Last week, I shared how I placed a deer hide (from a deer I processed) in front of a trail camera to capture photos of scavenging wildlife. This week’s blog shows what happened after I put out the rest of the carcass.
Last week, I shared how I placed a deer hide (from a deer I processed) in front of a trail camera to capture photos of scavenging wildlife. This week’s blog shows what happened after I put out the rest of the carcass.
Setting out the carcass
There were no wildlife photos on the night of the drop, but the next day, I counted 22 photos of crows feeding during daylight hours.
Crows feeding
In the wee hours of Nov. 11, the trail camera captured four photos of a fox.
Fox appears
Just before 10 AM on Nov. 11, a young buck investigated the carcass.
Young buck investigates
The next 24 hours were uneventful except for a young buck passing through at 5:37 AM on Nov. 12.
Young buck cruises through
The action picked up on Nov. 13, when a fox appeared at 12:30 AM.
Fox returns
The fox could be seen until about 1:30 AM, when a coyote arrived.
Coyote is back
The coyote seemed to dominate until daylight, with the exception of two brief fox takeovers.
The fox has it momentarily!
Coyote-controlled until daybreak
It was definitely a back and forth affair. I couldn’t tell if it was one fox versus one coyote, or if there were multiple scavengers on each team.
This mystery was solved on the night of Nov. 13, when two fox got there early, controlling the carcass from 6:58 PM to 11:20 PM.
Two fox feeding
Then the coyotes moved in and stayed until 4:30 AM on Nov. 14.
Two coyotes feeding
The coyotes were replaced by three fox from 4:30 to 6:00 AM.
Three fox feeding
There was another back and forth before daylight, but by then the deer carcass was picked clean. I checked the trail camera the night of Nov. 14 and saw both fox and coyote photos. I will be interested to see how long they continue to check the area.
I hope you enjoyed this unique wildlife viewing opportunity as much as I did. I’ll probably try it again the next time I get a deer.
I just want to repeat that if you try this at home, only use deer that were harvested with a bow and arrow, as was done in this case, or with lead-free ammunition, to prevent lead poisoning of scavengers. Thanks for reading!
