Bears, Bobcats, and Babies, Oh My!

Young black bear down the driveway, Vermont

   It has been a wild couple of weeks here in Vermont with high temperatures and lots of wildlife. The snakes are out at Stave Island, fawn are running around with spots all over them, a mystery animal on the island, and both monarch butterflies and their caterpillar counterparts have been seen. But the biggest wildlife sightings of the summer have both come within the last few days.

   First we had a young black bear sighting right down the driveway. It was munching away on some of the grass and flower in the meadow before crossing the road and darting off into the trees. We figured it was headed towards the berry bushes that have been prolific this summer. We were pretty excited so we grabbed the trail camera and set it up down near the woods hoping to get a shot of the bear. But when we retrieved the camera the next day we were in for shock.

  We didn't get the bear, but in one night vision video we captured a cat-like creature stalking past the camera. Once the cat comes into full view we immediately recognized the little tail of a bobcat! These are solitary, nocturnal creatures that are almost never seen here. We were thrilled to get a good quality snap shot into the life of this nocturnal predator.

   And through all of this it wasn't just Heidi and myself taking in all the excitement. We had Catalina along for the ride as well! She is six months and going strong. It took me 37 years to get my first bobcat footage.