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| Timber wolf |
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| Whitetail deer |
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| Canada lynx |
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| Snowshoe hare |
I had cut a narrow walking trail from one of my "road-size" paths down to our surveyed property line last fall and decided a couple days ago to place a trail camera there. It recorded these predator-prey combinations. The wolf is looking for a deer and the lynx is looking for a bunny.
For hundreds of years lynxes and snowshoe hares (we just call them rabbits) have been documented to follow an approximate 10-year population cycle. When the hare population reaches its max, so does the lynx. I believe that pattern has now stopped. There are lots of rabbits all the time now and also lynxes.
The old 10-year cycle (some say nine years, some 11), coincided with the solar activity cycle. Just about every 10 years there are more solar storms and this resulted in a tiny warming of the Earth. It was miniscule but enough to help rabbits survive and with them, the lynx. Now, with climate change the Earth is warming every year. More warmth -- more bunnies -- more lynx. At least that is how it seems to me.
2 comments:
Great pictures thanks for sharing. Do the wolves ever get close to the house or near your dog?
This camera was just 100 yards from our house. The wolves will come to within 25 yards which is the tree line around the yard but most often stay about 100 yards back. Coyotes will come closer, within sight. Foxes and lynxes will come right to the house.
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