CIGC highlights animal activity between the Mackinaw River and the Panther Creek area of Central Illinois. Feel free to browse the posts and make comments.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Two I Don't See Too Often

Here are two videos of two that I don't see too often.  I like to see the turkeys but the fewer skunks I see the better.



Monday, May 12, 2014

Mushroom Update

Just an update.  After going out looking yesterday we found another 20 mushrooms in the yard making our total for this spring right around 100.  All found in the yard and none in the woods.  I am through looking and at this point any more in the yard are just going to get mowed.  Hopefully that will add to the spores for next year.

There are two types of people in the world, those that can mow over mushrooms and those that have to stop and pick them while they are mowing.  I lean towards the latter.  The first Spring mowing on our property takes forever because I am always on the lookout for mushrooms and the picture below is what I found while mowing today.  A good mess of grays and yellows but it did take a long time to mow since I had to stop, get off the tractor and pick them.  For some reason, on our property, the bulk of the mushrooms grow in the yard and not in the woods. Just cursed I guess.  As fast as they are popping up maybe they will set off one of the trail cameras.


Saturday, May 3, 2014

Those Pesky Morel Mushrooms

There are two types of people in the world, those that can mow over mushrooms and those that have to stop and pick them while they are mowing.  I lean towards the latter.  The first Spring mowing on our property takes forever because I am always on the lookout for mushrooms and the picture below is what I found while mowing today.  A good mess of grays and yellows but it did take a long time to mow since I had to stop, get off the tractor and pick them.  For some reason, on our property, the bulk of the mushrooms grow in the yard and not in the woods. Just cursed I guess.  As fast as they are popping up maybe they will set off one of the trail cameras.


Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Finally

Finally after 3 months, starting to have deer feed from the Moultrie Deer Feeder.  I thought I was going to have to rename it to a Raccoon Feeder.  The raccoons still come in every night and clean up but it is good to start seeing the deer feeding.


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Selfies

Apparently the deer heard (pun intended) that I was posting theses videos to the Internet and have started taking "Selfies".  I think this guy even pushed the start button with his nose!



Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Come Back

The deer are just starting to come back.  I haven't seen any of them feeding yet and they seem more interested in the camera and leery of the feeder.  The raccoons are still cleaning up every night.



Friday, March 21, 2014

No Deer

No deer yet but the raccoons are hitting the feeder hard every night.  Even though the tripod legs are smooth steel and are supposed to be "un-climbable", this guy figured out a way.



Monday, March 17, 2014

New Equipment

Last Saturday I set up a Moultrie 30 Gallon Easy-Lock Tripod Deer Feeder and filled it with Tractor Supply's Record Rack Golden Deer Nuggets. Right now it throws out the feed at 12 hour intervals or twice a day.  It is easy to change feeding times and durations and I will probably do some adjusting over the next couple of weeks.  I figured it would take a week or so for the deer to get used to the feeder but I didn't think the raccoons would jump on it the first night!  It will be party time for those guys until the deer get used to it and move in to feed.





Tuesday, March 11, 2014

R.O.U.S.

Rodents Of Unusual Size (The Princess Bride) are starting to show up more frequently as the weather starts to warm up a little.


Also, the raccoons are back but they are not as fat as they were in the fall.