Wednesday, October 7, 2009

High noon siesta


12:24:14 -- first photo

It was a hot August day and little past noon when gray fox entered the sandstone cave. 


12:24:31 -- 4th photo


He immediately settled in the back of the cave, stretched out on the cool sand, and schnoozed for the next 2 hrs and 20 minutes. 


12:27:10 -- 18th photo

During his siesta the camera seems to have taken a picture every time he moved, and in 53 photos produced a time motion study of his gradual movement to the front of the cave.  


14:46:51 -- 67th photo

When he woke up he seemed to notice he wasn't where he was when he started the siesta. 

14:48:44 -- 69th photo


So he went back to where he started.


14:48:48 -- 70th photo

And started over again.


15:58:53 -- 88th photo

The siesta ended an hour and 15 minutes later, and our thoroughly rested fox left the cave.  

Craig and I agree that as camera trap photos go, this siesta was no sleeper. 

Chimineas Ranch update: There is a lot more coming from our last round of camera trapping at the ranch, but it takes a lot of time to compile and analyze nearly 1000 photos. 

I'm a bit compulsive about this compilation business before drafting blog posts. 

You will see all the good stuff in due course, if not in continuous sequence, then interspersed with other posts about my usual adventures with Fred, etc. 
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14 comments:

  1. John CarlsonOctober 8, 2009 at 1:54 AM

    Great series Chris.

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  2. brdpicsOctober 8, 2009 at 7:30 AM

    That is a fantastic series!

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  3. KittOctober 8, 2009 at 9:08 AM

    How sweet. He/she was just skootching over to the cooler side of the bed.

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  4. randomtruthOctober 8, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    Wow. It doesn't get any better than that Codger. I bet the set of pics would make an amazing flip-book-style video. Do you have any geeks around there that use iMovie?

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  5. - clark -October 8, 2009 at 11:27 AM

    They are very clear and not impeded by the shade. Seems like the fox didn't mind sharing the cave with the camera.

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  6. Camera Trap CodgerOctober 8, 2009 at 12:27 PM

    Thanks all.

    RT, I was wondering about that too. There's some PC software out there that lets you make a movie out of stills, but it's not for Macs. I use Imovie but am not very good at it.

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  7. tbassOctober 8, 2009 at 2:33 PM

    Some very nice photos you got there. Its neat to see how restless it was.

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  8. AnonymousOctober 8, 2009 at 3:58 PM

    Those little gray foxes are easily the coolest and most interesting of all wild dogs, especially when you find one that doesn't have a lot of coat: http://wildlifemysteries.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/samson-fox-ii.jpg

    and this one: http://wildlifemysteries.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/samson-fox-iii.jpg

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  9. Camera Trap CodgerOctober 8, 2009 at 5:05 PM

    Those are curious pictures of naked grays, Retrieverman. The ears are so big on the first one it almost looks like a bat-eared fox or a stunted African hunting dog. Out here they are usually in fine fettle and fully haired. Thanks.

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  10. SeanOctober 8, 2009 at 5:55 PM

    What an amazing sequence Chris. Nice work!

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  11. The PuttererOctober 10, 2009 at 6:01 AM

    What a beautiful animal. Hi Chris, I found your blog and I love it. You'll remember me Beth Py-Lieberman from Smithsonian magazine.

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  12. BpaulOctober 10, 2009 at 10:13 AM

    Fantastic!

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  13. OwlmanOctober 11, 2009 at 8:43 AM

    Kudos for your outstanding results.

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  14. randomtruthOctober 11, 2009 at 8:48 AM

    Hey Codger - Microsoft Movie Maker can also make stills into a vid if you have a PC. It appears to be pretty easy too - here's a how-to from MSFT if you wanna give it a try.

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