....but there are some other animals spending a lot of time under the bridge. Their photographs are below.
When I first saw one of them, I thought it might be a beaver. I believe that is a pretty good example of what birdwatchers call expectancy bias. Where the hope of seeing a thing tends to distort your vision of what you actually do see. Scroll through the pictures and see if the same thing happens to you....
Spring is in the air. I had a chance to check the camera recently and found the usual assortment of animals in the park.
I also captured a coyote. This is, if memory serves, only the third time I've done that. So far, only one at a time. I've not captured any evidence of them travelling in a pack. I also note that they seem to be out only at night, unlike the red fox.
And I was very surprised to capture a few images of deer with their antlers still on. I was under the impression that they would have dropped their antlers some time ago. I wonder what's happening with that.
As you may know, the coyote population in Maryland is well established and is growing. Coyote have been found in every county in the state, and have been seen in Cromwell Valley Park. Indeed, I captured one on camera last April.
Since then, I've tried to capture another image of a coyote in the park. So, here's the mystery. Did I, or did I not capture a coyote in this video? The opinions are split--some think this is a fox, and some a coyote. What do you think?
In its current location, the camera has also captured several videos of raccoon. It's always fun to watch them hunt blindly, just by feel, isn't it? And that is just what they are doing--feeling along the creek bed, sensing small prey by feel.
And some statistics. Not that math is my strong suit. But anyway. The Maryland DNR estimated in 2014 that the whitetail deer population in Maryland is about 230,000. They also estimate that hunters take about 90,000 whitetails every year. That is about 1 in 3 is hunted every year.
Which gives me pause. Imagine the overpopulation problem we would have if hunting stopped in Maryland....
