But this round, a fuller cast of characters.
Dates are August to September.
First up - the local pygmy rabbit of the colony. Its main burrow entrance is under the dead willows, which, as you'll see below, is a wise choice/adaptation.
Exhibit A: the next morning at 6:52am, during the typical crepuscular "bunny hours," one of the local bobcats came a prowlin'...
As you can see, the low light caused the camera to fill-flash. Which really pulled out the details when you zoom or crop the images for a closer look.
Love the wet nose and tongue tip sticking out. So catty.
And the ear tufts - perfection.
The camera obviously didn't impress the bob, which sauntered right on by.
Just 2 minutes after the bobcat, at 6:54am, a couple of mule deer bucks also passed through.
Stalking the bobcat?
And later, one stopped in for a closer inspection.
Two rodents were commonly caught zipping through the scene - Ord's kangaroo rats and least chipmunks. Both are common denizens of the sage steppe.
And another Lagomorph was a frequent visitor - black-tailed jackrabbit.
Much like the other location (that is many miles away), there's always a local Wyle. E. Coyote.
That, of course, just must see if my camera is edible.
Dogs.
But while the coyotes may evoke deja-vu, this location does have visitors that I haven't caught at any other pygmy sites, such as this owl. Which the cam caught several times and I think is a long-eared owl, even though the ears aren't up.
Here's a closer crop. Other ideas? Confirmations?
Fast moving fangs and claws by land, and silent death-from-above by night.
Life is hard in a pygmy rabbitat.
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References:
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Smile! You're on Candid Canid
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Bunny Zone 3 - Los Sympaticos
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Back in the Bunny Zone Part 2
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Back in the Bunny Zone Part 1
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Pygmy Rabbitat Round-up
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Dust-Bathing Beauties
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Jealous Jacks
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - I Brake for Brachys
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Splitting Hares
- Nature of a Man (this blog) - Pygmies of the Great Basin
- Eveline Séquin Larrucea, University of Nevada Reno - Distribution, Behavior, and Habitat Preferences of the Pygmy Rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) in Nevada and California
- Joye Harold Severaid, Journal of Mammalogy, vol 31, February 1950 - The Pigmy Rabbit (Sylvilagus idahoensis) in Mono County, California
- E. W. Jameson, Jr., and Hans J. Peeters, UCPress - Mammals of California
- Wikipedia - Pygmy rabbit
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