06/27/11 Photos | Petra, Maine Wildlife Photos | Ken Anderson

06/27/11 15:31:03

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:33:50 -0400

The wildlife camera has been mounted to a tree facing this very small opening surrounded by a dark, dense cedar swamp for a week now. The camera has taken several photographs, and it is supposed to be triggered by a combination of movement and body heat signifying the presence of an animal. This and the last two photos, taken only seconds apart, are the only ones in which there appears to be any hope of finding an animal.

If you look just left of the center of the screen, just before the tree line on the far end of the small clearing, you will see some patches of brown that are roughly the color of a moose. These do not appear on other photographs taken from the same camera location at other times, so there could possibly be a moose there, mostly hidden in the vegetation.

06/27/11 15:31:02

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:33:50 -0400

This very small opening is in the middle of a very dense and dark cedar swamp. Being one of the few places in this part of Petra, Maine where sunlight can penetrate to the forest floor, the saplings and other vegetation is growing to high for me to see, with any clarity, whether there is an animal in the photograph. As I mentioned in the last photo, taken only a few seconds before this one, it looks like there could possibly be something the color of a moose in the lower part of the screen, just left of center.

06/27/11 15:31:01

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:33:50 -0400

What you see here is all there is of this very small clearing in the middle of a large, dense cedar swamp. The surrounding tree canopy is heavy and, except for these small clearings, light does not penetrate to the forest floor. Thus, nothing grows in the cedar swamp except moss and mushrooms.

The Primos Truth Cam 35 wildlife camera activates by a combination of body heat and movement. Movement could come from the wind blowing on a tree and I suppose that it's possible that it might at times be activated by the heat of the sun, particularly if there were a sudden break in the clouds.

I don't see an animal in this photograph. However, it is also true that I wouldn't necessarily be able to see an animal if it was here. Anything smaller than a moose could probably cross this small clearing undected by human eyes, since the saplings here are pretty high.

Looking straight ahead, in the low center part of the screen, I would like to think that there could be a hint of what might be an animal, with the coloring of a moose, but it is nowhere near to being clear enough to identify it as such.