Early Buck Scouting

It's still a few months until the start of deer season but a good time to check out the local bucks.

Young Raccoon

I'm starting to see a lot of this year's young animals on my evening wildlife rides. While most of the adult wildlife are nocturnal, many young animals may venture out in the early evening due to hunger pangs and looking for food. I found this lone/young raccoon along one of the trails on our property. I was able to get within 5 feet of this raccoon for the photo.

Bear Encounter

Black bear sightings are becoming more frequent in our neighborhood. This morning, while I was talking to one of the neighbors, this black bear ran across another neighbor's lawn and crossed the township road in front of us.

New Antlers

I found this yearling buck along the road to our cabin during my evening wildlife drive. Being a yearling, last year's fawn, this is the young buck's first set of antlers. These antlers are still developing and covered in soft, blood-rich, fuzzy skin known as velvet.

Young Porcupine

I enjoy taking a tour of our property as the local wildlife start to become active in the evening. Most of the time it's deer and rabbits, but I never know what I'll find. This time it was a young porcupine in an apple tree looking for a meal. Since it was a short tree I was able to get within a few feet of the porcupine on a lower limb.

New Guinea Fowl In The Neighborhood

Our neighbors have been rasing Guinea fowl for the past few years and now for the past couple of weeks a couple of Guinea hens have been hanging out around our barn and acting "strange". One of the hens started roosting in our barn.

Yesterday I got a clue as to why the hens were acting "strange" and staying near our barn... They were nesting and now have little chicks. I've counted at least 10 chicks.

Red Fox Hunting Mice

Summer is a busy time of the year and one of the tasks is mowing fields with a brush-hog. This time I had a new friend follow me around the field looking for a meal. This young red fox has learned that mowing activity will remove the hay and reveal hiding mice.

Zeroing in on a mouse in the hay.

Success!