Game Camera Update

The game camera has been quite some fun to play with.  We have been moving it around to various locations in the yard to see what critters are out and about when we are not looking. We exchange the memory card every few days (sometimes we're impatient and don't wait more than a day) and look at the pictures. Often there is not much to see, but we have gotten a few interesting photos, mostly of deer, and our cats.

We aimed it at the pile of scat beneath the overhang of our house for several days, but we did not catch the culprit who is making the deposit.  We saw a scat on the lower deck, so we left the camera aimed there for a week, but all we got were the cats and a few pictures of a California towhee.  Fortunately for the towhee, he was not there the same time as the cats.  We also aimed the camera at a hole in a pile of brush by a rock that seemed like a cozy den but we saw nothing coming or going there.

We get the best pictures when we aim it along one of the paths that the deer take through the yard, either the path we carved into the hillside (our goat path), or the routes they have created themselves. We usually get one or two deer per day passing in front of the camera.  I have been wondering if it is the same deer each time, or how many different deer there are, but unfortunately we don't see a lot of distinguishing features on them.  One deer with a swollen left front knee has passed by a couple of times. Others have marks on their fur, but I am not sure if they are permanent, or just fur ruffled from brushing against some brambles or brush.

One thing for sure is that these deer do not keep to any schedule.  They pass by the camera at random times day and night.