A few weeks before Tyler gave me his Turkey carcass, I had found a road-killed stray cat at the end of my driveway. I had seen this cat around, flea bitten with ticks. Sad, but it happens. So when I found the dead cat, I removed it from my driveway, and brought it into the woods. I didn’t have anything to bury it with, so I figured I’d just let nature take it’s course. And I set up my Bushnell Trophy Cam HD on the site. So when Turkey was ready, he joined Stray Cat. It’s been an active site, here are a few of the pictures!
Stray cat #1. |
Stray cat #2 |
Stray cat #3 |
So I guess that was more photos than a few, but I’ve been getting some good stuff lately! I am wondering where the fisher and bobcat and bears are though. I’m hoping they show themselves sometime this summer!
I might mention also that the cat is pretty much untouched. Nothing seems to really be feeding on it, it’s just decomposing. I wonder why…?
I’m spending the majority of my summer in the Capitol Region of NY, in Albany. I live in Cobleskill for school (I attend SUNY Cobleskill), but I got a great internship this summer at the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation main office on Broadway! It’s really a great opportunity for a budding biologist like myself, and I’m working under Jeremy Hurst, big game biologist. Big game in NY consists of white-tailed deer, black bears, and moose. Moose really aren’t on the radar much yet though, because they are so few. This position is an office position, no running around outside this summer. But I am going to be getting the chance to learn a lot about how black bears are managed for in NY. I’m hoping that my future career will include work with black bears. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been very interested in them. At first when I was a kid, they were “cute”. Now, they just mystify me with their incredibly adaptive habits and behaviors. They literally stop eating, drinking, and moving for 4-5 months, give birth, and then come out on the other side of winter a little lighter but generally ok! I wish I could do that!
Anyway, this position will be interesting and a great learning experience. I will be posting periodically about what I’m up to on the job. Stay tuned!
Great pics! I need to try a carcass with my camera traps. I'm just not very good at it, so anything would really help. Looks like it worked great for you. Love the porcupine! Congrats on the internship as well!
ReplyDeleteBill
Bill- using a carcass is great. I've gotten ever more species to the site too, I just haven't shared them all yet! I just advise to start out with a pretty fresh carcass... :)
DeleteGotta love seeing camera-trap results! Awesome coyotes!
ReplyDeleteWow that is really interesting, I love the variety of animals that stopped by to have a peak. :) Congrats on your new job!
ReplyDeleteIt's very odd that the cat is untouched. I found 2 dead bobcats last spring, and neither was eaten all that much... I wonder if cat meat doesn't taste good? Not that I'd expect a porcupine to be picky!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos!
KB- I think that Porky was just curious? I've not read or heard anything that makes me think they'd eat carrion. They're pretty much just like an arboreal beaver, eating cambium and leaves!
DeleteSounds like a great summer job.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are very cool! I think I mentioned once wanting a trail cam, and that's still true. But, since my neighbor moved in our property is now completely fenced off from the woods behind, so my visitors have dropped way down.
ReplyDeleteThe internship is awesome! I wish I could do something like that but, life happens. However, I live in the Albany area so if you want to talk shop (as if you won't get enough of that at work) or even just go for a hike, let me know. As soon as I'm done cleaning up my house for the market I'm really hoping to get some good outside time in this year! Hoping to do a little tracking and look for bones.