Sagebrush Reconnoiterer
The Historian
In the autumn of 2022, I purchased and had delivered to my property a 12'x24' cabin style shed with a covered front porch. This was about six months before my purchase, set up and moving into my manufactured home on my land. In January, 2023, to help keep rodents out of my two sheds, I trapped from my former home, seven miles north, four feral cats. Within a few months, my four cats dwindled to two a year later. The last of my original four disappeared less than a year ago. In January, 2024, I trapped eight more cats from a friend who owns a drilling business and has lots of barns and sheds, along with a large feral cat population. Within a few months, the majority of the new batch of cats migrated to my nearest neighbor, where the neighbors also fed them. In time, the population exploded and now a large number has migrated back to my place and I have a stable population of about eight. To keep an eye on their health and welfare, in January, 2023 I purchased an inexpensive trail camera that was on clearance at Walmart. Over time, my camera has captured some often amusing images of not only cats, but dogs, humans, strange cats and other critters.
My trail camera in its original location. Over time I've moved it around to various places and switch it now and then for different views. It is of 20 megapixel resolution and can take HD video. It has a 32 gigabyte card. It has no transmission capability. I generally pick it up when I go let my chickens out and open the gate each morning and download it to my computer for picking out my favorite images and storage. Most 24-hour periods net more than 200 photos.
Periodically, my camera captures people. These two men delivered the two halves of my manufactured home. This is a screen shot of a video. I keep the camera in photo only mode as videos quickly eat up those eight batteries, especially in winter time.
One night my camera caught a badger. They make regular visits on my land because there are several villages of ground squirrels on my land, a favorite staple for them.
Mr. Gray, one of my original 2023 cats and the last one to stick around. I've got photos of him at my old property, when he and his siblings were just weaned and their mamma brought them out for the first time.
Dinner time for members of the 2024 family.
An adolescent cat from the 2024 bunch, who I dubbed "Little Adolph," for his unique styled mustache. Since then his progeny sport all manner of mustache styles. So now there's Pizza Man and Madame Mustache in the mix.
By the autumn of 2023, I started noticing an increase in the feeding rate in the cat dish, but the camera wasn't picking up any unusual activity. Having a hunch that I was getting mice, I put the camera down on the floor of the porch and soon my hunch was verified. I named the mouse "Friskies." Because I was hoping that he would become cat food. Friskies & Co. became a regular visitor. Soon I was finding stashes of kibble under the hood of my tractor, in the engine and cabin air filters on my vehicles and some damage to them. I don't know how many mice the cats have caught, but sometimes only seconds would be counted by the camera between a cat and a mouse visit to the food dish. In March, 2024 I installed ultrasonic devices under the hood of my two vehicles and since have seen no evidence of mice activity in them. Inside the shed I've placed poison bait stations and it also seems successful. And I've not seen any mice on the trail camera since I've taken these actions.
Friskies was joined by a kangaroo rat one night.
My three laying hens make regular appearances on the trail camera daily as they like to nibble on the kibble and drink water out of the heated water dish.
Each morning and late afternoon my wife and I throw out some chicken scratch for the chickens, songbirds and quail.
With three identical all black cats, how do I name them? There is a fourth all black cat, which is visibly larger and has a shorter and thicker tail, which I call Black Bear.
Black Bear eyeballing our hen Henrietta, maybe thinking of a chicken for breakfast. But he probably knows that Henrietta can kick his fuzzy butt. So he's probably concluded that "this stale, tuna flavored, crunch kitty kibble doesn't taste so bad after all."
We have flocks of songbirds at all times of the day on our land. They fly in numerous times daily to dine on the chicken scratch we toss out. At times my hens, songbirds and quail crowd the ground eating.
Anyone else got some trail camera shots they'd like to share?
My trail camera in its original location. Over time I've moved it around to various places and switch it now and then for different views. It is of 20 megapixel resolution and can take HD video. It has a 32 gigabyte card. It has no transmission capability. I generally pick it up when I go let my chickens out and open the gate each morning and download it to my computer for picking out my favorite images and storage. Most 24-hour periods net more than 200 photos.
Periodically, my camera captures people. These two men delivered the two halves of my manufactured home. This is a screen shot of a video. I keep the camera in photo only mode as videos quickly eat up those eight batteries, especially in winter time.
One night my camera caught a badger. They make regular visits on my land because there are several villages of ground squirrels on my land, a favorite staple for them.
Mr. Gray, one of my original 2023 cats and the last one to stick around. I've got photos of him at my old property, when he and his siblings were just weaned and their mamma brought them out for the first time.
Dinner time for members of the 2024 family.
An adolescent cat from the 2024 bunch, who I dubbed "Little Adolph," for his unique styled mustache. Since then his progeny sport all manner of mustache styles. So now there's Pizza Man and Madame Mustache in the mix.
By the autumn of 2023, I started noticing an increase in the feeding rate in the cat dish, but the camera wasn't picking up any unusual activity. Having a hunch that I was getting mice, I put the camera down on the floor of the porch and soon my hunch was verified. I named the mouse "Friskies." Because I was hoping that he would become cat food. Friskies & Co. became a regular visitor. Soon I was finding stashes of kibble under the hood of my tractor, in the engine and cabin air filters on my vehicles and some damage to them. I don't know how many mice the cats have caught, but sometimes only seconds would be counted by the camera between a cat and a mouse visit to the food dish. In March, 2024 I installed ultrasonic devices under the hood of my two vehicles and since have seen no evidence of mice activity in them. Inside the shed I've placed poison bait stations and it also seems successful. And I've not seen any mice on the trail camera since I've taken these actions.
Friskies was joined by a kangaroo rat one night.
My three laying hens make regular appearances on the trail camera daily as they like to nibble on the kibble and drink water out of the heated water dish.
Each morning and late afternoon my wife and I throw out some chicken scratch for the chickens, songbirds and quail.
With three identical all black cats, how do I name them? There is a fourth all black cat, which is visibly larger and has a shorter and thicker tail, which I call Black Bear.
Black Bear eyeballing our hen Henrietta, maybe thinking of a chicken for breakfast. But he probably knows that Henrietta can kick his fuzzy butt. So he's probably concluded that "this stale, tuna flavored, crunch kitty kibble doesn't taste so bad after all."
We have flocks of songbirds at all times of the day on our land. They fly in numerous times daily to dine on the chicken scratch we toss out. At times my hens, songbirds and quail crowd the ground eating.
Anyone else got some trail camera shots they'd like to share?
Last edited:
