In December 2017, we installed four Nest outdoor security cameras on our house. This was partly for security reasons — to warn us when someone comes up our driveway; to see who’s at the front door; and to keep an eye on the house when we’re away.
But more exciting was the idea that we might catch wildlife on the cams. It’s hard to know what you have in your neighbourhood if you only count the animals you see in person.
Well, we didn’t have long to wait. While Barry was on the roof installing the cameras, he noticed the trail to the lake, which had been covered in clean fresh snow when he installed the camera on that side, had footprints on it fifteen minutes later.
Well that was convenient. We had video! So I scrolled back through it and low and behold… look! (lower left)
A coyote! Right there in our yard, literally feet from the house in broad daylight. The timestamp on the video is Dec 15, 2017 11:54 am.
The second camera caught the same coyote a few seconds later, crossing the front yard. Just as it disappears behind the dark tree in the foreground (at :23), you’ll hear a bang and the coyote freezes, then turns around, takes another look at the house, and bolts. That sound was Barry moving the ladder to set up the last camera.
We’ve heard coyotes lots of time since we moved here, sometimes very close. And we’ve seen their prints all over the lake ice and on trails throughout the adjoining properties. But we’ve only ever glimpsed one, crossing the lake on the ice. If we hadn’t caught this one on the cam, we never would have known that they were right here in the yard.
Since then, we’ve moved the cameras a few times and have managed to capture nearly an hour and a half’s worth of short wildlife clips — some expected, some funny, some revealing, and one that completely surprised us. That will be the next one I blog about. Stay tuned …
