Kingfisher Chatter
(a blog about Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge)
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Another Deer Kill
On March 9th the
Assabet Keeping Tracks (tracking team) surveyed their NW Transect route. On the 4+ mile snowshoe trek were Andy, Dave,
Ceil, Gary & Paulette (the latter two new to AKT). Early into the route the team came across a fresh
deer carcass with obvious signs of a struggle in the snow. There were lots of coyote tracks over and
under the deer tracks. The deer was
likely a yearling.
 |
| Kill site. The deer appeared to be pinned against the chain-link fence first. Where it was likely killed. The deer carcass can be seen on the left side of the photo |
 |
| Deer carcass as found on March 9th |
After
the tracking survey was completed, the “Beaver Cam” (aka Trail Cam, Camera Trap,
Game Cam, etc.) reported in previous blog posts was removed from the beaver dam
site and repositioned on the fresh-kill deer carcass. This made for a very long day on snowshoes
for Gary.
The
Trail Cam is motion-activated camera and
has IR flash for night-vision. Gary uses
it for three purposes:
- To understand what animals are on the Refuge
- Record locations of animal activity
- To track habits (such as feeding times/duration of feeding) in hopes of getting some traditional long-lens photographic shots of animal life on the Refuge.
 |
| Anatomy of a Trail Cam |
 |
| Ancillary equipment hauled to the site. Laptop to download pictures from the Trail Cam's SD card, extra batteries, kneeling pad, camera |
The
Trail Cam was positioned on the kill site from March 9th until March 20th
when the carcass disappeared; presumably carried off by coyote. Curiously, on March 20th a hiker
at the Refuge mentioned that a deer’s leg was found over by Puffer Pond. I wonder if this is from this same monitored carcass?
Over
one thousand pictures were recorded by the Trail Cam. Fisher, Coyote and Red-tailed Hawk were seen
feeding on the deer. Fisher was photographed day and night. Coyote was only onsite at night. Hawk was only feeding during the day. A dog was recorded
on the other side of the chain-linked fence.
Although it tried going under and climbing over, the dog never got to
the downed deer. A good thing too, since
dogs are not allowed on the Refuge. Here
are some representative shots from the Trail Cam:
 |
| Feeding animals are always vigilant. Coyote looks over shoulder to ensure that it is a safe environment |
 |
| Hearing something or just nervous? |
 |
| The only shot of coyote carrying off sizable chunk of deer. Carcass disappeared the next day |
 |
| Carcass is gone but lots of fur remained at the main feeding site |
 |
| Debris trail of fur, hide and bone led away from the site predominantly in one direction |
 |
| Some satellite feeding sites were found hundreds of feet away from the main feeding site |
 |
| More bone, etc. |
In all, over 10 hours of feeding were recorded. Below is a table of animal
camera-captures, feeding onset, feeding finish and feeding duration:
|
Animal
|
First Snap Date
|
First Snap
(Hrs:Min:Sec) |
Last Snap Date
|
Last Snap
(Hrs:Min:Sec) |
Duration
at Site (Hrs:Min:Sec) |
Comments
|
|
Fisher
|
3/9/2104
|
18:16:27
|
3/9/2104
|
18:22:30
|
0:06:03
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/9/2104
|
18:47:53
|
3/9/2104
|
18:48:56
|
0:01:03
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/9/2104
|
20:01:54
|
3/9/2104
|
20:38:38
|
0:36:44
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/10/2104
|
5:26:25
|
3/10/2104
|
6:10:51
|
0:44:26
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/10/2104
|
9:15:59
|
3/10/2104
|
9:16:44
|
0:00:45
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/10/2104
|
21:30:28
|
3/10/2104
|
21:30:32
|
0:00:04
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/11/2104
|
2:16:42
|
3/11/2104
|
2:53:28
|
0:36:46
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/11/2104
|
5:39:32
|
3/11/2104
|
5:58:23
|
0:18:51
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/11/2104
|
12:01:17
|
3/11/2104
|
|
|
cameo appearance in one snap
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/11/2104
|
16:35:20
|
3/11/2104
|
17:20:14
|
0:44:54
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/12/2104
|
4:25:31
|
3/12/2104
|
4:27:53
|
0:02:22
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/12/2104
|
10:20:46
|
3/12/2104
|
11:05:29
|
0:44:43
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/12/2104
|
14:51:56
|
3/12/2104
|
15:19:02
|
0:27:06
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/13/2104
|
20:43:59
|
3/13/2104
|
21:04:50
|
0:20:51
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/13/2104
|
5:38:36
|
3/13/2104
|
5:40:14
|
0:01:38
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/14/2104
|
5:09:47
|
3/14/2104
|
5:35:39
|
0:25:52
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/14/2104
|
14:29:07
|
3/14/2104
|
15:03:02
|
0:33:55
|
|
|
Domestic
Dog |
3/14/2104
|
17:22:11
|
3/14/2104
|
17:28:14
|
0:06:03
|
Not feeding. On other
side of the fence
|
|
|
3/14/2104
|
23:41:33
|
3/15/2104
|
0:12:26
|
0:30:52
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/15/2104
|
1:31:48
|
3/15/2104
|
1:44:13
|
0:12:25
|
|
|
Domestic
Dog |
3/15/2104
|
9:58:03
|
3/15/2104
|
9:58:07
|
0:00:04
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/15/2104
|
10:00:04
|
3/15/2104
|
10:13:13
|
0:13:09
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/15/2104
|
15:41:29
|
3/15/2104
|
15:41:33
|
0:00:04
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/15/2104
|
16:53:45
|
3/15/2104
|
17:12:34
|
0:18:49
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/15/2104
|
18:01:20
|
3/15/2104
|
18:09:50
|
0:08:30
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/15/2104
|
20:27:35
|
3/15/2104
|
21:03:13
|
0:35:38
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/16/2104
|
1:44:15
|
3/16/2104
|
1:56:33
|
0:12:18
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/16/2104
|
3:39:43
|
3/16/2104
|
3:39:48
|
0:00:05
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/16/2104
|
5:03:09
|
3/16/2104
|
5:19:18
|
0:16:09
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/16/2104
|
5:34:30
|
3/16/2104
|
5:36:50
|
0:02:20
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/16/2104
|
9:22:15
|
3/16/2104
|
9:22:20
|
0:00:05
|
|
|
Red-Tailed
Hawk |
3/16/2104
|
15:09:12
|
3/16/2104
|
15:34:02
|
0:24:50
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/16/2104
|
19:34:28
|
3/16/2104
|
19:55:35
|
0:21:07
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/16/2104
|
20:22:01
|
3/16/2104
|
20:22:05
|
0:00:04
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/16/2104
|
22:09:35
|
3/16/2104
|
22:09:39
|
0:00:04
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/17/2104
|
3:29:07
|
3/17/2104
|
3:29:08
|
0:00:01
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/17/2104
|
22:58:42
|
3/17/2104
|
22:58:47
|
0:00:05
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/18/2104
|
0:57:22
|
3/18/2104
|
1:11:13
|
0:13:51
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/18/2104
|
1:15:29
|
3/18/2104
|
1:19:03
|
0:03:34
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/18/2104
|
2:52:06
|
3/18/2104
|
2:52:11
|
0:00:05
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/18/2104
|
3:44:24
|
3/18/2104
|
3:44:29
|
0:00:05
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/18/2104
|
20:26:48
|
3/18/2104
|
20:28:20
|
0:01:32
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/18/2104
|
21:26:45
|
3/18/2104
|
21:27:27
|
0:00:42
|
|
|
Fisher
|
3/19/2104
|
5:20:21
|
3/19/2104
|
5:23:25
|
0:03:04
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/19/2104
|
19:56:07
|
3/19/2104
|
19:58:22
|
0:02:15
|
|
|
Coyote
|
3/20/2104
|
2:10:11
|
3/20/2104
|
2:16:55
|
0:06:44
|
|
|
Total
Feeding Time |
10:05:22
|
Excludes dog times
|
After reviewing the Coyote and
Red-tailed Hawk photographed on the first deer carcass back in January and comparing to same species photographed on
the March kill, there is reasonable certainty that it is the same coyote and
hawk recorded then and now on this second deer kill. On the new site, only one coyote was
photographed feeding at a time. This was
true at the previous feeding site but on the last day on that site, two coyotes
were seen; one feeding and other standing in the brush either awaiting a turn
or looking for a dropped morsel.
If anyone comes across another
kill, please send email to the Kingfisher at kingfisherchatter@gmail.com (no “s” on …chatter) so a Trail Cam can be deployed
promptly. Hopefully if there is a very
fresh kill we’ll be able to image Bobcat known to be in the area but very
secretive
Other
Possible Moose Prints
After deploying the Trail Cam on
the deer carcass, overly large deer-family tracks were seen by the Refuge’s
North Parking lot. At first it was
conjectured that they were just deer tracks that melted out making them larger
in appearance. But looking closely at
the track, the separation between the hooves is still intact. Had this been deer track melted out, then the
separation would like be gone. Take a
look at the photo below:
 |
| Dimensioned track possibly belonging to moose found adjacent to North Parking Lot at ARNWR |
An expert tracker’s opinion would be nice
on this
Summary of Beaver Cam
The Beaver Cam was deployed from February
1st to March 9th.
Despite the obvious evidence of beaver at this site, no beavers were
recorded. Aforementioned evidence
included a felled tree next to the Trail Cam but out of the field of view of
the camera. Deer, otter and raccoon were
photographed as recorded in the last blog posting. Only 112 images were recorded in all that
time. Here are a few interesting shots
from that site since the last blog reporting:
 |
| Deer getting a drink in front of the Trail Cam |
Spring is Coming!
Even though the weather has been
very cold and the winter long, there are obvious signs of spring at Assabet
River National Wildlife Refuge. Ring-necked
Ducks, Common Mergansers, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards, Canada Goose have all be
seen on the river at the White Pond Road bridge on the way to the Refuge’s North
Parking Lot. Red-winged Blackbirds can
be seen and heard once again on the river and in the Refuge. Looking forward to the spring bird migration
(and some warmer weather).
See you on the Refuge. Look for me while there.
- The Kingfisher
