Tree-climbing camera inspector

For three years I've photo-captured bears climbing this rubbing tree. It 's about 14 inches in diameter and leans a bit. Cubs zip up and down the trunk, even on the underside, and adults occasionally tackle it too. It was a tree made for an arboreal camera trap, and promised a head-on view of a bear shimmying closer to the camera.       

After hauling my aluminum extension ladder to the site in two pieces, I bolted two cameras on a 1" pipe lag-screwed to the tree with a threaded flange. With neighbor Ted passing the tools to and fro the installation wasn't life threatening.  Here's a bear's eye view as seen from near the base.  The cameras (a Browning and a GoPro) are 11.5' from the base and a vertical drop of 12'.

I used to fit arboreal cameras with bungee cords. If an overly curious bear ripped a camera loose, the bungee would prevent a crash landing. Mischievous bears might play with a dangling camera, and could bite through the bungee cord, but a bungee could save the camera.  Nowadays I  believe most bears are loath to lose their grip while batting at a camera.   

Bears visited the site 18 times, but only three looked up at the camera, and only the camera inspector climbed the tree. 

To see the video copy this link https://vimeo.com/463652759 and paste it in your finder.   

Cub See, Cub Do

Brownie approaches a cam on a deer trail.
The white upper edge is spider web on the
spikes of the camera's bear guard.

Brownie is interested in cameras. Deconstructing cameras.

She took out four cams in the past month.

Here she perched on a log and peered at the mysterious source of wonderment before starting work.

She sniffed at it, tried to mouth it, and managed to dislodge it even though it was equipped with a spiked bear guard.

When she was finished the camera was 30 feet away.

It took ten minutes to find it, and I was one worried and sweaty codger in the interim.

The pictures told the same old story: bear finds camera, bear examines camera, etc.

Brownie seemed to be a lone agent.

But yesterday I collected the card from another camera (the "ringtail cam"), and discovered that Brownie has two apprentices.  

The clips could be better, but you can still see that one of the understudies is learning the trade well.

Postmortem of a camera trap

The solemn concentration of a postmortem 

Chas Clifton of Southern Rockies Nature Blog recently chronicled the chilling demise of his camera trap, with photos of the tragic final moments of its life lying on its back looking up into the trees above.

Chas sent  the camera  to me as a donation to science.

Many thanks, Chas.

Participants of my camera trapping workshop conducted the postmortem under the guidance of camera coroner and pathologist Randomtruth.

Was the camera jawed and pawed to death?

Or were its circuits blown as a result of a dousing in the spring?

The dissection revealed that blunt force trauma was counterindicated.

Though the bear had eviscerated the camera and thus robbed it of battery power shortly before death, there was no evidence of mechanical damage externally or internally.

A thin silty film however was evident throughout the body cavity.

Conclusion: assault and battery temporarily denied the camera its vital functions, but the cause of death was irreversible electrical damage resulting from immersion in the spring.

Pervasive silt was the deciding evidence.

RIP dear camera trap.

Though your life was brief, your service was unflagging and your courageous passing was in the call of duty.