Like much of the rest of the world, the last couple of weeks we’ve been recluses. This has made it blatantly clear how off-the-beaten path our house is. To get here one drives a mile down an unpaved road and then turns onto our private dirt road. The only cars that we see are driven by our neighbors – two families who are friendly people, but are tucked into their own corners of the woods here in Maine. I’ve walked out of my front door and gone on hikes for miles and not come across a soul. It’s isolated here, but only in terms of people.
Our house sits on a hill that faces a marsh. Behind us is 4,000 acres of forest. We have a lot of neighbors, but they’re quite shy and are active when we’re not. To get an idea of who else lives here, Steve installed a wildlife cam. First we set it up in a small field to the side of our house.
We weren’t surprised when it recorded glimpses of deer, porcupine and coyote. Then I suggested that we move the cam to an old path further back in the woods. This used to be a road to a quarry; saplings now block much of the way. This is the most open section of it.
We lucked out. On the second night after installation, a bobcat triggered the cam. Then, seconds later, another bobcat bounded into view!
Bobcats are solitary creatures who don’t like other cats in their territory. The only time that two travel together is because one is a youngster. Offspring live with their mothers for up to a year, until she has new kits. My best guess was that this is what we have here on the cam. But I was wrong! A certified Maine Trail Guide let me know that this is a he. Possibly the second bobcat is the same one – that he circled back and tripped the camera again. If so, he’s mighty fast. Those two images were within 30 seconds of each other.
Here’s a compilation of what the wildlife cam recorded.
Meanwhile, we have a lot of much noisier and in-your-face neighbors near the marsh. It’s a flyway for migratory birds, and many decide to stay here for the summer. Bald eagles. Egrets. Kingfisher. Geese. Ducks. Warblers. And more. The turtles are coming out of their winter slumber. I’ll be blogging about that soon. Stay tuned!
What neighbors do you have?
I love this. I’m glad there are sounds, too.
Love the porcupine.
I have fallen in love with porcupines! There’s one who includes our backyard lawn as part of its territory. It eats the clover flowers in the summer. Makes loud mumbling noises as it munches. Adorable.
Toss out an ear of corn for him sometime. He might like the treat.
Scooter! Stay home!
He’s not allowed near the edges of the woods and walks are always on leash! He has a fenced area to pee in at night. He’s smaller than a rabbit!
Love the wildlife cam. Maybe this can replace your hemcan, which I miss! We also have much of the same wildlife as you, just not as abundant as we live closer to town. Porcupines are cute from afar, but my neighbor’s horse once got a little too close to one, and pulling out those quills was terrible. Glad they’re few and far between around here. My daughter and I recently spied a bobcat on an early evening trail ride. I think we interrupted its hunting, and it bounded through the tall grass away from us. It was so beautiful.
We also have mountain lions around here, which unfortunately don’t mix well with children and pets. My neighbor lost a couple of goats to one recently. Hopefully they’d be no match for my boss mare if they tangled!
Mountain lions are the one animal I’m truly afraid of. We don’t have any here. At least the experts say we don’t. But it’s perfect habitat for them, and they’ll arrive at some point. I do worry about porcupine quills! One reason that Scooter stays on a leash is because he’d walk right into one before he realized it. A friend’s dog tangled with one, got a quill embedded in the esophagus, and after an $8,000 surgery, recovered.
Wow! What a shot! Was the cam placed in the vicinity of where the guide found claw marks? Last night many of my neighbors were visited by a bear, including two families across the road who had their coops broken into. It’s an active time of year for wildlife!
The clawed sapling was not much further down the trail. Bears and chickens – yet another reason why those small coops that look like dog houses are a bad idea.
Brilliant, big thank you to Steve I was hoping you would set up a camera. What camera is it they are really clear pics, am hoping to put up one myself to see what gets round the chicken coop at night. We only have foxes, badgers and deer plus all the usual small animals. Plenty of bird life of all sorts from small to large. Stay safe and enjoy your wonderful backyard 🙂
Interesting post. Thank you. I would like to put up a web cam, but haven’t gotten around to it.
As much time as I spend in the woods, I’ve only seen one bobcat.
We have an occasional lion around here, but not often. Bears are increasing in number, hope they stay away from my chicken coop.
Just wondering if you have many wolves there. There aren’t any around here anymore, at least not that anyone knows about.
No wolves here, but it used to be wolf country. There are wolves further north over the border in Canada. There are reports of coyote/wolf crosses, which have different hunting patterns and social organizations than either of their parents.