Should Be Guest Blog: Take It Slow

CTC chum and teaching colleague Ryan continues his shyness, or a desire for a camera trap curse, so here I am again to muse of his adventures...

Every summer, usually a couple days before the final day of school, Ryan splits the Bay Area for the East Coast to visit family.

The main destination is Indian Lake, a part of a chain of lakes called ... the Indian Lakes in Ontario, Canada.
The goals here: achieve an advanced state of chillness to recuperate from the stressful life of a special ed teacher, do some fishing and hang with the kiddos.

Along the way, his naturalist skills continue to develop.

Last summer on a wander, he noticed distinct chew marks on a tree he believed to be from a porcupine. A camera was set up in the area and the result was a new species for the CTC family!

like its summertime neighbour, taking it slow

JK and I look forward to future Canadian dispatches from the horse's mouth this coming summer.

Guest Post: March of the Marten

This is a guest post by our friend Sean P.  who joins us on many an adventure, from camera trapping the Sierras to herping and BBQing our way through the Mojave Desert. Please feel free to leave comments here and he will be sure to see them.

This is my second year being fortunate enough to work with Chris Wemmer, aka the "Camera Trap Codger." This year I was able to help set traps for his annual camera trap workshop held at the incredible SFSU Sierra Nevada Field Campus. My prime objective, the American marten (Martes americana).

I used a home-brew camera trap with a Sony Cybershot s-600 and a 'Yeti' kit. Unfortunately, when setting up, I did not think to replace the battery powering the mother board/control. Set for night shots only, I started on 7/24/2011... the battery died on 7/31/2011. Four weeks later, I retrieved the camera and realized the error.

Seven shots in eight days. Three weeks of nothing.

Disappointed but, upon return home, I discovered my luck.

First shot a blank- bummer!

Then... shots two and three- my prime objective!








These amazing creatures were followed with four shots of a lovely fawn.






Not bad for what could have turned out to be the camera trap blues! (Although I wish I had the other three weeks of photos...)