hi neva and joho aka you guys its 40 here 52 in the barn one maybe cat everyone came last night and pearl is good!! i have to let the dogs out first thing in the morning wait for them and then head to the barn but jim got up and said have you checked on her yet no waiting for the dogs and he said i will get them so headed out to pearl had to come back in get maybe bowl of dry and can food there goes griz need to post the update
Fox, Bobcat, and the First Woodchuck - UPDATE March 14, 2022
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker
At 1:40 AM Pretty Girl came to wish ‘Eyes of the Night’ a good trip home today. Pretty Girl was wary, spending long periods looking out at the dark woods from the second floor deck. She left full, though. Then fresh snow covered her tracks to provide more news from the night. By morning, Bob’s tracks were there outside my window, making me wonder if a bobcat could get used to seeing me at my desk and learn to take food like Pretty Girl does. That made me wonder if Bob would take food gently or would snatch it like some of the mink did at first. Time will tell.
At 8:45 AM, a new sight was the first woodchuck I’ve seen here at the WRI since May 12 of last year. I didn’t know there was a woodchuck here hibernating, and maybe there wasn’t. Woodchuck
Woodchuck
This is the time of year males begin making their rounds to breed. We’ll see if this woodchuck, male or female, stays around or was just passing through. He or she was nice to hold still for a good ID shot in good light to see if it is seen again.
A little bonus after I clicked the woodchuck was the drumming of a pileated woodpecker—the first I’ve heard here in a long time. It was above me in a dead white pine, showing the value of dead wood. But it wasn’t looking for insects. This male had found a good, resonant spot to drum for a mate, look around, and drum again. Always good to see and hear.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center