Caught in the act!

I kept fooling around with the trail cam and got the video function working.  Don't ask me how, because I have no idea!  Anyway, I put it back out in the yard and caught this guy.  Fortunately most of the rest of the peaches left on the tree are above his reach.  There was one that looked like it might be a little to low, so I reached up to feel it; to see if it was getting soft yet.  It fell right off in my hand.  It was ready, and delicious!    

Peach eaters

                                                                                                                       

My peach tree has been a disaster this year.  It was originally supposed to be a dwarf tree, but the top of the tree shot up as high as the roof on my house.  I realize now that I should have cut that top of the tree off, but at the time I thought it was a good thing.  I reasoned that any peaches on that part of the tree would be well out of reach of any deer, but I hadn't counted on a bumper crop.  It couldn't support the weight and broke off!  The neighborhood deer quickly found it and began eating the green fruit.  Since green peaches won't ripen like tomatoes, I thought of another use for them.  Bait!  I picked up the peaches and dumped them in a pile at the edge of the yard and set up a trail cam to watch over them.

I first set the camera to take video, and it came up with a bunch of blanks.  I think the chip for the camera, where it stores video and still photos, must have become damaged in some way.  I need to pick up a new one, but in the mean time I reset the camera to take still shots and put it back out there before the deer finished up what was left of the peaches.  It worked, and I got several photos of the raiders.  Many are unusable, such as the south end of a north bound deer.  The 2 shown here are the best of the bunch.

This ghostly image is a night time shot of a spike buck that is a regular visitor here; taken by the camera using infa red technology.  In all I have seen 2 does with fawns, this spike buck, and a forked horn buck that I have only seen once.  That would be the little spike buck that was around here last year.  The pile of green peaches is gone now so this is probably all I am going to get.  Fortunately there are still peaches getting ripe on the tree that I will get to eat myself.

Update

It seems like forever since I've posted anything here.  My only excuse is because I haven't had much to write about.  I haven't been out in the woods at all.  Still somewhat weak from the operation and constantly out of breath.  The back still gives me problems too, so put it all together and I haven't been able to do much.  Just have to adapt to the situation.  The biggest danger right now is that I might trip and fall, and I've done that a couple of times right here in my own yard.  I have a difficult time getting back up!  I now carry a cell phone with me at all times.  If I'm in trouble I can at least call one of several neighbors to give me a hand, even if 911 isn't necessary.  If that happened out in the woods I might be in big trouble, so I've kept pretty close to home except for shopping trips.  Since I haven't been out and about, I've had to content myself with observing the backyard wildlife right here at home, and I'll post some pictures soon.  Very soon.


Aside from my personal problems, and probably of more interest to most people, is the news of our wild fires.  The closest fire to me has been named the Log Fire since it started near Log Lake in the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area.  It burned down onto private timber company land where it has remained ever since.  Although it was never any real threat I have been under an Evacuation Advisory, which means I should be prepared to evacuate if conditions worsen.  As of this morning the fire is 95 percent contained and the advisory has been lifted.  Other fires, mainly the White Fire, are still raising heck; and the little historical town of Sawyers Bar has been evacuated.  For those who are interested, news and lots of pictures are available here.


https://www.facebook.com/Scott.Valley.News?hc_location=timeline