In the Lyme forest, my usual tromping grounds include a couple of vernal pools. These small, shallow depressions fill with water in the spring – initially, from melting snow that cannot yet seep into the still-frozen earth below, and later from early spring rains. They teem with life, and are a particularly important breeding ground for amphibians. They also attract wildlife of all types, to hunt or to drink. I saved aside the clips from my two cameras beside one vernal pool – not included in my April videos shared two weeks ago – because the activity around this pool is so fascinating. It also provides my first ever view of predation in action, in almost two years of work with wildlife cameras.
In this five-minute video you can see a barred owl hunting, deer browsing, crow bathing, raccoons exploring and marking territory, turkeys strolling, and a squirrel hoping for a sip of water. In the night videos, you can hear the ‘spring peepers’, tiny frogs that ‘peep’ all night to find mates during breeding season.
One behavior is common: every visitor is watching very carefully to see who else may be nearby, wary of predators. Other behaviors are more curious. Any idea what the raccoon is looking for in the muck? Or why the deer are stirring up the water?
David Kotz 