Lookee what we found whilst wandering....

[Uwe]

That kitty is cute!

Deserves some minor enhancement and embedding:

 

[Bruce]

Yeah.. but, what do you think that kitty is? I don't think Lynx or Bob cat...

 

[Uwe]

Well, there have been no confirmed cougar / mountain lion sightings within the better part of 1000 miles of there for almost 100 years, right?

 

[Bruce]

Rumors have been that there have been sightings by hikers on the Appalachian Trail. It's the confirmed sightings that are the problem... Hikers report seeing such kitties.. but do they really know?

Here, we have a photo. Is it definitive? What other cat indigenous to the area looks like that one?

And to further my point:
http://www.patc.us/resources/florafauna/cougar.html

[SIZE=-1]WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT COUGARS IN THE APPALACHIANS[/SIZE][SIZE=-1] Cougars (Puma concolor) are also known as mountain lions, pumas, panthers, painters, and catamounts. They lived throughout the East when European settlers arrived. Many Appalachian stories tell of panthers following people, dropping on people from tree limbs, covering a sleeping person with leaves, and screaming like a woman being murdered.
By 1950, intensive hunting and logging had apparently exterminated cougars. However, people in remote parts of the Appalachians continued to occasionally report them. Reports increased over time and by the 1990s, hard evidence began to accumulate.
In 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service analyzed a dropping found in Vermont as having cougar hair, presumably ingested during self-grooming.[SIZE=+0][SUP]1[/SUP][/SIZE] A home video taped in 1992 in western Maryland showed a cougar walking through the woods.[SIZE=+0][SUP]2[/SUP][/SIZE] Virginia Game Department personnel reported cougar sightings in southwest Virginia in 1995.[SIZE=+0][SUP]3[/SUP][/SIZE] A plaster cast of a track in West Virginia in 1998 was confirmed as cougar by a wildlife expert in California.[SIZE=+0][SUP]4[/SUP][/SIZE] Many credible sightings have also been made, but without supporting field evidence.
Some biologists and mountain people believe that a few native eastern cougars may have survived.[SIZE=+0][SUP]5[/SUP][/SIZE] In addition, there is evidence that cougars obtained elsewhere as pets have escaped or been released.[SIZE=+0][SUP]6[/SUP][/SIZE] State and federal wildlife authorities now agree that at least some cougars are living wild in the Appalachians, although the origin of these animals is uncertain.[SIZE=+0][SUP]7
[/SUP][/SIZE][/SIZE]

[SIZE=-1][SIZE=+0][/SIZE]

[/SIZE]

 

[Andy]

TS1 ... fox? chupacabra?

Remember this critter?

 

[dafrazi]

Bobcat. They get bigger than most people think.

 

[dafrazi]

Could be a coyote. I saw one just outside of Valley Forge in February on the transmission line right-of-way next to 422.

 

[vreihen]

I didn't have a camera handy to document this, but there was a deer walking through the parking lot outside my office window earlier this morning. Not a common event, since we are in an urban area and the facility is surrounded by fences/gates with no outdoor water features to sustain wildlife long-term. (We have deer in our back yard at home every day, but we live in the woods where you expect this.)

Anyway, I called our crack team of mall cops^H^H^H security professionals to give them a heads-up. The dispatcher asked me if it was a buck or doe. I responded that I'm not a zoologist, nor do I have recipes to cook it although I suspect that the catering services vendor would know how to prepare fresh venison.....

 

[Bruce]

So bucks abound since July 1 on the trail cams...
Two different bears captured.. one significantly more filled out than the other. I bet the smaller of the two is one of the cubs from last year.
Last pic is often found here... Turkeys can be seen most trips.

 

[Bruce]

Lower left... I think it is a coyote.. could be a dog.. hard to tell with the infrared and the high humidity..

The bears did not like this camera. Somewhere around August 20, something smacked the camera pretty hard... I assume bear or perhaps a human but no photos of either!

 

[DV52]

Found "sneaking about" in our lower paddock.

Don

 

[vreihen]

^^^^^ Can you imagine the look on Bruce's face if he saw that picture on his trail camera?????

 

[DV52]

^^^^^ Can you imagine the look on Bruce's face if he saw that picture on his trail camera?????

vreihen: not sure- what would Bruce do with a full sized roo? They can be cantankerous beasts if riled - but mostly they are shy creatures and they just want to be left alone.

For some reason this year they have taken a liking to a grand old red-gum that dominates the lower paddock - I guess it's the tasty grass

Don

 

[vreihen]

I suspect that trail cameras are not a common thing down under. They are digital cameras that people strap to trees in wooded areas, and leave there for a week or more. Most have infrared lighting for night shots, and snapshots are triggered by an animal moving in front of them. Think of it like 21st century trapping, where the person goes out once a week or so and collects the camera SD cards to see what pictures they snapped. Hence, asking what Bruce's reaction would be to finding a kangaroo picture on his trail camera.....

 

[Bruce]

what would Bruce do with a full sized roo?
Don

I would enjoy watching them. I love to watch the animals in nature.

Finding a roo bouncing around Uwe's place in the mountains, now that would give me pause!

I just set the cameras (3 still working) to take 5 sec videos on trip. I likely will not get back down to the mountain until late September or early October. I know I will be there in November for that is deer hunting season and I would like to get out this year. Last year, business kept me here in Philly.

I share the photos because it is not often that city people get to see the animals in their natural surrounds. These cameras we bought 3 years ago now have worked really well. They have survived the bears wacking them... they have survived attacks by insects. They operate year round. I try to get there every 2-3 months to collect photos, replace batteries, and see what has been moving around the property. I only post highlights... we see much more activity than I have posted.

 

[Uwe]

^^^^^ Can you imagine the look on Bruce's face if he saw that picture on his trail camera?????

You should have PM'd that -- we coulda had a lot of fun having Katie photoshop a 'roo into an existing picture and then putting it back on the SD card in one of the cameras for Bruce to find.

 

[vreihen]

There's always Bigfoot.....

 

[aTOMic]

^^^^^ Can you imagine the look on Bruce's face if he saw that picture on his trail camera?????

You should have PM'd that -- we coulda had a lot of fun having Katie photoshop a 'roo into an existing picture and then putting it back on the SD card in one of the cameras for Bruce to find.

That was my first thought - it'd be funny to mess with Bruce's - or any trail-cam owner's - mind by printing a 3 X 4' photo and sneaking up behind the camera and (attempting to) make it appear there was a kangaroo in Pennsylvania (or wherever). (Keep in mind I have no knowledge of the mechanics of trailcams, and I now see the 5-sec viddy would kill the photo idea).
Hell, it'd probably make the evening news here, they are so desperate to fill airtime with fluff between the suffering... (I avoid the news when possible). The TV production (set design/construction, lighting, talent, editing) here in Nashville is ten times better than LA or NYC, but the writing and subject matter is so absurd I'm surprised the anchors can keep a straight face - and they sometimes don't.
-Tom

 

[vreihen]

I'm amazed that they let me walk out onto the deck to take several pictures this morning, and equally surprised that Blizzard's barking fit when he saw them from the deck also didn't send them scurrying.....

 

[Uwe]

^^^ You need a crossbow.