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Gifford Pinchot Encounter April 21, 2015


SWWASAS

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Very interesting.  Were you using a bi-directional microphone?  How was it "hung" outside of your truck.  I really appreciate your sharing the audio.  I'm going to link it to a friend.  If he has news I'll let you'all know.  Joe

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BTW,  It would be very difficult to get to on the ground.     Some distance from the river, up on the side of the ridge above, and the trees were very dense.      I will check google earth and my USGS maps and see if there is a road anywhere near that I might not have seen from the air.    If it were in a populated area I would just think it is someone living off the grid and probably not even noticed it.     But there is nothing around it.  

 

I was just looking out my kitchen window and there is what looks like a footprint right in the soft dirt.     If a footprint it is 6 inches across at the toes.    No one here made that print.    It looks more like a bear print than anything.     Wide toes and narrower behind.     And right behind it there is a smaller one.    Have had a lot of critters in the back yard but never a bear.   Will post a picture.   

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Here are the pictures.    I cannot figure out what they are.     If an animal a bear.    They do not show very well in the picture.     The yard stick displays inches.  

 

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post-23549-0-99280700-1445887173_thumb.j

 

 

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Interesting. Looking at the pictures the soil looks roughed up rather than pressed down as in a track. It also looks like the soil around the edges was thrown out on top of the surrounding soil. You said one, there wasn't anything else nearby was there? I have found spots that look something like that in the woods. In those cases it was something digging like a thrush, flicker or grouse. Even found some spots that the chipmunks were going to town in digging little holes. Not saying that's what it is. Just wondering if it's a possibility.

Randy, were the panels on private property or NF? Might give some idea whether it's government or not.

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Lookiing at Google Earth it is in GPNF.     The nearest FR is FR514.       I see no buildings on Goggle Earth in the area.     It is on the North Slope of the river canyon.       It is definitely in the area I saw the helicopter flying in and out.    I would have thought the helicopter could be carrying something in or out on a sling but I never saw anything suspended from a sling.     As you may recall it seemed to spot me at some point and turned and  was headed right for me so I picked up the spotting scope and drove off.    When I did, it turned and headed off to the SE like it had been doing for several hours.    I wonder what would have happened if I had stayed put and let it get close enough to land or see my license plate? 

 

Looking at the "footprint" outside my kitchen window it does not have enough toes.    Only 4.    I think it might have been made by a squirrel  who just happened to dig 4 holes in a row like that that look like toe prints and push the dirt back.    The soil is so soft that anything with any weight would have made a much deeper imprint.    The squirrels are very active burying nuts right now.  .      

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Yah, loose soil in the bottom of a print should raise questions. Unless some fell in from the sides or off the bottom of the foot when it stepped out. The bottom should look more compressed than the surrounding soil. Since that is how a track is made, by compression and compaction.

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Out in the GPNF today. Figured with rain showers no humans would be out there. I was wrong, as there were at least three other vehicles doing what I as doing. Driving along slowly, looking around, and stopping now and then between rain showers. Any forum members out squatching today? Some gold miners where running their sluice box in the raging Lewis River. The strong runoff must stir up the gold flakes. Looked very cold to be out in the river like that.

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I need to get out there. Been busy this fall with all kinds of home projects with more in the next couple weeks. Hope I can get out later this month.

 

Been thinking about getting a game cam, Plotwatcher camera, or maybe one of the time lapse cams. I do have a few spots in mind. 

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That sounds like me Dave. Been working on a construction project.

The Plotwatcher is a time lapse camera too. Sure curious about the new camera SWWSP just got. I think if we are going to get a picture of BF it will be with a time lapse camera.

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Speaking of my time lapse camera. I wonder what interval I should set it at? Probably depends on where it is located. Some close in area a short interval, then some large area where it would take some time for something to move across it. I guess I could time myself walking through a subject area then set the interval appropriately to get one or more pictures in the time it takes me to move through. Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

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I have thought about my muppet present I got that time with reference to camera placement. If you have an active area like a camp, put an interval camera inside some object that BF are curious about. From campground accounts all you would have to do is put it inside a brick of cheese in your cooler or a package of food in some sort of food box. Checking out the contents of coolers seems to be very common. I remember one account where BF came into camp and tasted the dishwater that had been left out. They could hear the BF spitting out the water. Certainly rather than aim cameras outward in a campground, one might think about aiming a camera towards the tent or camper. That seems to be the focus of BF interest in the camp after people go to bed. Also BF seems to peer into cars parked at such camps. Not sure BF could differentiate a time lapse passive camera from the other stuff inside a car. Many cars have flashing lights associated with their security systems. I have a new car and I barely know what stuff does in the car. A BF would be even more clueless than I am about gadgets in the car.

Edited by SWWASASQUATCHPROJECT
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From experience, 10 sec is about a maximum interval to use. Anything crossing close to the camera you might get one picture if it is moving at walking speed. Further out maybe 3 or 4 pictures depending on its speed. Of course you will get more if something is walking toward or away from the camera. I think you would miss a lot if set any longer. Unless you have something out there to interest your subject so it stops. I can cover about 30' just walking along in ten seconds.

I set my game cams up facing camp this year and put some tree boughs along the sides to hide them. One cam quit working after three days. Got a couple deer checking out camp. The other went for the whole 2 weeks. More deer and a few pictures of nothing. These were standard game cams because I wanted to see what was coming around at night. The one that continued working has a slow trigger. Probably the reason for nothing in the pictures.

I've thought of the cooler idea. But you would want to use a standard game cam for that. If you left a light on in camp you could use one of the low light time lapse cameras inside a car as you mentioned. All good ideas. I think the only way we are going to get any camera trap pics of BF is by thinking outside the box.

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Part of thinking outside the box is to disguise them the best we can figure out how to do.    Even if BF does not know what their purpose is,  they have to be distrustful of anything made by man and would naturally avoid them.    I have wondered also if someone modified the cameras so that they actually took pictures to the side instead of the front if that would make them more successful.   And of course there is that plastics / electronics smell that may be very detectable to something with a sensitive nose.    Les Stroud might have overcome that to some extent when he buried cameras on Survivorman BF.      Certainly the more that is buried and not above ground to smell would take care of some of the smell problem.   I wonder if they were smeared with mud and had moss attached if that would help?     I wonder If we take the electronics out of the case, smear the case with mud, and let moss grow on them all winter before putting the electronics back in and deploying them in the summer if that would help?.    Those in dry climates probably have no idea how fast moss grows on everything here left outdoors.   I had a Chevy Blazer with a fiberglass roof.   The fiberglass roof was sort of rough surfaced and during the winter I had a nice crop of moss growing on it.  I had a friend in college that had a car that had grass growing out of the carpet on the floor of the back seat.   They do not call them PNW rain forests without good reason. 

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