Thursday, December 29, 2011

Squirrel Love

I love Reconyx cams.  Because of their lightning-fast triggers, and the ability to take up to 10 pics in rapid succession per trigger event....they can catch interesting wildlife behavior.  My Reconyx have snapped a series of fighting and breeding raccoons (see here), big rafters of turkeys passing by (see here) and shots of a coyote caching a recent meal (see here).

To add to the list of neat behavior captured by a Reconyx, see the below pictures of squirrels mating.  Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) typically breed twice per year: once in the late fall/winter and again in the late spring/summer.  The attempts below are alittle on the early side from what I've read......but who knows if they were really an earnest attempt or not.

First attempt:


Apparent failure!


Second Attempt:





So close!


Third Attempt:

Apparent success...


I guess male squirrels have to develop a quick pick-up move, if they want to succeed!

2 comments:

  1. Hmmm. Never seen that before! Trail cams really do give a look into the wild unknown. Great series. I'd love to get a Reconyx or two, but I'm afraid they will get stolen. Heck, I'm afraid my cheaper ones will get stolen.

    Bill

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  2. Very cool! That's what I love about the Reconyx too. I'm surprised that the squirrels mate twice per year. It seems mighty tough to raise a litter in winter...

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