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....
So, I decided to place the camera under a bridge in the park. That's one place I've never tried before and I thought it might be interesting to see what life is like down there.
Some of you who are geocachers know this bridge. Other than pursuing an elusive geocache, I can't imagine why anyone would go down there.
Anyway, I didn't find any trolls. I did find some chipmunks, rabbits, raccoon, foxes, grackles, great blue herons, cardinals, and squirrels. The great blue heron and raccoon especially caught my fancy.
I thought it might be fun to combine the short video clips that I captured, and combine them into two short movies.
....I finally cracked it this time. I really did.
I found the place in the park with almost no wildlife.
I have had a camera in a location for about two weeks. It was set to take a picture every five minutes throughout the day, and also to take a picture if it senses movement. That's thousands of pictures.
So, no doubt you're asking what I found?
I found:
Two rabbits
Two birds in flight
One deer
Several insects in flight
That it. No squirrels, raccoon, fox--nor any people.
That's the quietest two weeks I've ever recorded in the park.
This was fun for a couple weeks. Even though the ending is a tad disappointing, which is my fault.
My wife saw an eastern cottontail in our back yard about the first of June. It appeared to be digging a nest.
I put a camera in the yard and captured several photographs of the rabbit.
As you can see, the rabbit is over the nest at various times through the day and night. Petty cool. The nest is about 4 inches deep, with an entrance hole perhaps two inches in diameter. It's lined with fur that the mother takes from her belly. To tell you the truth, it looks to me an awful lot like dryer lint.
And then I captured something that seemed scary at the time. Several birds raided the nest and took fur, presumably to use in their own nests.
I thought this might mean that the rabbits were dead for some reason. But I was wrong. The mother continued to nurse her young for several days. They nurse only once a day, and at various times. I presume this is to make it harder for predators to track and find the nest; what humans call operational security.
Nursing takes several minutes, and looks like this....
And now for the disappointing part. Sorry.
That is the last event I captured of the mother feeding. I never did capture the babies; I think because the camera batteries were getting to weak to operate the camera. Oops. Sorry.
Anyway, there is no evidence that the babies were predated, so I assume they successfully fledged, and are out being rabbits somewhere in Rodgers Forge.
This is what the nest looks like after being abandoned. Please note that I pulled the grass back from the hole so you can see it better. When it was in use, the mother kept the grass pulled together tightly over the nest, making it harder to see.
And I have noticed more rabbits out and about in the neighborhood this year than usual. I assume the hawks will soon make the same observation. Could be a decent fall for hawks in the area. More later.
