September was a busy month in the forests of Lyme New Hampshire, as the foliage started to turn and forest residents began their preparations for winter. This month I’m organizing the videos by location – with each video mostly in chronological order. It’s interesting to see the variety of animals that pass by a given point – sometimes within minutes of each other. I captured first-looks at two species I’ve never seen on camera before: a solo flying squirrel, and a group of strolling crows, both foraging among the leaf litter. Unfortunately, one of my cameras did not survive the month! Read on.
Summit. A trail across the summit of my little hill is a thoroughfare for every sort of critter – this month’s video highlights deer, turkeys, bear, coyote, and bobcat.
Eastern slope. I placed two cameras at adjacent trees along a game trail on the eastern slope of the hill, sometimes allowing me two peeks at the same passing animal. This video shows incredible variety: deer, bear, squirrel, chipmunk, mouse, raccoon, porcupine, coyote, and a tantalizing couple of bobcats.
Flying squirrel. I want to highlight a new species this month – something I’ve never seen, let alone captured on camera: a flying squirrel! I had to squint carefully to identify it, but I’m pretty confident. Look at those leaps!
Vernal pool. In recent months I’ve captured some lovely activity at a small vernal pool on the western slope. This month, a bear decided to use my camera as a chew toy. If you’ve ever wondered about the view from inside a bear’s mouth, this video is for you!
That camera was pretty well chewed up, as shown below. It still works! The internal display is broken, so I cannot review or change any settings; the exterior case has a big hole, so it is not weatherproof; the motion sensor is cracked and scratched. I’ve retired this camera.
David Kotz 
Interesting to note that the “bear” camera registered a noticeable increase in ambient temp while it was being eaten!