Game cams

 In the area where we live, on the edge of a small town in the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range, there are lots of critters. There have been glimpses of a bobcat behind our house, and from time to time there are dragged-and-fed-upon-deer that seem to be cougar kills. Coyotes howl at night. Who knows what prowls past the back fence in the wee hours of the morning?

I was musing about this with the neighbor a couple of months ago. They have a pond in their yard, and I commented that it would be great to have a trail camera to capture their visitors. "Oooooh, I dunno know if I want to know," she said.

Guessing that I would have fun with this toy, at Christmas my daughter gave me a game camera from Cabela's. It's a tool that hunters use, I guess, but here its purpose is purely fun.

 After finally accumulating the right number of batteries and an SD card, it was time to set it up. This is the first picture: the woodpile! Heh, I had no idea it was taking pictures: no lights, no clicks, nothing.

 

 Second shot: my finger! Obviously I forgot that the camera's motion sensor was instructing it to take a pic every time something moved.

 

 Third shot: John's back as he kindly cleared some brush in front of it.

 

 Would it work at night? I didn't know, so I went out and stood in front of it, trying not to look scary in a sweatshirt and Davy Crockett jammies. The infrared glowed for a second, and sure enough it took a picture.

 So now I possess a zillion photos that look like this.

 

 Or this.

 But we do have critters, honest. A flock of 19 turkeys invaded yesterday.

 There's a small doe who passes by before daylight.

 Here she is again, at about the same time.  She has a routine.

I haven't mentioned it to the neighbor (who doesn't yet know I have this gadget), but dang,  I'm dying to aim the camera at their pond.

On Sunday there was a voicemail message from the neighbor. She wanted us to know that they had bought themselves a game cam as an anniversary present, and had just installed it next to the pond, and if it bothered us, well they would get rid of it... whaaat? Hahaha! We are COVERED. If they see a cougar and we don't, I'll ask for a pic.