Travels with Gray Fox, Part 1

Travels with Gray Fox, Pt 1: On the trail from Chris Wemmer on Vimeo.

I've accumulated a pile of clips of gray foxes on trails, and decided it was time to make a fox movie. My apologies -- it's subtitled "On the trail". It's a bit of a workout making trail footage from trail cameras interesting. You have to use your imagination for nuanced perspectives. But occasionally the foxes supplied me with some surprises, and that helped.

Three Bears Part 2

Three Bears, Part 2 from Chris Wemmer on Vimeo.

I checked the camera only 9 hours after the bears had decamped, and the place looked different. The vegetation was trampled, the boulder was missing most of its moss, and there was bear dung.

I never expected bears to camp in front of a trail camera, but every now and then your camera is in the right place at the right time and the animals tell you things you didn't know.

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. 
   


 

Spring Fever Bears

When spring comes, the she-bears in my neighborhood are shameless flirts. No video narration is needed to make that point. Have a look and see if you agree.

Tricked again by a bear

Lonesome Night Stalker

Lonesome Night Stalker from Chris Wemmer on Vimeo.

The bear's rubbing tree

The Rubbing Tree from Chris Wemmer on Vimeo.

I set this trail camera on a meandering game trail with a long view.

I expected clips of the usual cast of characters, but soon learned that the trail passed a bears' rubbing tree, a mountain lion scrape, and a pit stop for a bobcat.

I pointed the camera at the rubbing tree.

Though it must surely reek of bear, it smells like tree bark to me.

A lot of critters besides bears check it out, and gray foxes occasionally pee on the stump. 

This film shows last month's action at the bears' rubbing tree.