Smile Mr. Coyote, you’re on camera

Bigfoot doesn't exist.

I hope that helps you sleep better. How can I be so certain?

Easy, there is no trail camera picture of Bigfoot. Trail cameras (“trail cams” in the vernacular) are everywhere and they see everything.

Since no one has produced a trail cam picture, we need to accept Bigfoot doesn't exist, just like the Hodag and Jackalope.

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Mr. Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius, has lived up to his name this year. Of course, I’m on the Elmer Fudd spectrum of outdoorsmen, so Mr. Coyote hasn’t worked too hard to avoid taking a ride home in the back of my truck.

A friend let me make sets in his cattle pasture. Since his herd is now remnant sized to overwinter, I wasn’t worried about bothering the cattle. They were at no risk of getting caught because of their size and power.

I made two sets. At each location I buried three foothold trips because three is 300 percent more than one.

I was only interested in coyotes, so I made a scent post, part of a 2x4 jammed in the ground and smeared with a pungent coyote gland lure. My hope was, by avoiding a typical food-type bait, I would also avoid fox, raccoon and most especially Pepé Le Pew.

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What was different about my efforts this year was I placed a trail cam at each location. I’ve had a trail cam for about 10 years. It has an SD card, so after placement I would return in a week or two to pull the card and then load the images into the computer. I think it’s still incredible technology but it does retain a bit of delayed gratification.

This fall I took the plunge, rather splurge, on two cellular trail cams. Depending on the monthly subscription I can get a picture at given time intervals, a set number of motion activated pictures a day, or unlimited pictures of whatever moves, day or night.

Now I can watch my sets 24 hours a day. The pictures are easy to view through an app on my cellphone.

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So far the cattle have been the stars of the show. They’re as curious as kids and don’t know their own strength.

Since the pasture is their home, anything new requires an obligatory investigation. As they sniff and step around the scent post they invariably trip a trap or two.

The cameras also have been a source of endless interest for the beeves as well as something to rub against. I’ve gotten plenty of pictures in a series following a pattern. First an excessive close-up of a bovine nose. Then a picture of all hide. Finally, a picture of the sky or the ground indicating Bessie repositioned the camera.

At first I was pretty frustrated, but soon I chalked it up to part of the experience. My wife has been rooting for the beeves.

The deer are busy at night checking out the sets, too. At least they leave the cameras alone. I got a good array of all the bucks that call the farm home.

The rabbits are regulars on the cameras also but they don’t appear interested in the sets, they’re just going about their nocturnal rabbit business.

Wile E. Coyote has only made a couple of visits to my sets, close enough to get on camera but discerning enough to not get caught.

While I haven’t accomplished my original goal, I’ve come to enjoy a front-row seat into the private lives of so many critters.

I’m not alone. Trail cams have become a popular way of enjoying nature beyond the hunting crowd. Trail cams can let you visit your cabin, or catch the midnight mysteries of your own backyard.

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When researchers use trail cams they call them “camera traps.” Camera traps revolutionized wildlife research. They also facilitated regular citizens the ability to participate in the science of documenting wildlife.

A trail cam caught the first grizzly bear seen in the Missouri Breaks in about a century. A volunteer to a wolverine researcher in western Montana figured out wolverines have distinct chest fur patterns and designed a bait stand to make the great mustelids stretch for the camera he monitors.

In Iowa, trail cameras showed proof of dispersing mountain lions and rebounding bobcat populations. The Wisconsin DNR hosts a website for people to share wildlife trail cam pictures in an online database called “Snapshot Wisconsin.”

After my fencerow spot got excessive bovine attention, I moved it to a place with few cattle tracks. The cattle followed. I tried adopting the “tire set” to deter the cattle from stepping on my steel. They treated the tire as a new toy.

The soft ground has let me keep my sets in longer than I planned. A sustained freeze will be the signal to pull the traps. The traps will go into storage, but the trail cams will stay out. They’re destined for who-knows-where to look for who-knows-what, and some of the fun will just be making that decision.

And my connection to the corners of our wild spaces will continue no matter where I am.

Looking up, looking ahead, and keeping my pencil sharp.

John Lawrence Hanson, Ed.D., of Marion, teaches Social Studies with an emphasis on environmental issues at Linn-Mar High School. He sits on the Marion Tree Board.