Stealth Cam

Though I'm an amateur at best, I've developed (no pun intended) a passion for nature photography. And there are certainly a lot of good subjects in the mountains. I always keep my camera nearby and have used it a lot as you may have noticed already if you've been reading this blog. Now, my niece is a really good photographer and she has some amazing photos of the animals in her yard. I asked her how she got those shots and she said, "Oh, they came off of Dale's Stealth Camera."  Well I knew then I had to get one for the mountain house. So I talked to Dale about what kind of camera I should get, etc. and he informed me that he has 15 cameras on his property!  No wonder they get so many great shots!  Well, I listened and then I went to Bass Pro Shop and bought a camera. I figured if it works and we get the hang of it, I'll add some more later. 

The first big challenge is figuring out where to place it so it's relatively easy to get to, but where it won't record every car/person that goes by. That turned out to be a big problem because our property is very steep everywhere but the driveway and we certainly didn't want to put the camera in the driveway. We finally decided on  just the right tree and mounted the camera. 

Now when we visit, one of the first things I do is retrieve the memory card from the Stealth Cam to see what I got!  As Dale says, "To quote Forrest Gump, it's like a box of chocolates-you never know what you're  gonna get!". The camera detects heat/ movement and is set to shoot 3 shots. My very first photo was a squirrel!

Of course the other two shots were the squirrel's tail as he hurried up the tree.   I have a lot of pictures of these same trees with no sign of wild life. Either they flew away before the camera snapped or maybe the wind blew the leaves. I don't know, but it's rather funny to see me straining to find some sign of wildlife in those shots! Here's a photo of nothing (unless you see something I don't!)

And then we have the partial shot of Keith going to retrieve his bird feeder. 

The night shots are a little creepy!  The camera has been activated several times at night and I don't think it's birds or squirrels!  Can you see her?

Yes, I think that furry blob in the bottom left corner is Mama Bear going for an evening stroll!

Most of the shots just get deleted, but every now and then we get a decent picture. This is (top) a Pilated wood pecker and (bottom) a cardinal. They're probably wondering whatever happened to the bird feeder that used to hang nearby!

The Battle of The Bird Feeder

I guess you know you're getting old when you become a bird watcher. We really enjoy watching the birds, so it was only fitting that we put up a bird feeder at the mountain home. We wanted to be able to see them while we eat so Keith attached the bird feeder to the rail right outside the kitchen window. Well, our guests informed us that the squirrels knocked it off and it fell to the ground way below the rail. They graciously retrieved it for us. 

Plan B! When we returned to the mountain house Keith took the time to hang it on a wire (which is what he intended to do all along). Hanging it suspended from a wire makes it not impossible, but more difficult for the squirrels to get to it. He hung it just over the rail where he could still reach over to fill it. 

Shortly thereafter we noticed the bird feeder was caught up and back over the rail. Those pesky squirrels!  How did they do that? Imagine our surprise when we looked out and saw this!

Bears like bird seed. Imagine that!  We watched them eat until it was empty.

Plan C!  Okay, so my engineer of a husband decided to move the bird feeder to a limb farther out where the bears couldn't reach it. For days we once again could enjoy watching the birds. But then last night we heard this horrendous noise outside. When you hear outdoor noises here, you better go check!  This is what we saw!

Mama bear pulled on this limb until it broke off and the bird feeder hit the ground below. Then she and her cubs RAN below to collect their reward!  

After they filled their bellies they settled in under our deck to rest!

We watched until we were sure they left. The bird feeder is currently somewhere in the woods. I hope that Plan D is to let it stay there!

July 4 Weekend

Another holiday weekend with the family and what a blast we had, literally. (Can you say fireworks?)

Of course our Pre-Holiday days featured multiple bear sitings. You can see the photos in the "Bears" post. 

Even though there was a lot of rain, we managed to have "windows" of dryness. We started the Fourth off with a big mountain breakfast. The kids hiked Gatlinburg trail while we got the grill ready to smoke some pork. I'm loving that smoker on my new grill!  

After dinner we went to Pigeon Forge for the Patriot Festival at Patriot's Park. (The park is located behind the Old Mill Restaurant, for those of you familiar with Pigeon Forge.). We heard a great concert by Larry Gatlin and his brothers. He still has that great voice and they still sing those smooth tight harmonies. I really enjoyed it and I can't believe the rain held off while we were there. 

Afterwards, we saw Fireworks Display #1. It included every patriotic song ever written and even had the Pledge of Allegiance recited by John Wayne!  It started raining again after we got back to the car. Talk about perfect timing. We lucked out all around. We found a parking spot close to the park, we found a seating area close to the stage, and just about all the traffic going home was headed in the opposite direction from us!  Who could ask for more?

Friday was a lazy day for me. Jenny & Bobby had to go back to work. Keith and Jeff went to the Chalet Village Members Club to play tennis and, believe it or not, they saw Mama Bear and the cubs going up the driveway of a house nearby. I swear, we may have to name those bears!  

After dinner at Holston's Kitchen we went to the Smokies game and saw Fireworks Display #2. We had great seats right behind the dugout. And once again, the rain held off until our evening was over. Back home we settled in for some late night USA Soccer. 

Since Saturday was a mostly sunny day, we hiked the Gatlinburg trail again and had a tailgate picnic by the river. 

On Saturday evening we took in some shows and Fireworks Display #3 at Dollywood. Leave it to Dolly to come up with a special twist. Her fireworks were 3-D!  We all got a pair of those crazy glasses for viewing the fireworks. It was quite a psychedelic experience!  And as usual the shows were fantastic!  We really enjoyed the Great American Country Music Show and were amazed by the Gazillion Bubbles Show. 

Back home we finished off the evening with a good soak in the hot tub - in the rain!

We spent a dreary Sunday afternoon watching sports and eating leftovers before Jeff packed up to go home. Thus ends our Fabulous Fourth. Just when I think our gatherings can't get any better, they do. We're thinking about creating a new mid-July/early-August holiday because it's going to be hard to wait until Labor Day!

Bears

Last summer we only had two bear sightings on our property. I don't know if it was too hot, too loud (repair men), or if there was just a shortage of bears. But this summer we see bears every time we are here!  I've already talked about the bears that got in the trash Memorial Day weekend. This month I had guests at the house and they saw bears. This week we've seen the same bears two days in a row. Mama and her three cubs have adopted us. The first day, Keith was working on the deck and he called me: "Bring the camera. I hear something below."  Right at the end of the deck there were three cubs climbing a tree. We decided they were eating ants.  They must have played in that tree for an hour before Mama showed up to take them home!

The next day we kept hearing this noise outside and Keith couldn't figure out how the squirrels moved his bird feeder over the rail. After dinner, when we casually looked out to see if there were any birds on the feeder we saw this!

Apparently bears like birdseed!  Who knew?  It was raining quite a bit, but they didn't seem to mind at all. They stayed for well over an hour eating and playing. They finally left when the neighborly "paparazzi" showed up. Mama left with two of the cubs, but one cub kept playing in the top of a tree. Boy did he make some noise when he realized he had been left behind!  I guess he heard Mama calling because he finally ran away. We are certainly being entertained and are learning a lot about bears. 

By the way, all of these photos are taken from inside the house through an open window, or from the deck. I'm not going to venture too close to a Mama and her babies!

Junk Mail

We intentionally didn't put a mailbox at the mountain home. We just have our utility bills sent to our regular home address. That way we don't have to worry about an unwanted collection of junk mail hanging out of a box there. Not having a mailbox also seems to add to the sense of escape, vacation, a reprieve from the every day routine. 

Nevertheless, owning a mountain home has added to the junk mail we get at our regular home. Now we are constantly getting flyers from realtors, land developers, and vacation rental companies. They want to sell us property. They want to sell our property. (What?  We just bought it!). They want to tell us how much the house down the street sold for. They want us to let them rent our house out for us. (They'll take care of everything for a whopping 32% of the rental!)  They must stalk the courthouse looking for the addresses of new homeowners in the area! They make my head spin. Enough already!