Where the Bear Stood

I stood where the bear stood and fully experienced a very short moment in a bear's very interesting life.
We'll talk more about what the bear was doing and why, in a later post or discussion.

For now, enjoy the photo!

Building My Own

With the help of other photographers, hunters, and trail camera users, I am beginning to build my own trail cameras with DLSR cameras.  

It's tricky. It's challenging. It's exciting!

Here is one of the first decent pictures of mine to come from a "home-brewed" DSLR camera trap. The animal isn't centered and the focus is a bit off, but still, I'm new at these homemade ones.

It's going to be challenging to get all the best shots with this new device, but tomorrow, I am planning to put it where bears are known to show up almost daily.

We'll check it next week.

Paige and the Bears

If there is anyone who knows how to get Northern Virginia's bears on camera, it is Paige.

Mother bear and cub. Photo: Paige Critchley

Paige Critchley contacted me over a year ago about trail camera advice.  At that time,  she was taking on the task of using a trail camera to help a person locate a missing dog in her area.  I forwarded her some tips and told her to keep in contact with me.  What she probably didn't realize then, was that she was at the beginning of a new hobby and an addicting habit called camera trapping (using remote-sensored trail cameras).  It's a very healthy habit, and one that she has become an expert in.

Critchley is a local entrepreneur, a horse enthusiast, and a wildlife lover.  To me, she has also become a great friend and someone who shares the passion of photographing wildlife with trail cameras.  She spends a lot of her free time with her dog outdoors and with friends, but always seems to have trail cameras in the back of her mind.  "Using trail cameras always builds excitement," Critchley says "It's an activity that takes my mind off work."

She volunteered some of her time to run cameras for me in Loudoun County, Virginia and I got to see her interest rise.  Growing with her passion for this, is the number of cameras she personally owns and uses.  It started as one but has grown to 12 cameras now.

Black Bear.  Photo: Paige Critchley

While she describes coyotes as being her favorite animal to capture on camera, Critchley has gotten an incredible amount of bear photographs lately.

Bears aren't rare here in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, but they exist mostly in western Loudoun, parts of Fauquier, and parts of Prince William Counties. During certain times of the year, bear activity may greatly increase in more suburban areas, leading to problems in traffic.  This is due to an interest in new territory and mating habits of young males. With these trail cameras, we are able to keep records on bears and do small population surveys based on the photos.

"I have about 7 or 8 bears coming through 2 different trail camera locations, at the moment." Critchley says.  She adds "I even captured two bears in combat, possibly a mating ritual or territorial fight."

These black bears are not something to be fearful of in our area, but rather something to be aware of. They are omnivorous, meaning that both plants and animals make up their meals. Right now, black bears are feeding on ripened raspberries, wineberries, roots, and insects.  Throughout the year, their diet changes, but usually keeps with a mostly plant based diet, mixed in with a few animals.

Capturing an image of a bear tells a lot.  It can tell researchers where bears are, how many are in a certain area, and daytime patterns of an individual.  Capturing behavior is another thing, and tells a whole story.  The trail cameras have captured the combatting bears, young bears ripping down Critchley's cameras, different bear postures, and even bears stealing her cameras and using them to take their own selfies.

Every time another black bear touches this log, it adds a tiny bit of scent.  The scent draws in more bears and the cycle continues, sometimes for months.  Photo: Paige Critchley.

Critchley's fondness of wildlife doesn't just stop at bears.  In just over a year, she has captured a plethora of images, recording everything from deer to coyotes, and even bobcats.  All of her images are from the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and people are sometimes astounded by the fact that these animals are so close to our Nation's Capital.

A bobcat of Northern Virginia.  Photo: Paige Critchley

Baby Foxes - Finally!

Not all nature is cute and fluffy, but these fox kits are!

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have some of the most well-loved babies here in Northern Virginia.  Their playfulness captures the hearts of all of us, their big eyes are adored, and watching them becomes an activity, as well as an opportunity for a lot of families in the suburbs.

I had the opportunity to enjoy watching some of these baby foxes with Derek and Liz Smeds this year. They watched them from their house and I watched them from my computer screen, as I placed a trail camera right at the den entrance after they had notified me about the location of the den.

Derek had shared some photos of fox kits playing in the neighbor's yard a week or so before I had a chance to get out to them.  I was hooked immediately when I realized that the foxes were playing there very often and were occupying an old groundhog den.

It was exactly what I was looking for.

I met up with Liz at their house and quickly got in contact with the landowner a few doors down, where the den was.  Permission was granted for us to start a small camera trap survey of the animals. Everyone's excitement showed tremendously.

A camera was set up and we waited patiently for the first photos. In the mean time, Liz and Derek messaged me often about any behavior they were seeing.  They texted me every few days when they'd see them, sometimes explaining how close the foxes were. Liz says "We have always had wildlife in this neighborhood and enjoy seeing it."  I could tell.  The Smeds family was as enthusiastic about this as I was.

To everyone's amazement, the first time the camera was checked was a very successful one.  A lot of footage of the foxes appeared. Again and again, the camera provided phenomenal photos of the local foxes, each time providing better results than the last.

It was awesome!

Like human children, the fox kits played, fought, ate, and pooped a lot. These behaviors are typical of fox babies, and will continue until they turn into adults when a lot of their life is hunting and taking care of their own young.

The images were from only a few weeks ago, and since then, the camera has been removed to start a new project in the area with local beavers.

The foxes will grow up and move on too, patrolling our woods and eating undesired rodents.

I would like to personally thank Derek and Liz Smeds, their neighbors, and the community of Countryside, VA for allowing me to work on this little project.  It is much appreciated!

Amphibian High-5!

It's that time of year again!  Amphibians are crossing roads to go to their breeding pools.

This American toad wanted a high five, as I moved it to safety from a road to the side, in the direction it was travelling.

High-fived a toad a few days ago.  Photo: Brian Balik

I'll be counting amphibians again this year and assisting other researchers when I can.  We're getting ready for fox kit season soon, so look forward to some results and photos from that in the next few months.

Eagle Transport

Bald eagle, one of America's most majestic creatures sitting in a crate in my vehicle.

I've transported some really interesting creatures in the past few years, as I work in places where wild animals are kept as "animal ambassadors", have been trained to transport wildlife, and volunteer and work with projects that allow me to handle these animals.

Just when I think I've "seen it all", some really interesting opportunities always seem to arise.

One of the most recent examples of this happened a few days after Thanksgiving this past year.  

I heard through the "wildlife biologist grapevine" that an injured bald eagle from Virginia needed to be transported to a wildlife rehabilition center.  The eagle was reported injured by fishermen in central/Eastern Virginia and a Conservation Police Officer was tasked with restraining it for its own protection and getting it to a rehabilitation facility.

The logistics of this made it difficult, as a lot of mileage and time would be needed to get this eagle to the care it needed. A "middle man" became necessary to meet the Officer, intercept the eagle, and chauffeur it to the rehab center.

Carrying crate with eagle inside.

I quickly became this middle man.

Now, I've had a lot of precious cargo in my RAV4 before, but never a bald eagle, so this was a first, even for my standards.  I didn't have much in the way of plans for the evening and I knew it would only cost a few bucks to make the drive, so I was pretty excited to be able to not only help the animal, but all parties and agencies involved as well.

The Conservation Officer arrived promptly to my house with the injured eagle.  We exchanged hellos and some "how to's" and "do nots" were respectfully given to me, after all this was a federally protected bird. I agreed to make the drive one final time and was basically left to my own devices as long as this eagle made it to where it needed to go.

Also in my car were some members of the Sweeney family.   They are good friends of mine, and I wanted someone else to be there in case something went awry. I figured that the eagle would be fine for most of the ride in the very back of my SUV, but it wouldn't hurt to have some others checking on it once in a while, so that I could concentrate on driving.  They agreed to join me and their eyes lit up when they first saw the mature eagle.  It would be a good experience for everyone involved.

The first part of the drive went very smoothly.  We made our way westward and ultimately southwest to Waynesboro, Virginia.

As the Sweeney-filled, Brian-driven, bald eagle carrying Toyota Rav4 made its way down Route 340, a surprise almost stopped our vehicle completely.

A large black bear sprinted right across the road and my car came no more than 1 foot from hitting it. The passengers all screamed "BEAR!"

It was alive and well, running full speed through the road's lanes.

We saw the beast hurtle down into a wooded area off the road and eventually it was just a blur in the darkness.

After about 15 seconds of our bodies pumping adrenaline, we all exchanged laughs and agreed that this kind of experience would only happen to someone like me.

I'm glad we avoided having to take two animals to the Wildlife Center that evening.

The eagle arrived at the designated destination, hurt from its reported injury, but still breathing.  We meet with staff at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, people who came into work that late, just to intercept the eagle from me.  They do some amazing work at that facility and I highly support what they do and share.

I was happy that I did my part in this and am thrilled to have friends that also enjoy this type of adventure.

It was good to give back to wildlife, as it gives me so damn much.