The Wild Mouse

I asked for a nature camera for my birthday, and my brother and sister-in-law generously obliged. My thought was to put it on one of the little deer paths in the woods near our house, and I was excited to set it up. First I needed batteries and a memory card, though, so that set me back a few days. Then we went to Buffalo for a week, but when we returned, I eagerly re-read the user manual, installed everything, and practically skipped over to the woods to strap my camera to a tree.

The next morning I went to fetch the memory card, certain that I had captured images of all sorts of wildlife, but there were only two videos: me turning it on and me collecting the memory card. Disappointed, but undaunted, I watched a couple of online videos that provided some helpful pointers and returned to the woods to relocate and reset the camera. This time, I waited two days to give all the fauna a chance to go by, but when I checked the memory card? Nothing!

Next, I set it up on my deck within sight of my neighbor's bird feeder, but again, there were no images to see. I was pretty sure it was user-error, especially since it always captured me at either end of the set-up, so I decided to bring the camera to Maine in hopes that my nephews, brother, and sister-in-law might have some suggestions. I was also pretty sure that the woods surrounding our vacation rental would have many denizens to record.

On the first night, just to make sure we got something, we baited the trail with a lobster body. When I checked the card the next morning, even though the lobster hadn't been touched, I was excited to see several media files. Unfortunately, they were all me and Treat placing the camera, me dropping the lobster body, Jasmine and Emily walking by, me finding the lobster body, and me collecting the card.

I tried again in another spot farther from the house the next night, with no bait. This morning, I got the card, and there were actual images from the evening and the middle of the night that weren't me! Three were a very business-like squirrel who seemed to be scouting the area, and one was a little mouse zig-zagging across the trail, presumably to avoid predators. 

It's a start! Plus, the mouse is cute. See for yourself: