Bruin eats the Hornets' Nest

With this video, I can scratch one  camera trapping project from my bucket list. Some years ago I figured out that black bears hit the hornets' nests rather hard in late summer. The few nests that I found were a little too lively for camera trapping. I owe this adventure to my neighbor Ted seems to have a knack finding tame nests. Anyway, the video tells the story, and I hope you enjoy it.

Snooping on Acorn Woodpeckers

Ever since the Paradise Fire in 2018 my neighbors and I have been cutting down trees to make our property more "fire-safe". Some of those trees contained cavities, which are often a limited commodity for hole-nesting birds and small mammals. My neighbor Ted and I rehabilitated a fallen nest cavity in December 2021. Getting a 20 lb chunk of log up into a tree is not a big deal if have a front-end loader and a master heavy equipment operator like Ted, and a camera trapper who isn't acrophobic, like yours truly. We bolted that nest hole log 16 feet up on a live oak tree and set a couple of trail cameras. After 3 years we had accumulated 2,221 video clips of animals. Acorn woodpeckers were the undisputed camera hogs, but there were cameo appearances by flying squirrels, western gray squirrels, and several species of birds. This video shows how the project got sidetracked, and gave me an excuse to snoop on woodpeckers using a homemade nest cavity with a built-in camera.

Travels with Gray Fox, Part 2.

Here's Part 2 of the gray fox footage. I hope it gives you some chuckles. 

Three Bears

This video is about a family of bears that turned up on my trail cameras early last summer.

I live about 8 miles above Paradise, literally and figuratively.

The communities of Paradise, Magalia, and Stirling City emerged in the slash and stump lands left by the Diamand Match Company in the mid-1900s,  but the forests came back.

It's a great part of the state if you want to be close to nature.  But Paradise can turn into hell when there's wildfire, as happened this year.

Camera trapping this family of bears gave me great pleasure, and I dedicate this video to the memory of a fellow codger and batch mate, teacher and school principal. Dave Schumaker (1940-2018) was a big man with a big voice, a big heart, and a big sense of humor. He also told great stories. He will be remembered for nurturing an interest in the natural world in thousands of students and practically everyone else he met. 
   


 

Tricked again by a bear

Rough & Tumble Bears

Rough & Tumble Bears from Chris Wemmer on Vimeo.