Wood Frogs

Another sign of spring. As our local weather cycles between temperatures of 15F and 70F, the Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus) mating season has begun.

These Wood Frogs have converged in a small pond next to my wood duck nesting box.

Egg masses along the edge of the pond.

The Bear is Still Here

On Tuesday I had a close encounter with a black bear. After checking my game cameras today, I see the bear is still in the same area. For the past 4 nights the bear has been at my "Bone Yard", a place where I dispose deer carcasses. I have over 2,000 pictures of the bear chewing on old deer bones.

Spring Is Here

It was warm/sunny today and as I was doing some landscape clean-up near our cabin pond I found my first snake for this season. It was a Northern Redbellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata). These are very small snakes that are about the size of a pencil when full grown.

Spring Bear

Today was in the 60's but for the past few days we've had an inch of rain, high winds and snow squalls. This afternoon I drove around our cabin property in the ATV looking for storm damage. I didn't find any storm damage but I did find a large black bear bedded under a pine tree, just 40 feet from me. The bear got up and ambled into the nearby brush before I could get my first picture. The bear looked and acted groggy like it had just come out of hibernation. The bear stood about 70 feet away in the brush for about 5 minutes before walking off.

Skunk Activity

It was a cold, damp day and not much activity. I did find this young skunk during my evening wildlife drive.