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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 10h

On this day in '22: one of my favorite fall pics, and our 2024 October calendar shot = great blue heron by the brook.

🪶🐦 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #Heron #GBH #ArdeaHerodias

Camera trap photo of a great blue heron with fall foliage

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 1d

OTD in '23: flagged this for the 2 colorful birds- northern flicker & blue jay- but then noticed the heart-shaped patch ....& it's a good day to ♥️ #BlueJays! 😀

🪶🐦 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #CyanocittaCristata #ColaptesAuratus @bluejays.com #YankeesLOSE

Camera trap photo of a northern flicker- with heart-shaped red patch on the back of its head- and blue jay together on a log

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 2d

OTD in '22: something a little different as we enter spooky season.

🦊🦝👀 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #ProcyonLotor

Extreme close-up of the eyes of a raccoon on a camera trap

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 3d

2023 & 24

🦊 #CanisLatrans

White flash night camera trap photo of a coyote.

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 3d

OTD in each of the last 6 years: coyote.

Might be the same blond individual in '19 & '21.

🦊 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #CanisLatrans

Twilight B&W camera trap photo of a coyote

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 4d

OTD in '23: another well-posed woodchuck appreciation post

🦊 #trailcam #backyardwildlife
#NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #cameratrap #photooftheday
#woodchuck #groundhog #whistlepig #groundpig #whistler #CanadaMarmot #moonack #weenusk #landbeaver

Camera trap photo of woodchuck on cut stump.

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 5d

OTD in '20: a fur slinky on the beaver dam.

🦊🦦 🦫 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #RiverOtter #NAriverOtter #LontraCanadensis

Camera trap photo of a NA river otter climbing over a beaver dam

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 6d

OTD in '20: What might be the only (definitive?) eastern screech owl we've captured on camera on campus.

🪶🦉 👀 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #MegascopsAsio

Camera trap night photo of a small owl on the ground in MA

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 7d

Umm... "scaring?" Looks more like this:

[see CA news for squirrel attacks!]

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 7d

OTD in '22: always fun to see bobcats in daylight, but mid lunch hour WITH lunch on-the-go is just plain showing off.

I guess bobcats be like that- right @natickbobcat.bsky.social?

🦊🐱🐿️🍽️ ☠️ 🥡
#trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #LynxRufus

Day time camera trap photo of a bobcat carrying a squirrel prey across a log near a swamp

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 8d

OTD last year: very rare sighting of a mink. We only see 2-3/year on campus.

🦊 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #NeogaleVison

Camera trap night photo of mink crossing a fallen log.

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 9d

😪💔

www.nbcnews.com/news/obituar...

Jane Goodall, renowned chimpanzee researcher and animal advocate, dies at 91

"Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world," the Jane Goodall Institute said in a Wedne...

www.nbcnews.com

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 9d

OTD in '19: October was ushered in with an early AM possum and an after dinner gray fox.

🦊🦘 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #DidelphisVirginiana #UrocyonCinereoargenteus

Composite of white flash camera trap photos of an opossum and a gray fox

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 10d

OTD in '22 a ghost-like coyote and in '24 a mostly white striped skunk, to which we don't give enough love.

🦊🦨🐺 🤍 👻 #trailcam #cameratrap #backyardwildlife #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #CanisLatrans #MephitisMephitis

Black and white night camera trap photo of a large coyote looking very light colored.

White-flash color night photo of a backyard striped skunk with thick white patches.

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 11d

OTD in '22: Hawk's eye view of the brook.

🪶🐦 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #RTH #ButeoJamaicensis

Camera trap photo of red tailed hawk close-up and view over it's shoulder

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 12d

OTD in '22: Two fabulous appearances by 3 different bobcats. A late morning thic male at the dam & mid-afternoon mom + bobkitten downstream on a log bridge. These were Sep '23 & '25 CummingsCritterCam calendar shots.

🦊🐱 #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #LynxRufus

Camera trap photo of an adult male bobcat staring at the camera

Camera trap photo of mother bobcat leading a large kitten across a fallen tree bridge over a stream

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 13d

OTD in '23: Actual photo of me stumbling home from happy hour.

🦊🦌👅🍺🥴
#trailcam #cameratrap #backyardwildlife #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #HappyHour

Camera trap photo of deer with a crooked antler and tongue sticking out

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 14d

3/3 We didn't consistently detect them so started obsessively running cams on 30 s timelapse. They (& other small turtles, snakes, etc.) pass OFTEN, from Mar to Nov, of course both up & down, but almost never trigger anymore. I think the hot, sun-soaked dam/ramp (now remnant) was the key (IR diff).🐢

Collage of camera trap pictures of large snapping turtles crossing the remnant beaver dam.

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 14d

2/3 within a year we had 8 more snapper triggers- ALL others with turtles going DOWNhill. Presumably they are moving faster/fast enough to trigger unlike when they move up (they're certainly going both ways). Plus one other of a snapper swimming away (poss triggered by another animal?).
🐢

Collage of camera trap photos of snapping turtles that triggered the camera

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 14d

OTD in '19: Our 1st case of a snapping turtle triggering a cam. This isn't SUPPOSED to happen bc they are ecto-/poikilothermic ("cold-blooded") & cameras trigger from motion + "heat." But "heat" is really thermal (IR) difference, in this case = COLDER than surroundings. 1/3

🐢🦕🐉 #trailcam #wildlife

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Reposted by Chris Whittier

Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 16d

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 15d

This is the same reason we often capture 'ghost eyes' in images of animals with strong eyeshine...and the reason they HAVE that eyeshine. Their eyes have a reflective layer that basically allows them to see the light twice- coming in and reflecting out! 3/3

🦝🦊👀👁️👁️😵‍💫🙃😶📸

Camera trap image of a raccoon approaching the camera with a pair of "ghost eyes" in the background, which are actually just an internal reflection of its eyes inside the camera.

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 15d

What's happening is the light is so bright it's reflecting within the camera and being captured inside the outer lens (upside down and backwards). 2/3

🦌🪞📷

Composite of the image flipped and reversed overlying itself

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 15d

OTD in '20: A morning deer offers great example demonstrating a camera trap internal reflection artifact.

See the upside down and backwards deer head overlying its body? 1/3

🦊🦌🪞 📷 #trailcam #cameratrap #backyardwildlife #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #WTD #Odocoileus

Camera trap photo of a deer in the morning with an overlying reflection of the deer created within the camera

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Chris Whittier @chriswhittier.bsky.social · 16d

OTD in '22: a coincident follow-up to yesterday's hunter...afternoon bobcat with a squirrel meal.

🦊🐱🐿️ 🍽️☠️ #trailcam #cameratrap #NewEnglandWildlife #MAwildlife #photooftheday #LynxRufus #SciurisCarolinensis #EGS #WhoEatsWhom

Daytime camera trap photo of bobcat carrying a gray squirrel kill with inset blow-up.

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