Yellowstone Reports

Camera Traps

Down Year
by Dan Hartman

Sept. 20, 2022

     Well, I'm nearing the end of the squirrel midden filming season.
     Because of camera failures, bad placement of cameras by the filmmaker, road construction that made the hike in extremely difficult and low cone numbers in the midden areas, the season was pretty much a wash out. Even though I've never worked harder.
     I've only identified five bears. A black, a cinnamon black, a large grizzly and two smaller grizzlies that travel together.
     Having said that, I did get squirrel - clarks nutcracker interaction. Lots of mouse, vole footage. Also dusky grouse and grosbeaks.
     But the sequence of the season thus far was a 12 second shot of a hunting long eared owl!   This is the first I've seen in over 20 years!
     I'll continue to run the traps for a few more weeks, even though the bears have probably moved on. I'm hoping to capture something I didn't even know was part of the white bark pine midden story.
     Then I plan on leaving a camera out there all winter, to be collected next summer.

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