We’ve left the doldrums of late winter camera trapping, and transitioned to spring. In the animal kingdom, it’s like a light switch went on.

The deer have returned, as have the turkeys. Skunks are more active and we caught a neat bobcat video.

Here are a few of the more interesting critters we’ve seen, plus and a couple wildlife experiments we’ve been running as a part of the camera trapping program at our son’s preschool (shout out to Mountain Sprouts!). Remember when we used to have school? That was sure nice.

Part of the fun of camera trapping is trying to figure out where your target species will hang out or pass by. This is a new location that we selected in March. So far it’s your basic run of snowshoe hares, turkey, deer and skunk. But those animals are a carnivore buffet, and we’re pretty sure the large predators aren’t far behind.

Experiment #1 – The Cardboard Box

We’ve heard rumors that large cats will jump into cardboard boxes, just like house cats do. We frequently see bobcats and cougars in this spot, so we decided to stake a box to the ground and record some video.

When we finally did see a large cat, she sniffed the pole but avoided jumping inside the box. The second video shows her spraying some pee on the pole before walking off – an excellent example of scent-marking behavior. Hopefully we’ll see some bob kittens soon!

Here’s the same cat further down the ridge a short while later.

Here’s a striped skunk checking out the same pole

The deer were the only animals that seemed interested in the box.

Experiment #2 – A Freshly Dead Bunny

When a neighbor dropped by in March, their dog suddenly appeared on our porch with a freshly killed snowshoe hare. We decided to hang the bunny on a ridge to see what would feed on it. Surprisingly, several came by to investigate, but so far they’ve all been wary.

Perhaps they have experienced some trapping in their recent past? Maybe we left too much of our human odor in the area, and the animals are suspicious? Hard to say.

The local elk family paid us a visit but we didn’t need cameras to tell us they’d been around. Elk are big and heavy, and the soil is always pockmarked with huge prints when they’re on the trail.

That’s it for the March highlights. Spring is officially upon us and we expect to start seeing bears any day now. Tune in next month!