Neighborhood critters

A bear pooped on our driveway.

At least that’s our working theory. I’ll spare you the diagnostic analysis that went into this conclusion, but the scat was unlike anything you usually see. The neighbors seemed to agree. Even the city deemed it necessary to drop off some brochures on “Living with Bears” and being “Bear Aware.”

Frankly, I thought it was cool. One of the pleasures of living in Colorado is the proximity to wilderness, wildlife, and the natural world. We’re especially blessed in our neighborhood in Fort Collins, centered a few short blocks away from a number of natural areas, parks, open spaces - and beyond that, the mountains.

Even before the bear incident, I had started to get curious about the wildlife around us. In an inspired bit of unnecessary shopping, I bought a couple of cheap camera traps and began placing them in the area. I would walk over to the nearest park, look for game trails or interesting nooks and crannies, and drop off a remote camera.

It became a bit of a game…thinking ‘If I were an animal where would I go?’. I had to find locations that were both appealing to the wildlife, accessible to me, but also out of the way and unnoticed by the people nearby. After several months, I’ve had some success in glimpsing the natural world right outside my door.

So today I present you the first round of Jack’s Critter Cam! The following images were all taken within a mile or so of my house - a short walk or bike ride. The diversity and volume of captured scenes took me by surprise, and I hope you will enjoy as well…

First, unsurprisingly, were the raccoons. Raccoons are no strangers to the city, and they quickly made their presence known to my cameras:

Another expected guest include the deer. Lots and lots of deer. In fact, I could put my camera in just about any field or copse of tress and sure enough a deer would eventually walk by. It proves how adaptable some species of animals have become in the presence of man. The pictures below are near major roads, intersections, shopping centers, as well as parks and natural areas:

I was delighted when I found that a beaver was homesteading in a small pond about three blocks away. I had luckily placed a camera right on his daily commute. Look closely at the first and third pictures below. In the third that there are a bunch of sticks - seemingly being carried by the beaver - that aren’t present in the first picture. I caught Mr. Beaver taking materials to build his dam. It seemed that this trail was his route to some nearby trees, where he would cut down some wood and drag it down to the water:

One of the unique aspects of this part of Colorado is the prevalence of prairie dog villages…they are quite common in and around town. So of course I had to get some images of these fun, squeaky creatures. And as my dog Mabel will confirm, we are overrun with rabbits…in our yard, in our neighbor’s yard, and all across the city. Rabbits are a daily sight…

And when you have lots of tasty small mammals like rabbits and prairie dogs, you attract coyotes. They showed up almost immediately in my captured images, topping the food chain in this local animal kingdom. A special treat are the pups caught in the image below, learning the ropes from their mother and investigating the prairie dog village:

Of course, you can’t ignore the birds. In addition to the camera traps that I placed around the area, I also acquired a bird feeder with a built in video cam. The Bird Buddy is admittedly a silly idea but actually really good at photography! The shots below are a great sample of what I see outside my office - it’s quite an avian hotspot:

There you have it - a host of creatures cohabitating my neighborhood. The pictures above don’t include a lot of other animals we have seen - hawks, snakes, turkeys, eagles, and more. While we are perhaps uniquely positioned here in Fort Collins - bordering the mountains and the wilderness - it doesn’t matter. In every town I have lived I have been pleasantly surprised at the amount of animal activity around. It proves again how indomitable Mother Nature is, and how animals and critters can carve out a lifestyle in the most urban of environments.

I’ll keep at it, and share any new and interesting images with you in the future. I may expand my camera placements to areas just outside of town, see what else turns up.

After all, I want to get a picture of that bear….

Parting Proclamation

Words, wit, and wisdom.

Enjoying The CD Dispatch?

Please share, forward, retweet, repost, like, publish, proselytize, subscribe, praise, promote, and generally make it clear to your friends and colleagues that life is simply not worth living unless you’re a subscriber.

Why should you have all the fun?

No, seriously. Who do you think you are? Selfish bastard…

Disclaimer:

All content and opinions are solely those of the author (Jack), and not representative of my employer, former employers, anyone in Congress, my family, former college roommates, Baptists, the good citizens of Colorado, or my dog Mabel.