CSERC's Best Wildlife Pictures of 2008!
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| As an ongoing project, CSERC staff sets up wildlife photo detection stations to find and protect the habitat of several threatened fur-bearing mammal species that may be residing throughout the Stanislaus National Forest. The American Marten shown below is one of those species, and these pictures are from stations that our staff set up this year. Many different animals visit our stations that are seldom seen under the light of day. We compiled a selection of our favorite pictures of our visitors from this year, and we invite you to enjoy them!
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The American marten is a true prize at our stations and a close cousin of the fisher, an animal that may be almost gone from the Stanislaus National Forest. This marten made a rare daytime appearance to have a nibble. |
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Although not the best picture, we couldn't help but include this picture in our favorites. It's rare to get a marten visit at our station but even rarer to get a mother with several kits playing with the bait in front of the camera. |
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Grey squirrels like this one, northern flying squirrels, Douglas
squirrels, golden-mantled ground squirrels and even California
ground squirrels visit our stations. |
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A young bear testing its weight on a flimsy fir tree--will it hold? |
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We photographed this tiny bear cub in October, an unusual time for cubs to be so young, and hopefully our bait will help this little one through the winter. |
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We buried the bait at this station, and this bobcat came to inspect it, but surprisingly did not dig up the buried cat food!
This coyote used up an entire roll of film running back and forth in front of the camera.
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One raven is attacking this frozen chicken while the other is patiently waiting its turn.
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Though adorable, beware of the spotted skunk! This skunk does ‘handstands’ on its front feet waving its rear in the air to warn intruders of the danger they may encounter.
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This fox loves Friskies!
These elusive, nocturnal ringtails are members of the raccoon family and visit our stations in mid-elevation areas exclusively at night. CSERC biologist, Brenda Whited, encountered one of these beautiful creatures while descending from a climb in Yosemite Valley at night. It was fearlessly scampering across a thin ledge hundreds of feet above the ground, and came over to investigate within two feet of Brenda!
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CSERC | PO Box 396 | Twain Harte, CA 95383 | (209) 586-7440 | info@cserc.org
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