nother world that you were unaware of. Fascinating.

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  16. It's almost like he knows the camera is there and he's posing for it....lol You sure do get a lot of nighttime activity around there. Those raccoons can be bothersome

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  17. Oh my!!! That raccoon is funny!!!

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