BIG Owl on my Trail

[TheWaterbug]

Very Pregnant Coyote on Thoroughbred Trail 03/03/24


Shouldn't she be on bed rest by now?

It's been 56 days since they mated, and coyote gestation is generally stated to be 60-63 days, so she should whelp any day now.

Is that hairless patch because of her leg rubbing against her distended belly? Or excessive grooming? Or ????

 

[TheWaterbug]

Extremely Pregnant Coyote Thoroughbred Trail, 03/07/24


This is 60 days after a mating episode captured on 01/07/24:


although Janet reminds me that that was a mating episode, and not necessarily the mating episode, and coyotes might mate for about a week or more.

But she's clearly very pregnant, and coyote gestation is 60-63 days, so she should drop puppies any day now!

 

[TheWaterbug]

I’ve been told that the female sheds abdominal fur in late pregnancy to make it easier for the pups to nurse.

It also makes things easier for the ultrasound technician.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Chonky Raccoons on Thoroughbred Trail, 03/04/24


Just a couple of chonks, out for an evening stroll.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Mother Coyote (?) on Thoroughbred Trail, 03/10/24


I think this is the mother coyote that just whelped within the last 3 days. Right after she crosses cameras you can see a patch of missing abdominal fur, and she's clearly much svelter than she was on the 7th, if this is the same coyote.

What do you think?

 

[Parley]

Mother Coyote (?) on Thoroughbred Trail, 03/10/24


I think this is the mother coyote that just whelped within the last 3 days. Right after she crosses cameras you can see a patch of missing abdominal fur, and she's clearly much svelter than she was on the 7th, if this is the same coyote.

What do you think?

Could be as I do not have a clue.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Lizard Battle Royale on Quarterhorse Trail!


Originally I thought they were both dead, but they were both alive, and fighting!

I suppose this isn't "IP Cam" footage, unless we redefine IP Cam as iPhone Cam.

 

[Parley]

Lizard Battle Royale on Quarterhorse Trail!


Originally I thought they were both dead, but they were both alive, and fighting!

I suppose this isn't "IP Cam" footage, unless we redefine IP Cam as iPhone Cam.

Looks like the one doing the biting has lost half of its tail.

 

[TheWaterbug]

2 Coyotes Doing ?? and Playing with Prey


I have no idea what the jaw-locking behavior means. Is one of them regurgitating food for the other?

 

[TheWaterbug]

Coyote Digging up Prey


Apparently my ground squirrels or gophers are doing a horrible job of hiding. The coyotes find them immediately.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Coyote Howling on Thoroughbred Trail 04/04/24


Volume up!!!!

 

[TheWaterbug]

Coyote With Prey on Thoroughbred Trail, 04/06/24


Looks like a rabbit, but I can't tell for sure because it's too blurry.

I need to figure out how to optimize the shutter speed on these Amcrest IP5M-T1179E cameras. I had them on Auto, but I just switched them to Night Profile, Shutter Priority, 1/120th. We'll see if that improves the next capture.

 

[TheWaterbug]

I think I've had them on Auto for a long time. I did just try adjusting them 2 days ago for 1/250 [snip]

I also got this massive over-exposure during the day [snip] despite having the 1/250th set only for the Night profile, and having a time schedule set up [, so I set it back to Auto]. I'll start a separate thread about that.

Bleah. I tried fixing it with "schedule" profiles last year, and apparently that feature does not work properly. I found this thread mentioning the dahua sunrise/sunset sensor service. Anyone know if this works with Amcrest cameras? I'll try it.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Coyote With Prey on Thoroughbred Trail, 04/07/24


5 minutes after the last one, here comes another! I did get the shutter speed on the downhill camera set for 1/120, so you can see everything get sharper when it crosses over, but I didn't get the uphill camera set properly, because the Amcrest software is really buggy.

But I think I have it all worked out now, so tonight's coyotes should be sharper.

 

[TheWaterbug]

3 Coyotes on Thoroughbred Trail at 1/120 sec Shutter Priority, 04/07/24


Nothing too remarkable about this footage except that I think I finally have my camera system set up to switch to Shutter Priority, 1/120 sec, during night-time, and Auto exposure during daytime.

Thanks to bp2008 for the Dahua Sunrise/Sunset Tool!

The 3rd coyote bounds through the center of the image pretty swiftly, and if you go frame-by-frame (comma and period keys) you can see that the action is captured pretty crisply, as opposed to a few days ago, when it was very blurry:


even with a slower coyote.