The hollow belly of the red fir seems like a safe and snuggly place.
It's quiet in there and it's dry, even though frass rains down 24/7 from the gallery of wood ants above.
Bob's observation that "the cavity . . . looks like a bear den" was right on the money.
Ten hours after we left the scene a bear peeked into the cavity.
In the next week the opening framed a robin several times,
and a chipmunk made a brief visit.
Then a small bear paid a visit,
and toppled the camera.
The camera took pictures of wood ants on thr floor of the den until we came back and reset it.
If I had a time lapse camera with 5 months of battery power, this would be a fine place to monitor a sleeping bear.
[If you like this sort of thing, be sure to check Random Truth's bear-in-the-log pictures.]
Check out the new Bushnell "Trophy Cams" - they do true time lapse. Not bad for a non-homebrew!
ReplyDeleteTo add to Cougarmagic's post, the new Trophy Cams also have sound on the video. Snoring during hibernation?
ReplyDeleteGreat set. That first peeping in shot is a classic.
ReplyDeleteA time lapse would be cool, but I fear that a Bushie's flash blowout would be a bit extreme in such a short distance set.
I agree, Ken -- even the flash dampers we made don't seem to do the trick. They DO dim the illumination level, but the resolution in IR is nothing to write home about. But we shouldn't pass judgement on the newest model till we try it out. Hey, if you spring for one I'll test it in that den. (LOL)
ReplyDelete