It takes me a really long time to get these pictures into any kind of condition where I can post them and you can see what they are. The problem is not that the camera is too far away. It’s too close.
One visible squirrel on each feeder and one more in the middle
In between the Flying Squirrels, a few raccoons dropped by
The infrared beam needs about 10 more feet to allow the camera to get reasonable detail, but the deck is only 12 by 12 feet square. Since we already have the tripod flat against the house, unless we try mounting the camera on the roof, this is as good as it is going to get — with this camera.
This is fun. There’s a raccoon munching down on the big feeder and you can also see a flying squirrel stuck on the small feeder in the middle
There’s a Flyer on the big feeder and two more on each side of the wooden post
Just one Flying Squirrel on each feeder but I bet there are more out of view
There are better cameras. A better camera would cost about $300. A much better camera is about $600. A very good camera can easily cost $1000 or more.
This is a $65 camera. It is the “better than nothing” camera and at least we now have a pretty good idea of what creatures are feeding here. It’s a lot more than birds.
Two hungry raccoons
It’s just as well the feeders are up on the deck because otherwise, I’m pretty sure the deer and the skunks would be up here too. Not that I have anything against either species, but I don’t need them up on my deck. The bobcat already gets on the deck. I know because he came over the roof and jumped down next to me and three of my nine lives vanished before my eyes.
A flying Flying Squirrel and one or more still in feeding mode
So meanwhile, I spent all day working on these pictures. They may not look very good, but they are, I guarantee, as good as I could make them.
So. When you are outside at night and you think there are creatures watching you, you’re right. Many creatures are watching you. Hawks and owls. Raccoons and flying squirrels. Bobcats, skunks, deer, fisher cats (which are not cats but are actually weasels). Giant hunting spiders. They watch you.
They see you.
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Categories: #black-&-white-photography, #Photography, Cameras, Flying squirrels, Marilyn Armstrong, Wildlife
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Awesome pictures
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Well, no pictures tonight. We forgot to set up the camera. But whether the camera is set up or not, I am sure the raccoons and Flying Squirrels will be munching down 😀
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lol, I’m sure. They know a good thing when they see it! lol Sides, you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t care.
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Even in grainy detail, the raccoons are still cute. And the flying squirrel in motion looks like so many of my squirrel in motion pics…. only cooler since you know it’s a flying squirrel!
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It would be easier to get a picture if they weren’t mostly white. But yes, they may fly, but they are squirrels. Very small, big-eyed furry little things that live in piles of fur in hollow trees — or your attic 😀
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That second photo came out all artsy – I like it (And a bobcat plopped down right next to you??? OMG!)
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I was just standing there in the night, watching the woods and plunk, there she was. Then, with a single leap, she leaped down to the ground and with one more leap was off by the tepee. Bobcats can REALLY jump. She did something similar to Owen, too and he figures he lost ten years off his life. She was apparently hiding up in the rafters of the woodshed and decided to drop down next to him. She also jumped out when I opened my tepee where she had apparently decided to have her kittens.
Bobcats are supposed to be afraid of us.
This one absolutely was NOT afraid of us OR our dogs.
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I find that somewhat wonderful…
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They have adapted to humans. The “they are more afraid of us than we are of them” is simply untrue. They raise their kittens in our woodsheds, garages, anywhere that’s out of the rain. They raised a litter next door in his storage shed and everyone was afraid to go anywhere near it. They aren’t big, but they are tough.
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As long as they don’t decide to eat me, I’m okay with that…..
😀
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They are much too small to eat you, but not too small to take a good bite out of you and get you with their claws. Even a housecat can do some serious damage if he or she tries.
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That bobcat encounter…. goodness me, my 💜 nearly stopped just reading your tale. NOT something I need in my life!
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They certainly rid the property of all the other small prey animals. We used to have dozens of chipmunks. When the bobcats were done, we didn’t have any. Now, we have one or two. They killed ALL the rabbits and probably half the squirrels, too. They are not very big in size but they are always hungry and the females are usually feeding a litter, so they need extra food.
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But surely not YOU Marilyn….
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No, they don’t eat people. They don’t eat anything bigger than a small cat or dog. But they do laugh at us. They think we are funny.
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