what is this on my game-cam?

[woodmort]

Quote:
I agree--probably a young one looking for an easy meal. An eagle is more likely to come to carrion(the bait) than a hawk.

 

[ChickiKat]

looks like a pteradactyl to me.....

 

[dinahmoe]

i caught these 2 little love birds trying to have some privacy.

could this be the same bird as the other day.
what kind is he?

i enlarged and lightened this one.

 

[drumstick diva]

No, it doesn't have the distinctly lighter head

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They don't get a white head until I believe about 5 years of age(correct me if I'm wrong on the age) and until then look like golden eagles.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The first OP picture is a red fox, some of the others do look like a cougar tail.

 

[woodmort]

The first two birds are mourning doves--the other looks like a hawk--I'm guessing red shoulder. I don't think it is the same raptor that was by the trap--unless you've moved the camera it was a bigger bird.

 

[ellieroo]

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id good hawk pictures here do you have rough legged hawks there ??

 

[epeloquin]

Quote:
I've hunted and fished in the wilds of NYS for 60 of my 72 years and have also " heard numerous reports of mountain lions here" and they've all proved to be false--somebody saw something and it turned out not to be a mt lion. I even was led to "Mt lion tracks" in the snow by a neighbor but on close inspection you could see toe nails--coyote. Other reports are always by someone who knows someone whose brother's uncle's cousin saw one. It is always so far back that it is impossible to chase down. I know a couple of DEC wildlife people that are getting tired of denying they are here or that the DEC stocked some to keep the deer herd under control. Trust me, the area where I live is wild enough to provide cover and food for a few mt. lions if they are out there but there are no confirmed sightings or kills that would prove it.

As I've said before, I'd love confirmed reports that mt lions are breeding in the northeastern and Atlantic states but it just isn't happening. In this day and age, with everyone and his brother having game cams out someone at some point should have captured a series of photos of them if they are actually there. Thus far it hasn't happened. BTW, I watched a Nation Geographic piece on the Appalachian Trail and they have game cams on the trail all through VA, NC, SC, NJ, NY and GA--they have animal photos of cows, pigs, deer, wild horses, coyotes, foxes, bears, even feral dogs and cats--no Mt Lions. You'd think they'd get at least one. To my knowledge even organizations like CougarQuest that are actively looking for them haven't anything but hearsay proof either. It would seem that eastern Mt lions are the Sasquatch or UFO of the animal world--people are sure they're there and claim to have seen them but there is no hard evidence. Or, like the one in CT, they prove to be a transient. Or a freed pet--NYS had one a couple of years ago that DNA showed to be of South America in origin. And, like Sasquatch and UFO sightings those that are convinced they're here are paranoid about not being believed and figure it is some big government cover-up.

"(Vermont Fish and Game Biologist) Blodgett, however, keeps an open mind. “On occasion, some of the sightings are very credible,” he says. “These sightings could be explained by the exotic pet trade, which is ubiquitous in the United States. It’s not beyond belief that some of these animals could have been purchased and escaped.”

Still, a mature mountain lion and two cubs apparently were sighted in Craftsbury, Vt., during the winter of 1993-‘94. Their scat contained fur that Fish & Wildlife officials determined, through microscopic analysis, to be that of a catamount."

This is the only tangible proof of Vermont mountain lions. Though there are numerous sightings in the hill regions between Woodbury and Craftsbury each year the Fish & Game is leaning toward exotic animals release opposed to a viable reproducing population.

And again in Maine:

"Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife reports tracks, droppings and fur from catamounts in that state and neighboring New Brunswick. In 1997, Massachusetts biologists found scat near the Quabbin Reservoir. DNA analysis proved it was from a mountain lion, but some officials suspect it was a domesticated animal that had escaped."

Sited from: http://northernwoodlands.org/outside_story/article/some_suspects_in_on-going_catamount_investigation

The quote abou scat near the Quabbin Resevoir is very interesting because I used to hunt land immediately adjacent to the Quabbin, almost across from the Winsor Dam. I saw a mountain lion one morning as it crossed the road right in front of my car and went into the woods. It was coming from an area where the state stocked pheasant for hunting.

Also, I used to minister at a church in Canaan, NY and I have a friend there who owns hounds. he is regularly hired by private parties and by the state to run bears out of an are where they've become a nuisance. He told me himself that he had seen mountain lion on multitudes of occasions and had even been told by Environmental Police that he was wrong. Sorry, I've been a hunter and outdoorsman all my life as my friend (in his case 60+ years) and we know what we have seen. Just because it doesn't jive with what the scientists say doesn't make it untrue.

We have sizeable packs of wolves here in Western Mass. My wife and I have seen them on numerous occasions. We have even watched as a pack hunted deer. The state will tell you there are no wolves in MA. We saw these wolves in a large wooded/farmland area along the Conn. River in Longmeadow near the Enfield, CT border. We saw them on numerous occasions and they were NOT coyotes. Yet the scientists will tell you that the wolf population is only in far northern New England.

 

[dretd]

The raptor I think is the same as in the first set because I see the same tail barring. It appears more distinct in this latest set. I guessed Broad-winged hawk but I think Woodmort is correct with the Red-shouldered hawk as the white barring on the tail are narrower bands than the black (had to look it up).

When I look at the normal distibution of the Golden Eagle, it looks like it isn't in Georgia and the Bald Eagle has only very limited range on the coast. I think it would be unlikely that they would be in hanging out in a deep forested area like where the camera is set up. Both the Broad-winged and Red-shouldered Hawks liek to hang out in forests so it makes them a more likely suspect.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse_tax.aspx?family=1