Pathway Mystery Solved

Across the fence to our south on our neighbor's property lies a creek that meanders around and flows in a generally southeast direction.   At one point it is about 30 feet from our property line.  During the spring, this area is usually pretty wet and during the summer it grows up in Johnson grass that is over my head in some places.  


In the warmer months, I don't normally venture into this area for fear of snakes, ticks, chiggers and other loathsome creatures.  But in the winter, I occasionally walk over to the creek.  At this time of year, the Johnson grass has died and there are a multitude of "paths" through the grass made by deer and small animals.   Here are some pictures of the area that I took today.

In the above picture, the creek is to the left.

The above picture shows one of the paths I mentioned.  It runs right down the center.

At one point, two of these paths converge (see above) at the fence and come out near our deer feeder.  I've always wondered what uses these little trails through the grass and moved our wildlife camera to a point where I could focus it on this path.  However, since there was no fence post or tree to attach it to, I had to rig up something to hang it on.  Here is what I came up with.

I think the deer are scared of this new camera setup because there are nights when they don't eat all the corn Tom puts out for them.  However, I was able to solve the mystery of what used the pathway under the fence.  The first picture shows two eyes shining in the darkness.  See them on the right hand side of the picture.

Then, out of the grass, came a family of raccoon.  They seem to have noticed the different placement of the camera as well.

One of them, in particular, seems to have been curious enough to wander over to check it out.

Smile!  You're on Candid Camera!