The cubs are over six months old now and are growing fast but they still rely on their mother to catch their food. As they become more independent they are less often all three close by their mother's side so when she catches a fish there is often no competition for it. Here one of the cubs shows how to eat a raw fish in 40 seconds, mostly without using its paws.
Otters mainly eat fish of course, but being carnivores they also will be happy with amphibians, crustaceans, small mammals and birds. Ducklings and other young birds are a delicacy in springtime but occasionally there is the opportunity of something bigger. One night last week the mother went quickly past one of the cameras with two cubs in very close attendance and something in her mouth. The view is brief and the other cameras missed it but I worked out she had caught a drake mallard.
By the time they reached the next camera she still had the duck and wasn't letting go. Unfortunately she then took it away as I would have loved to see how she dealt with it. All three cubs followed, hoping for a share of the spoils. (The moaning sound is from the mother otter, not the duck!)
The cubs will have to work on their fishing skills before they become independent in a few months’ time but I expect it will be some time before they can catch a duck.
Mustelids seem to be taking over the blog and this week there is more news of stoats in the garden. After all the excitement in October and November it went a bit quiet and almost all my cameras were watching otters, polecats and weasels elsewhere. The Camtraptions camera wasn't contributing much so I brought it home and set it to watch the weasel wall. And straightaway there were stoats. The videos from this camera aren't great and this is cropped as well so it's rather grainy but you can see what is going on. The two clips in this video were only a minute apart but I am pretty sure there were two stoats - larger and smaller so male and female. The second one is a bit farther away from the camera so it is difficult to be sure but see what you think.
Then the female went through the camera box a few metres away. I have edited it at half speed to give a better look as she rushed through.
A few days later a stoat went through so fast that there was only a glimpse of its tail on the first frame. However the tail is longer than the female's tail (she's on the left here) so again I think there is also a male around although I don't yet have a video of two together.
I brought a Browning camera back here to get better pictures and over the past week there have been stoat videos every day, up to 10 in a day. Most of the activity is on the wall but also under the dead sycamore where I first saw a stoat last October. I think there has occasionally been a larger (∴ male) stoat but it is mostly a female. It is also encouraging that the female is defending the wall against squirrels, as in this video. She must like it here.
Then I moved the camera a bit closer and you'll see that the stoat knows it is being watched. Notice also that it looks rather pale so although we aren't far enough north to expect a full ermine I wonder if this is a partial winter coat.
Two years ago I did get video of male and female stoats only 10 minutes apart and that female had white legs and a white tail. I'll see if I can spare another one or two otter cameras to keep an eye on the stoats. I'll post more news when I have it.
WeaselCam has been away on tour again, back to Elemore Park in County Durham. This was where we saw the Greater White-toothed Shrew but because it is a nature reserve evolved from a municipal golf course it has a lot of grass, therefore a lot of field voles, and therefore a lot of weasels. The camera was there throughout December and recorded four weasel visits. The box probably smells of mice and voles (which also visit) so the weasel is searching out of curiosity in case there might be something to eat. As far as I can tell from the gular (under chin) spots it was always the same one and it may even be the same one as last time. Here is what it got up to. On the first video there was background noise from earthmoving machinery and traffic.
The second time the weasel was bouncing around even more, a bit like the "death dance" of a stoat, which is said to be a way of hypnotising its prey.
Here is an excerpt from the same video, at half speed to show more clearly some of its breakdancing moves.
Each time the weasel visited it was around for two or three minutes. You can see the advantage of my design of camera box, with a view down one of the entrance pipes, as we can see the weasel coming in and out and going back to check the entrance.
On the last visit the weasel was banging around behind the camera. I think it must have been practising its dance moves as there is nothing round the back, just an empty space. Perhaps I need another camera pointing backwards to see what is going on.
The camera is still in place, hoping to record more shrew activity, but I expect we'll also see more of the weasel.
I have been experimenting with a new trail camera. Until now I have been using almost exclusively Browning cameras but the current HP5 is now looking a bit limited. The new one is a Camtraptions Trail Camera and it also has several limitations (more on that another time) but what intrigued me was its ability to record colour video at night using white light LEDs. Camtraptions are mainly known for their high-end camera trap accessories used with DSLR cameras so I think this is a new(ish) development for them.
As the opportunity was there I first used the camera for a polecat video without having been able to try it out at home. I put on a +1.25 dioptre close-focus lens which would have been right for a Browning but which in retrospect was a bit too strong here. I took along a hollow log, as I had used for pine martens a couple of years ago, and hoped the polecat would go through it heading towards the camera rather than away from it. It did both and also climbed over the top, mainly out of view, probably just exploring the log because it was new. It recorded several clips, mostly on the first night, and this was the best bit.
I am intrigued that the polecat (and wood mice, domestic cats, and roe deer), showed no reaction to the bright white lights switching on as recording started. It even came right up to the camera to sniff it.
The tree stump is an obvious landmark and the polecat is a regular visitor. Polecats are not really territorial in that they don't defend a territory against other polecats but they are thinly spread across the landscape so they need to know who's around if they are to find a mate. The scent-marking is a way of advertising your presence and checking on the neighbours.
We moved the camera box to a slightly different position and the polecat came to check it out again. Despite being a big animal in a small space it was careful not to knock the camera.
There were several other visitors to the box. Here are some of them, the last of which was rather clumsy.
Once again I am indebted to Jane and Gareth Hughes for allowing me to put the cameras on their land. The cameras have been redeployed for the time being but we may have another look for polecats later in the year.
