Thanks to Tim Regan and Northern Virginia Magazine!

A Case of Wildlife Fever is now featured in a local magazine!

The comments and emails that I receive are one of my favorite parts of having this blog.  People often ask me what is in their neighborhood or what I am trying to find out next on the blog.

One of these emails I received was from Tim Regan, a writer for Northern Virginia Magazine.  It was great giving him information via emails and phone calls as to what kind of animals are here and telling him some secrets regarding my pictures and research.

The magazine article that came out this month did not contain the bear pictures, so it's good to see them on the web version.

I thank him and the staff at Northern Virginia Magazine for taking the time to contact me and for having an interest in what I do,

Check out the web version of the magazine article by clicking the link below:
NoVA's Hidden Residents

Leesburg Bear Gets Into Garage

The power and strength of a black bear is incredible.

One local homeowner had a black bear rip through a garage door just to get some food that it smelled inside.  I wonder if it could have been one of the same bears that I have gotten on camera in the past few weeks.

Check out the story at http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Bear-Crashes-Through-Leesburg-Garage-Door-205756511.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DCBrand .

This story comes courtesy of nbcwashington.com and NBC Universal.

More Bears

Another bear came by to say hello to one of my cameras.  It's a young one, as you may be able to tell by its small size.

This camera set comes from Bluemont, Virginia and was the one that I put up in a previous post (Into the Appalachians).

Now here is where I'm going to get a little analytical with these photos.

This bear had its picture taken at 11:10PM on April 14th.  The bears in my last post (Loudoun County Bears) had their pictures taken on the same date at just about exactly the same time.

I am estimating the populations of these animals by looking at the times of the pictures and how far away the cameras are from other cameras.

These bears cannot be the same bears since the cameras are miles apart from each other with a picture at the same time.

Loudoun County has way more bears than I ever would have thought.

Missing Camera

A few months ago, one of my cameras went missing.  Now, I've had some cameras go "missing" before, but that has always ended up with retracing my footsteps and thinking more clearly until I find the place where I actually put the camera.

I looked at my GPS and walked around circles for a few minutes to locate the actual tree that my camera was placed on.  

Finally! I found the tree where I placed my camera but there was no camera on it.  In fact, the whole tree was knocked over.

Human tracks marked the area immediately around the tree.  Somebody had stolen my camera.  What makes this whole scene even more ridiculous is the fact that my cameras are locked around a tree with cables and locks. 

Of course, someone might be able to pick the lock or cut the cable, but not this criminal.  This person took out a saw, sawed the tree down, sawed the limbs off the tree, and then slipped the cable that my camera was on, right along the length of the tree.

How do I know exactly what this person did?  Well here's the thing. Other than the obvious human bootprints, the wrappers left at the scene, and the amount of sawdust under the tree, most of my camera sets are composed of 2 cameras, 3 cameras, or even 4 cameras!

These cameras are pointed at each other in opposing directions.  I've got some cameras that are in the holes of trees that even take me over 30 minutes to find.

This camera set actually had a few cameras at the set and around it that caught the action.

Now I'm not the one to investigate or accuse, but the picture below is of the only person that walked in this area (of 3 cameras) and was seen on other cameras with a saw as well.  Interesting. . . 

Even the local wildlife doesn't seem to steal my cameras, even though the deer get curious sometimes.

Fox Den Update #1

One of the fox dens that I have cameras at has seen some great action lately.  This camera is in Sterling, Va and is pointed at one of the openings of the den.

This den is a big one.  It contains a whole network of underground tunnels and 5 holes for entering and leaving.

There are fox kits in the area already, but I am unsure if this den houses any kits yet.  I have not seem them coming in or out of this den yet.

There have been many visitors to the den however, and excitement for more foxes continues.

One brave groundhog notices the fox hole and seems curious.

Curious groundhog checks things out further.  It quickly retreated after a few more seconds though.

A raccoon sniffs the area.  Raccoons also sniff and look around the den site during a few nights.

Squirrel!  A fox could easily jump out at any minute and try to take the squirrel.

A pair of foxes.  It may be hard to tell that there are two right next to each other, but they are both there.

Red fox notices the camera.

Red fox squats to mark the area.

Red fox entering the den.

Bobcats in Fairfax County?

I'm going to go ahead and say it.  I believe there are bobcats living within Fairfax county.  I've got the trail cameras to use.  I've got the correct permissions and credentials. My plan is to find and identify the homes and roaming territories of your very own, Fairfax bobcats.

Believe it or not, Fairfax is home to these sly cats.  The bobcat (Lynx rufus) is native to these parts as detailed by the Virginia Dept. Of Game and Inland Fisheries website.  http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?s=050051

Did you know that Quantico Marine Base has had extensive research detailing their own bobcats? They've got the proof here!
http://www.quanticosentryonline.com/image_97340446-3035-11e2-931b-001a4bcf6878.html


  A bobcat seen in one area that I put a camera in might coincide with the time of another bobcat picture in another area. Eventually I hope to get enough pictures of bobcats to prove this method even though it is not entirely scientific.  There are many variables with this research that I am not covering and a ridiculous amount of errors that may occur, so this is more of a personal project (in conjunction with the parks) to see how many cats there are out there.

Also, I am hoping to recognize individual bobcats that appear in my pictures.  Once I do this, I hope to have somewhat of an answer as to how many (if there are) bobcats in these detailed areas.

Again, I follow all VDGIF rules and regulations, park regulations, and private property owners' rules.
I will not be scenting, baiting, harassing the animals (or their dens, homes, or young) to get these results.
I am trying to do this research in the least invasive way possible to the cats, you, me, the land, and other forms of wildlife.

Have you seen any bobcats in these areas?
Did you know that there are documented cases of bobcats here?

 I would love to hear from you about these sightings.