Woodsman Loc: North of Peterborough Ontario

My first raccoon of the year was on the yard last night. I dont mind them unless they start doing damage. Last year we had a mama and 4 little furballs who would come every night on the yard and also to the field cams. As they grew I called them "The Horde". Sometimes the mama Raccoon and mama Fox would get into a discussion but never any damage done. Thats why I got the camera with sound., I want to hear any interactions come summer. The fox always gave way to the Raccoon. Smart Fox.

I have cheap security cams under $100 each. My house is wired for ethernet so I got ones that run on power over ethernet. I than ran an outdoor ethernet cable to the cameras and purchased a power over ethernet switch. Its an ethernet switch but also provides power to any POE equipment that requests it. That saved me having to run external power out to the cameras. I have two out and have two more I need to install. I got wide angle ones because they are for catching animals not people. No audio on these. They take color video by day and B&W video by night when they switch to IR mode (Red LED glow). The IR goes out a good 100 feet. Being cheaper models (Foscam FI8905E) they only take 640x480 video but that suits me fine for security cams. the newer ones take HD video. To run them I have software called blue iris which runs on a PC. The software takes the video and also saves a single jpg. I review the jpgs and if I see an animal then I view that video. I have them set for 30 second video but they will keep recording as long as they see movement. I leave an old laptop up overnight to run the cameras. It controls the capture of the video to the PC (or in my case to a networked hard drive in the basement) and allows me to adjust the sensitivity for trigger and such. That saves me having to purchase a standalone camera controller. There is also free software to view them from you phone or tablet. Mostly I catch fox and raccoons on the yard but have also caught deer, coyote, otter, beaver, feral cats, lots of various critters.

Dick Byers

Beautiful adult red-shouldered hawk in flight. Nice shot.

SheilaG Loc: Central Arkansas

Thank you Dick. I was so excited to have been that close to getting a shot of him, I'm surprised I even had him in the frame, in all the excitement! He is a beautiful boy, I love the markings on his wings and those red shoulders.

Sheila

SheilaG Loc: Central Arkansas

Thanks for the info on the cams. We need to see about getting some set up. No telling what we would see! Regarding the fox and raccoon, our fox was bullied by the coons. They would chase her away from her food, she would go and stand in the round pen that was there at the time. John would go out and run off the coons then sit outside while the fox came back to eat... It was crazy! The coons would start trying to sneak back and you could see them looking around the corner of the house to see if he was still there with her.

You are lucky to still have your Red Fox... Looking forward to seeing your pictures of them this year.

Woodsman Loc: North of Peterborough Ontario

Funny thing I was looking at security cams today thinking of updating one at least to HD but I dont want to spend the bucks on one just yet. Retired and too many other expenses coming up.

Here are some more of the fox last summer. First is mama fox and the raccoon having a standoff and discussion out at the trail cam. Then one of the kits trying to scare off the coon. The funny thing is after a bit of gesturing it is not uncommon for the young fox and raccoons here to close up and eat together.

This will be the last of the fox pics on your post, hope you didnt mind the add. The last shot is two of the kits. Who could not love those faces.

rlaugh Loc: Michigan & Florida

Excellent work!!

SheilaG Loc: Central Arkansas

Woodsman,

I am totally enjoying your pictures. Those foxes are adorable, pics are outstanding, capturing their natural play, confrontation with the raccoon, and just being foxes. The coon probably decided to act nice because he was outnumbered!! I hope they come back and you get many more pictures. We have a friend on top of the mountain behind us, Vietnam veteran, and he loves animals. He has many Gray Foxes at his house. I am hoping our Miss Fox went to his mountain in search of a mate. He would never hurt them and tries to feed them all. He sent me a pic of one of them eating with one of the cats on the back steps. If they come back this year, maybe I can visit and get some pics!!

I am new here and learning. It is such a good place to chat and learn about skills, equipment and so many people willing to share experience and knowledge. All of this is part of learning to me.

woodweasel Loc: bellingham Wa

interesting

Robert W

Lovely story. Humans have distance themselves from the rest of the animal populations that when a bridge is made it is so rewarding. I believe that cats and dogs create such a bridge.

SheilaG Loc: Central Arkansas

Yes, Robert, it is very rewarding and such a comfort to observe.