First photo from my new lens

Picked up a new lens off e-bay for 49 dollars, Sigma 18 x 35  so I can set the camera closer for smaller animals.  Very happy with the first picture of a Blacktail buck at night, but noticed a crack in the my case glass the protects the camera lens so went to a glass cutter to fit new glass.  I had cut the old one from picture glass and must have had a small crack in it when I glued it in (I am not good at cutting a glass let alone make it round).

I cropped this from the original and still has great quality, the lens is very sharp and can't wait to set the camera back into the woods later this fall.

Update on Mouse cam

Pleased with the 380 for the close work for mice, I do need to set the camera back about 6 inches for better focus, but did get a few critters.  I'm not up on my species of field mice but do know one is a shrew.  I enjoy checking this camera, it's an older model but takes good pictures plus the flash and speed to take a photo work great for this type of setting.

I cropped the pictures to give a better look of these small creatures that live in their grass world.

Field mice camera

Several years ago I set a camera out for field mice and was well pleased with the results, so I built a camera that I hope works as well for close pictures of a fast critter.  I used an older Olympus 380 that has a switch on the front for macro up close and is a quick camera.  It does well on pictures at less than a foot and hope the flash isn't to much for that distance.

More or less a trial and error method for the first few weeks and hope the elk don't stomp the camera into the ground, they are very rough on cameras.

It's a well used trail that runs in a zig zag pattern in front of the camera. That should slow anything down for the camera to work, but I can always go back to the first camera I used in a pinch.

The Nature of a Bear

Seems it's just in the blood of a bear to never see a camera it didn't like.

Closer look and then bites the camera.  Camera came out fine with only some bite and claw marks.

 

Tree falling

Found a good location where a beaver is wearing its teeth down.  I don't believe they are trying to fall the trees but just wear their teeth down , if they grow too long they can become unable to open their mouth far enough to eat.  Fir trees are not their main diet, they mainly like cottonwood and eat lots of small bushes, grass and roots.

I aimed the camera at this tree because it was the most recent one that had been chewed on.

Otter log

I found some fresh sign of where an otter rolled in the sand and then played on the log.  I wasn't quite sure what was going on, so I placed a camera to find out if it was a one time thing or something they frequently.  I have been by this place on many occasions and never seen this type of activity before.

I was surprised to have this male otter stay on the log for 26 pictures and not bothered by the camera.  I left the camera there and checked it today, seems most of the otter stop and play when passing by so I set the Canon Rebel up and hope they pass through again within the next several days.

A learning day of checking my trail cameras

I had eight cameras set in good locations that had been out a week so was excited to have a cool morning for the 5 mile hike.  That didn't last long, out of the 8 cameras only three had pictures, the other five I had either not turned on or the batteries were dead.  My learning curve had dropped a lot over the last year....be sure to double check batteries and switches before leaving the camera.

I did move two cameras to new locations, one to a trail that otter use to bypass a log jam on a small creek. I believe the otter are still up in a pond and this creek is used to get back to the river, where they teach the young the ways of the river.

The other camera was my Canon Rebel that I aimed at a log and stump to test the depth of focus and field of view when set in manual focus. Been a while since I set out the Canon and took 20 pictures of myself and the surrounding area while setting it up, I have it set on five pictures on each trigger of the sensor and it is a very fast sensor.  After all that I wasn't willing to take it down and delete the pictures, it had a large card and maybe the pictures I took was a good test.

 This shows the well used path that leaves the creek to bypass the log jam.