Ophidian Oddity

While on a walk alongside a frozen pond this morning, I came across this northern water snake.  I didn't go onto the ice to look, but from where I stood, it appeared intact and without injury.  Not sure what would cause a snake to come out of hibernation with temperatures as low as they've been.  This is the second unusual happening at this pond lately.  A few weeks ago, I noticed that dozens of bullfrog tadpoles were floating tail-less in the water.  Did a predator go into a feeding frenzy and dine on tender tails, or did a sickness cause them to die off?

Porcupine photo from remote camera

This is the best photo of a porcupine I got when I left the camera for
several weeks in a rocky/cliffy area in central MA last fall, when I got
the bobcat photo I posted on 12/1/2012. There was abundant porcupine
sign in the immediate area, including some dens with scat spilling out.

Bird Eater at the Bird Feeder

This Cooper's hawk must have gotten bored waiting for my neighbor to open up her chicken coop this morning.  It perched on the same limb as one of my bird feeders, patiently hoping for a feathered breakfast to present itself.

Bolton Barred Owl

Here are some shots of a barred owl that was hanging around our yard one
evening about a week ago. It was waiting for a chipmunk hiding in our
wood pile to run back to its home in a stone wall. The chipmunk made a
couple of attempts while we were watching, but the swooping owl sent it
back into the wood pile for cover. Don't know the outcome -- it grew
too cold and dark for us to continue watching.
-Janet

Bobcat and barred owl

These pics were taken by my wildlife camera in a rocky, cliffy area
central Mass., in early October. There was one other picture of the
bobcat on a different day, and no other pictures of the owl. Lots of
porcupine, gray squirrel, and a few raccoon photos.
-Janet

Bear claw marks on beech (Maine)

On a Thanksgiving weekend hike in central Maine, we were treated to a
stand of diseased beech trees with old claw marks of black bear. We
discovered them after realzing we had taken a wrong turn onto an old
logging road. As we bush whacked our way back to the trail, we found at
least 6 such trees, all within the same few acres. Shown are two of them.
-Janet

The Long - or Short - of It

I recently set up my camera in a dense thicket and was rewarded with photos of a variety of mammals.  A new one, or two in this case, for me was weasel.  Here are two shots of what I am taking to be separate animals.  The photos were snapped less than a minute apart, so I'm assuming that the very different colors of the two are not due to lighting conditions.  I am not sure whether these are long-tail or short-tail (a/k/a ermine) weasels.  Anyone?  The third photo is a butt shot of weasel #2.