Trail Camera Catches Marauders in the Act

The first practical use we made of our motion activated Reconyx trail camera was to identify a predator that was decimating our Royal Palm turkey flock. The cam confirmed our suspicion: it was a bobcat. (The next job, of course, was to find and repair an elusive breach in our electric fence.)

We had the opportunity to make another practical use of the trail camera a few months later. A night prowler had begun pilfering ripe strawberries from our garden. With the help of our trail cam, we IDed a raccoon having an early morning snack at our expense. (The next job was to outfit the garden’s chain link fence with an electrified scare wire.)

A few years later our strawberries again began disappearing from the garden. This time the cam identified a family of squirrels. They got so brazen I caught them in the act myself, while working in the garden.

I like squirrels, but I like strawberry pie better. We destroyed the squirrels’ access route by trimming back honeysuckle vines hanging from trees outside and above the garden fence.

In our orchard is a patch of high bush blueberries. For many years, each spring we harvested more blueberries than we knew what to do with. One spring the ripe berries started disappearing, and many of the bushes had broken branches. We thought it might be the work of raccoons, but it turned out to be a flock of wild turkeys.

Now each generation of turkeys shows the next where to find delicious ripe blueberries. The most practical solution we’ve found to date is to enjoy savory wild turkey for dinner.

Our Reconyx trail cam has proven to be a practical farm tool, as well as offering us no end of entertainment. Not only have we identified pilfering marauders, but we get to see what kind of wildlife roams our farm, and occasionally we capture unexpected visitors.