Need Help In Central Texas.........

[SWWASAS]

Someone has done that. That is a very good idea. Would she tolerate the harness and camera on her back? My daughters dog is required to carry a pack with its food and water when they backpack. She is used to it. I would think it might be very interesting. There are knock off go pro cameras that are a fraction of their cost. I would go with one of them at first until you know she is not going to roll in a creek to get rid of the camera. When she gets used to it, you might go higher tech, and make the camera remote controlled so you can rotate the camera and look all around where she is and watch it remotely. That would be the ultimate rover. You could put a tracking device in the pack so you could find her too.

Edited October 28, 2015 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT

[Bigtex]

Do you or anyone know the brands of the cheaper ones? I could put the harness on her w/o the camera to see how she does with that, and get her used to it.......low branches would be my concern, as she never gets anything but her legs in water, always keeping her body dry so it won't interfere with her on-board ventilation system.......which she absolutely has. My short-haired pups get very hot & tired in the 90 degree stuff, but never seems to bother the wolf because of the intricate vent system. So-called wolf experts think I'm crazy, but I see how beautifully it works both in hot & cold weather.......it's real, and will explain how it works if anyone is interested.

 

The difference involved here is that she is interested in the BF's, might even be interacting with them outta sight, where my other dogs seem scared to even track them.

[JKH]

That would be an interesting experiment. Awhile back NatGeo did some tracking of domestic cats with cams and found out just how much prey they harvest, the numbers are amazing. I'd thought about putting one on mine, but I already know he's quite a predator from the birds, etc. left around. You can spend much less than for a GoPro, just search for collar cams/recorders.

[Bigtex]

Thanks JKH!

[Bigtex]

Some miscellaneous pictures.......a juvie leaf print over by my camp and the blob from above, and anyone need an old fender? Think it's from a '39 Ford, but not sure.

 

Man, we are certainly getting hammered by rain now!

[SWWASAS]

Do you or anyone know the brands of the cheaper ones? I could put the harness on her w/o the camera to see how she does with that, and get her used to it.......low branches would be my concern, as she never gets anything but her legs in water, always keeping her body dry so it won't interfere with her on-board ventilation system.......which she absolutely has. My short-haired pups get very hot & tired in the 90 degree stuff, but never seems to bother the wolf because of the intricate vent system. So-called wolf experts think I'm crazy, but I see how beautifully it works both in hot & cold weather.......it's real, and will explain how it works if anyone is interested.

 

The difference involved here is that she is interested in the BF's, might even be interacting with them outta sight, where my other dogs seem scared to even track them.

[/quote}

The knockoff I got was a Pyle Sports HD camera. 12MP camara, 1080P HD video, Has a waterproof case, a helment mounting bracket, a bicycle clamp, various straps to mount it, and a wireless remote control included. Can select the still interval shot mode, or different resolutions of video to make it record longer. Charges a lithium Ion battery through its USB port. It cost all of $80.00 on line. It is roughly the same size and shape of a Gopro. I think a Go pro is about three times that.

I have heard reports of dogs that are friendly, run off and actually play with the BF. As long as the dog does not attack the BF I think they actually can get along fine. It is the dog that goes into attack mode that gets killed or hurt.

Edited November 1, 2015 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT

[SWWASAS]

I'm glad you asked about the camera. I had not charged the battery for a while so put it on charge. It included three mounts. A strap mount to like mount it to your arm, a helmet mount, and a pipe mount where you can mount it to bike handle bars or that sort of thing. It also has a screen in back that allows you to control the camera functions or watch a playback in the field. The waterproof case can be completely immersed. They recommend immersing it to check the seal integrity. Not a dive camera but could be used in shallow water. Certainly it would be good to have when it is raining unlike normal cameras.

[Bigtex]

Spent most of the day out in the woods yesterday.......always enjoyable after heavy rains, and the creeks are really moving. Went to the 'blob' location, and still not lining the picture up right, couldn't get my printer working right either, so had to guess.......good pic of Duncan the Ridgeback though. I should have the angle right now, so 3rd time will be a charm when I try again:)

 

Some pictures of the creeks & falls, a nice leaf print, and a different angle of the tree pushover. However, the main picture that I wanted to show didn't come out, and was a large ground Hornets nest which had been carefully excavated the night before when it was colder, which makes the Hornets very slow & docile. The way it was dug out was not the work of any known 4 legged critter, but the work of strong hands. When I went by there, it had warmed up, the Hornets were quite agitated, and couldn't get very close.......gonna try to go back there later today to get some better pictures. The BF's must really love those baby wasp grubs! My guess after exposing the underground nest to the elements.......they leave to keep from getting stung, and was the way I found it yesterday. My guess is the BF's went back last night to finish the job.......I have seen this method many times before, and something to always look for this time of year. 

 

There aren't many critters around here that mess with these huge nests that I know of, and there is definitely a 2-night plan involved with what I see, and attribute to the BF's. 

Edited November 2, 2015 by Bigtex

[SWWASAS]

For sure if you can find he exact spot where you took the picture, and whatever it was is no longer there, the mystery will deepen.    Problem is if BTW is right and it was leaves,  then they might have fallen off by now.   Just based on focus,  I think whatever it was, was some larger object at some distance away.    But that is entirely subjective with respect to focus.  

 

  There was some science fiction movie, maybe it was one of the predator movies, where they had some gadget that picked up movement in the woods.   Even though the alien was invisible,  just knowing the direction and distance of something moving sure would be helpful.   There is some way, using broadcast radio station signals,   to make a passive receiver that picks up movement.   The UFO people have been talking about doing that to pick up movement of UFOs.    We are all bathed in radio signals all the time.    When something moves it disrupts the interference patterns between all the signals.   Having some way to display that change in interference patterns caused by movement of something as large as BF should be detectable.    The military uses anti personnel radar around places like Area 51.   If they pick up movement on the perimeter, they send out security teams to check it out.     That might be a something fairly low cost to detect movement in surrounding woods.    A continuous wave transmitter beaming radio signals into the woods,  should produce a reflected signal detectable with Doppler methods showing movement.    Laser systems might be used too.   A rapidly rotating laser should put out enough light to be reflected or adsorbed off of a large object like BF moving, and with Doppler methods be detectable as something changing position on the field of view.     That sort of thing is used to find asteroids in star field photographs.     They just task a computer to scan photos looking for moving objects in the otherwise stationary field of stars in a picture.   On the other hand we see dozens of videos where they hear or see a BF moving in the woods, and instead of holding the camera totally still so you can pick up the movement of the BF relative to the stationary trees, they pan the video camera making it impossible to see any movement.    That is just the opposite of what they should be doing. 

Edited November 2, 2015 by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT

[Bigtex]

I have been really excited to hike back out to the ground Hornets nest from the other day, and pretty much knew what I would find.......total devastation and no nest! I probably should have waited until the sun wasn't casting such extreme shadows, and will get better pictures in the next few days. All of the rocks and old logs were mostly underground the other day, all dug up now, and the multi-layered nest gone.

 

IMO.......this is what I think happens; the BF's know about the nest, and wait until a colder night, and Halloween was. They come during the night, and carefully excavate around the nest, and exposing it to the elements.......then they leave. They wait for a colder night so the Hornets will be slow & docile, less likely to sting. I came by there the next day, and it was hard to get very close because the Hornets were buzzing around, and highly agitated.......ran in for one quick picture, but didn't come out. The Hornets are freaked, and most fly away from the nest. Now the BF's come back the next night for Part 2 of their plan, and easily collect the nest full of delicious wasp grubs without getting stung......yummy:) 

 

Before the nest was excavated, it was very well hidden.......in fact, I walk by it all the time and had never seen it, as the rocks & most of the log pieces were underground, and the surface relatively flat.

[mesabe]

Wow, good find, and I think you are correct. I find nests scratched out all the time on our land, mostly due to turkeys, and maybe skunks. Our soil is very loose and spongy, sand and peat, and easier for them to just scratch out. I imagine in some states feral hogs do the rooting, but these fotos, look like they could only have been done with hands.Thanks for sharing!

[Bigtex]

Thanks mesabe.......I had noticed this hornet nest deal many years ago, and started paying closer attention to it, and always look for signs that another animal was the culprit, and pretty easy to tell the difference:)

[BigTreeWalker]

I find those dug up nests occasionally when I'm hunting. But I never stuck around long enough to take a good look. Too many angry bees. Anyway in this part of the country I just figured it was bears. Have to take a closer look next time I stumble upon one... From a distance of course.

[Bigtex]

If a 4 legged critter goes after these, there is usually plenty of sign/tracks that give the culprit away, plus they just tear into it, chewing up the nest in noticeable fashion, and not carrying it off. The ones I find that might be our fury friend, are more carefully excavated, and a 2 part deal, first to expose the nest, then come back another time to take the nest with them, no pieces left behind.

 

Through normal hiking, I will find the nest pieces discarded on the ground, sometimes miles from the nest, no chew makes of any kind, and the grubs seemingly carefully picked out......an example below.

[Bigtex]

Some pictures from the last few weeks.....great ground surface everywhere for leaving tracks with all the rain, creeks moving well, and in places I've never seen flowing before.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Bigtex