Our den site game camera in the T.A. forest captured six species in three days on the weekend of February 26th. Two raccoons, a porcupine, an opossum (Didelphis virgiana), a red fox, a gray fox and a skunk were all documented checking out the den. The porcupine and opossum were both game camera firsts for T.A. grounds! All of the aforementioned species yield altricial offspring. This means that their young are born eyes closed, immobile, and all around helpless. Raising altricial offspring typically involves the shelter of a den. Many of these creatures are currently within their breeding seasons and there is no doubt that some of them are inspecting the den as a possible site to raise young in the near future. Most seem to give it a quick sniff, sometimes a scent mark of their own, and then they are on their way. All of the species were caught on video with the exception of the skunk shown below in a still image.
The raccoons were the first species to show up at the den over the weekend.
The porcupine was the next species to arrive.
This was the first opossum I have documented on the game camera behind T.A.
This red fox ventures half way into the opening.
The gray fox shown above was only 20 minutes behind the red fox.
This "leap day" skunk showed up, marked the ground, and left before being captured on video.
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