See video at https://vimeo.com/1007526665?share=copy
On a stretch of limestone rip rap/riverbank stabilizer. I was kayaking and just floated up quietly. Got within 10-12 feet of this one, and it was not scared off right away, but was actually quite curious... darting out of the rocks several times to see the strange two-legged. This video was taken after that.
@w-pearce-plants we'd be grateful if you were able to weigh in here! 😊
Only these 3 ladies around lately.
2nd photo is 'Turkey Art'...I was going to submit it separately, however how to prove it was done by turkeys!! I thought it was kind of 'artsy'
Deer and coyote did not react much to each other, coyote was more interested in the deer feed on the road.
Have loved jack pines since I was a kid. Have to grab an observation every now and then!
This was a real treat..Out for an evening stroll with my dog (& a cat), looked up & was face to face with not one but two of these beauties! Both appeared to be well fed & healthy.
#1 of 2 observed.
Neither seemed too concerned with me talking quietly to my dog, telling him to stay,(which he did). they finally ambled off into the woods. Amazing how quietly they did that considering their size!
Hissing & Growling. Worth the photo.
Continuing- the Group of Nine practising flying in synch..(just above the water (right side of frame) Very nicely done too!!
Mr.Mrs.Cangoos listening to the massacre going on in the other ponds..(duck/geese hunting season). :(
At their peak fall colors, crimson on top of the leaf, pink underneath
Carpets of them throughout the barrens
Thought of you when this one came up, @kathleensweetman: this camera keeps dishing up all kinds of neat shots!
Two young fox kits playing chase and jump over the log. Only the last 2 pics show both at the same time
Trailing a bobcat at the Minnesota Wildlife Tracking Projects trailing workshop with Dr. Kersey Lawrence.
Found feeding on scraps of a White-tailed deer carcass, recently killed by wolves in the middle of a small frozen lake.
My initial thought is felid, leaning lynx, but I welcome all thoughts on this. @jonathanpoppele, @rsealy would be grateful if either of you had a moment to weigh in! :)
(Apologies, I left my tape measure in the heavy bush coat... then grabbed the lighter gear today! Note the walking stick is ruled in centimetres.)
We also have video of this little guy. https://vimeo.com/593610226
Well, it was nice seeing Patricia, even if she didn't want to pose! I think it's been at least a week, her territory does not appear to reach our house and Sheryl tends to chase her off.
Am leaning felid, but would love to hear other thoughts.
Contrast with canid prints (next observation) of a similar age/stage descending into the same ravine just east of here.
Lynx observed from a helicopter as it crossed a frozen pond
Snow conditions were terrible, just a trace of snow left on the edge of a bridge over the Indian River, so I was only able to find a few tracks before losing the trail
Family of 5, looked like 2 adults and 3 kittens of last year
These prints seem to be wider than long -- not very spearhead-like. Could we be looking at a felid here?
My gauntlet mitt is 14"/35.5 cm long. My boot is 12"/30.5 cm long. My wood staff is 67"/170 cm long.
See also https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations/147168607 from the same outing.
See also https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations/147168607 from the same outing.
My gauntlet mitt is 14"/35.5 cm long. My boot is 12"/30.5 cm long. My wood staff is 67"/170 cm long.
See also https://www.inaturalist.ca/observations/147168607 from the same outing.
These prints seem to be wider than long -- not very spear-tip-like. Could we be looking at a felid here?
Poor pics but they were so fast. Guessing a mother and young.
Marks on an American sweetgum.
1.50 m from the ground.
In Ireland Brook Park (a County park), along the blue trail. The terrain is flat.
The tree in question has a blue rectangular blaze (picture 7). It can be found relatively easily.
The blue trail crosses the pipeline open area. There are about 4 blue rectangular blazes between the open area and the tree of interest.
In Beaver Dam Park, an East Brunswick municipal park
Fresh marks on a live pitch pine, along the path. They were not here 2 days ago.
The highest marks are at eye level.
Addendum:
I added 2 pictures to help locate the tree.
hunting red squirrels...unsuccessfully at least while we were observing
Fruiting a few feet away from a mature Douglas fir.
Young fruiting body.
Harvested a small portion and dehydrated for herbarium collection/genetic record.
My coinciding Mushroomobserver observation below-
Flock of blue jays.
...I think. Not targeting the one-off in the extreme bottom right.
This fruiting body is emerging through the blacktop in the same location that a fruiting body erupted through the blacktop last year. Other fruiting bodies are pushing-up the blacktop hither and thither. One of them must be enormous, and the one pictured here is no tiddler.
On Tilia americana, we believe. Turquoise spore print.
On Populus tremuloides. Please disregard the polypore that appears in some of the later pictures.
It was LARGE. The cap was maybe 4" wide and the stipe was longer than that or the same. Tall. It was bruised in many places before I cut so you can see that deep blue. The flesh was BRIGHT yellow on the cap but as soon as I opened it, it started staining blue. Beautiful rusty underside with pores.
Photos by Nancy Nabak
@pinonbistro we were hoping you might be able to weigh in here as well!
Had to submit this one because of the happy ending...
While we were hiking, this dog came right up to us and sat right on my feet. We started calling out, but it was clear he didn't have an owner within earshot. We actually used our whistle, and were able to attract the attention of the owner -- who was clearly at quite a distance, but looking frantically for her dog. By this time, the dog had laid down and refused to move an inch (super hot, humid weather today). We gave him water from our emergency canteen (easier than the camel back), and then I started trying to zero in on the owner. We finally met her half-way back to the parking area, and boy... happy momma + happy dog!
On trembling aspen.
@megachile thanks for the advice at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121451754. Have carved this one into its own observation.
Have hiked under this tree many times and have always wanted to ID this fungus.
@matt227 and @n_russell, any thoughts here?
Targeting the predator.
Bird snatches rodent, carries it for a bit, then the prey is able to escape. Drop mark is about 6' from the wing print.
I'm thinking this is a fisher...
My boot is 12"/30.5 cm long. My gauntlet mitt is 14"/35.5 cm long. My walking stick is 46.5"/118 cm long (and is gradated/ruled in centimetres).
I was out trail running and he ran across the trail in front of me. I think he had a dead rabbit in his mouth and I’m pretty sure that is why he ran up the tree with it. He ran up and down the tree twice before he made a run for it with his animal. Very exciting to see!
Thank you for weighing in here, @matt227 and @n_russell!
+MI
This guy looks to have been dragging something...
My boot is 12"/30.5 cm long. My glove is 10"/25.5 cm long. My walking stick is 46.5"/118 cm long (and is gradated/ruled in centimetres).
Made the subzero temps totally worth it 😊
This was an hour-long trailing experience. A family of three mountain lions killed a deer at one end of the riverbar. They then dragged it all the way to the other end and into the brush, where they fed on it for several days. This observation shows the first part of the trail with the kill site and evidence that the prey was a deer is shown. Will show other sections of the trail later. The deer was in brush and the mountain lions (2 of them from the track evidence) jumped it from the embankment above. It was quickly dispatched and one lion carried it out into the open. One of the cubs helped drag the carcass, as evidenced by the tracks. Video will be posted soon.
This was an hour-long trailing experience. A family of three mountain lions killed a deer at one end of the riverbar. They then dragged it all the way to the other end and into the brush, where they fed on it for several days.
This observation shows the last part of the trail with the kill site. All that remained of the deer were the legs, the cranium and mandibles, a single scapula, some fur, and the contents of the rumen. (The large green mass in the photos.) There were several resting sites (beds) in the grass, where the family of three pumas had rested in between feeding bouts. The carcass had initially been buried closer to the riverbar, but they moved it, likely due to my own activities. I live right above this and had been out and about above them, without even being aware of their presence. They are quite stealthy. Until I found the tracks, I never suspected they were in the close vicinity, although I was aware of the family of three from previously finding their tracks. The last images are somewhat dark as it was after sunset when I finished trailing this out.
This was an hour-long trailing experience. A family of three mountain lions killed a deer at one end of the riverbar. They then dragged it all the way to the other end and into the brush, where they fed on it for several days.
This observation shows the central part of the trail. At one point, one of the smaller mountain lions, assumed to be one of the nearly-grown kittens, assisted the mother lion in carrying the carcass. It left a consistent drag mark, so they were not able to lift it completely off the ground. I found it interesting that two were cooperating to carry the kill. The tracks showed evidence of bearing extra weight due to increased toe splay, push-offs in the soil, claws deployed for traction, and the position in the trail. The nail marks are thin and sharp and on a plane above the base of the toe marks in the track. Fur on the ground indicated the identity of the prey, as did drag marks presumed to be from the hooves.
Targeting the predator (or whatever stashed this carcass in the tree); for the prey itself, please see https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104645559.
Wow. Imagine our surprise when we looked up!
Thought immediately of a felid cache, but the skeptic in me wondered if someone had put this here as a prank, or perhaps to draw predators to a nearby trail cam. Have taken a ton a photos to help rule out the former, and had a good look around for trail cams to help rule out the later. There did not appear to be any obvious trail cams nearby; did a 360-degree photo and will try to examine that a little more closely in the comfort of our home!
Also thought about the possibility of an eagle (or similar) scavenging a carcass, and dropping this from above. After getting a second look at the branches involved, and knowing the properties of bur oak, am thinking that is extremely unlikely, as the force of a falling deer hind would very likely have broken the supporting branches.
Wild felids get my attention, so we took tons of photos, a video, and, as I mention above, a panorama/360-degree shot. The most useful photos (to my eye) appear here, but if anyone wants to see something in specific, perhaps the other photos might contain the detail you're looking for.
The branches holding up the carcass are about 2.2 m off the ground.
In terms of how long this has been in the tree, I wanted to mention that we've had light but relatively steady snow for the past few days (.6, 1, 1.5, .2, .4, .6, .5 mm for the first seven days of January). We photographed disturbances in snow on the ground 1.5 m from the tree, but these are not likely related to the cache: they seem to be too fresh.
Am not sure if this is related to other carnivore signs we observed today (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104621747, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104621748, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104621749, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/104621746).
@marykrieger, as Queen of Birds Hill Park, we wanted to tag this for your interest here. :)
@beartracker, @oliversw, @jonpoppele... we would love your input here, if you get a moment!
My boot is 12"/30.5 cm long. My gauntlet mitt is 14"/35.5 cm long. My hiking pole (black) is 46.5"/118 cm long (and is ruled in centimetres). Our other hiking pole (silver) is also ruled in centimetres.