A CAMERA TRAPPER'S COMPANION -- a new book

 

One of the reasons I disappeared a few years ago was to find the time to finish this book. It's been finished for several months now. I've been too busy having fun to make a fuss about it. So here it is, my humble contribution to the science and practice of camera trapping. It is largely based on the lectures and exercises of my camera trapping workshop which was given for several years at San Francisco State University's Nevada field campus. Along the way, I had many camera trapping adventures, and these stories are contained in the sidebars (or text boxes, as some call them).

If you want to read some reviews or order a copy, here is the Amazon link.  You can also order directly from the printer, BRG Scientific.

Rocky Flying Squirrel takes on the Acorn Pecker Gang

 

Many years ago the late Robert T Orr told me he had trapped flying squirrels at Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada. "I was trying to trap martens," he said, "but I kept getting flying squirrels. They were attracted to the meat I was using as bait." [Dr Orr was the curator of birds and mammals at the California Academy of Sciences and I was a teenager who hung around the museum.] 

It is not uncommon for herbivores to deviate from their diet, especially when plant protein is low or pregnancy demands it. That's when innocent vegetarians like deer and rabbits shock us by dabbling in carnivory. 

Carnivory probably also explains why Acorn Woodpeckers raise hell when adorable big-eyed Northern Flying Squirrels show up at their nest cavities. The squirrels are known to feed on eggs and nestling birds. 

My goal to film acorn woodpeckers at their nest cavity was sidetracked when my trail camera recorded visiting flying squirrels. Rocky is such a photogenic charmer! I filmed "the pecker gang" for a year and a half on my neighbors' property, and eventually I recorded three hostile encounters with the inquisitive "Rocky". Such are the rewards of camera trapping! Have a look!

I am grateful to neighbors Ted and Judy -- the indulging hosts who made possible this little film and "Bruin Ate the Hornets' Nest".