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!