November was a busy month in the forests of Lyme, New Hampshire… especially evident because I doubled the number of cameras in late October. Last week, I shared fun video of beavers captured next to one of their dams along a brook near home. Well, beavers weren’t the only visitors to this brook! Today I share two short videos: one showcasing the variety of other critters that follow the beaver’s trail, and the other highlighting animals that cross the brook further downstream.
In this first video, taken alongside a game trail the busy beavers created while dragging trees down to the stream, you’ll see a puzzled buck, a curious raccoon, a busy mouse, and… a special guest. Don’t miss the special guest! and read on for a second video.
The second video comes from a location alongside the brook, further downstream. When I was first exploring this brook, now almost two months ago, I found a place where the land sloped gently away from the brook on both sides. The leaf litter made it impossible to see any animal tracks, but my intuition told me that animals may find it a convenient place to cross the brook. So I placed three cameras there, and crossed my fingers.
It turned out to be the right choice! Many deer cross the brook here (as do deer hunters!). In this video you’ll see deer (but not the deer hunters), as well as some other critters who use this brook crossing.
Not far from this crossing, I found the following deer skull. Clearly, it had been there at least a year – no soft tissue was left. But look closely at the antlers; click the photo to see a short 7sec video. They’ve been sawn off! I suppose a hunter shot a buck, near here; field-dressed the meat, cut off the antlers as a souvenir, and left the head and other remains for the scavengers. My wanderings indeed allow me to see signs of both the prey and the predator.
David Kotz 
I can’t tell you how much I have been enjoying your wildlife camera synopses!