I love being right
SO, the other day when I put my camera out, I realize a quarter of the way back that I'd forgotten to put the lock on it! Since I wanted to leave it out until mid- or late-July, I figured I'd better head out today and fix that. So, I invited tobiasfox along because we'd been saying for forever that we should go hiking together.
We walked forever and ever and finally got to my cherry grove, and as I walked up to the camera, which was suddenly facing a new direction, I realized that the front was very muddy and scuffed up...and wait, there are tooth marks in the plastic, and... the cover to the motion-sensor is gone! Holy crap!! It was in the grass not far away, hopelessly bitten apart.
Contrary to what you might expect, I was really excited to see such damage wrought upon my poor camera, because there is only one creature locally that could - or would - do this: a black bear.
We came back here, and - well, the pictures are self-explanatory!!
My poor cam. It could be worse, though. Much, much worse.
BUT FIRST
TOOTH MARKS
AREN'T THEY AWESOME DON'T YOU WISH YOUR CAMERA HAD THEM
As you can see, it says that there are over 700 photos! As you will see, this is sort of a lie.
The first few shots were of this fellow:
A Pileated Woodpecker. He's the largest North American species of Woodpecker, and I have no idea why he is chillin' in front of my camera. I would ask him if I could.
Then, slowly, slowly through the narrow blackberry trail...
"IIIIIII'MMMMM
AAAAAAAAA
BEAAAAARRRRRRRR"
A big, brawny Blackie, certainly upwards of 300 lbs. Look how slowly he saunters towards the camera! He's not worried about a thing. (Pay no attention to the time stamp, it's very off.)
It would seem he came along not long after I left!
He headed over to the cherry tree, I believe, for a fair few frames, then came back...
The majority of a Blackie's diet is vegetation, like grasses and seeds and berries, making the cherry grove, surrounding by blackberries, a perfect place for him. They do eat meat on occasion, like rabbits or small deer, and rarely livestock, but are more likely to rip open an anthill or a yellowjacket nest. In fact, they eat bugs far more often than they do mammalian flesh. They are, of course, great scavengers and, as opportunistic eaters (as well as being very curious), will stick their noses into anything that looks or smells interesting.
...including my camera.
Bears actually damage trail cams quite often, so 'bear boxes,' big steel armored cases, are a common accessory in bear country. Wouldn't you know it, though, they don't seem to make one for my model...
Blackie decided to turn my camera to face the very lovely cherry tree, perhaps noting that it made a better backdrop than the blackberry patch.
Then he...put his mouth over the lens? There were teeth marks down in there, so...
"I'M A BEEEEAR SUCK MY DICK"
You can always tell a black bear from a brown bear by his propensity for profanity. Brown bears are just above that shit.
And then he left, probably after figuring out that my camera didn't have any tasties inside it.
Now that he'd ripped the cover off of the motion-sensor, it took pictures near-constantly for the next day and a half, so the remaining 600+ photos were just of the branches blowing back and forth.
I got to call up the customer service line in Texas and ask the best question I have ever asked a customer service line: "Does my warranty cover bear damage?" The guy replied good-humoredly that sadly, it does not, so I asked if he could send me a new motion-sensor cover, and he said he certainly could, free of charge. Awesome.
Seriously, I'm totally thrilled with this set of pictures. I can't wait to get the replacement part and put it back out there! The question now, though, is what to do about protecting it from him the next time....
We walked forever and ever and finally got to my cherry grove, and as I walked up to the camera, which was suddenly facing a new direction, I realized that the front was very muddy and scuffed up...and wait, there are tooth marks in the plastic, and... the cover to the motion-sensor is gone! Holy crap!! It was in the grass not far away, hopelessly bitten apart.
Contrary to what you might expect, I was really excited to see such damage wrought upon my poor camera, because there is only one creature locally that could - or would - do this: a black bear.
We came back here, and - well, the pictures are self-explanatory!!
My poor cam. It could be worse, though. Much, much worse.
BUT FIRST
TOOTH MARKS
AREN'T THEY AWESOME DON'T YOU WISH YOUR CAMERA HAD THEM
As you can see, it says that there are over 700 photos! As you will see, this is sort of a lie.
The first few shots were of this fellow:
A Pileated Woodpecker. He's the largest North American species of Woodpecker, and I have no idea why he is chillin' in front of my camera. I would ask him if I could.
Then, slowly, slowly through the narrow blackberry trail...
"IIIIIII'MMMMM
AAAAAAAAA
BEAAAAARRRRRRRR"
A big, brawny Blackie, certainly upwards of 300 lbs. Look how slowly he saunters towards the camera! He's not worried about a thing. (Pay no attention to the time stamp, it's very off.)
It would seem he came along not long after I left!
He headed over to the cherry tree, I believe, for a fair few frames, then came back...
The majority of a Blackie's diet is vegetation, like grasses and seeds and berries, making the cherry grove, surrounding by blackberries, a perfect place for him. They do eat meat on occasion, like rabbits or small deer, and rarely livestock, but are more likely to rip open an anthill or a yellowjacket nest. In fact, they eat bugs far more often than they do mammalian flesh. They are, of course, great scavengers and, as opportunistic eaters (as well as being very curious), will stick their noses into anything that looks or smells interesting.
...including my camera.
Bears actually damage trail cams quite often, so 'bear boxes,' big steel armored cases, are a common accessory in bear country. Wouldn't you know it, though, they don't seem to make one for my model...
Blackie decided to turn my camera to face the very lovely cherry tree, perhaps noting that it made a better backdrop than the blackberry patch.
Then he...put his mouth over the lens? There were teeth marks down in there, so...
"I'M A BEEEEAR SUCK MY DICK"
You can always tell a black bear from a brown bear by his propensity for profanity. Brown bears are just above that shit.
And then he left, probably after figuring out that my camera didn't have any tasties inside it.
Now that he'd ripped the cover off of the motion-sensor, it took pictures near-constantly for the next day and a half, so the remaining 600+ photos were just of the branches blowing back and forth.
I got to call up the customer service line in Texas and ask the best question I have ever asked a customer service line: "Does my warranty cover bear damage?" The guy replied good-humoredly that sadly, it does not, so I asked if he could send me a new motion-sensor cover, and he said he certainly could, free of charge. Awesome.
Seriously, I'm totally thrilled with this set of pictures. I can't wait to get the replacement part and put it back out there! The question now, though, is what to do about protecting it from him the next time....