October 2024 Wildlife photos and videos


The theme for this month is wildlife family units, starting with videos from all four cameras.

First, this delightful daytime look at a bobcat and her kitten at the Adobe Creek crossing.




Next, a feral sow and three piglets on the hillside forest trail. We've seen this family grouping previously, but what is unusual here is a second adult hog bringing up the rear -- acting as a rearguard or "sweep," as outing leaders would refer to it. We've seen hogs travel in larger groups at times, so perhaps this is not unusual.




On  the upper mountain savannah, we see plenty of deer browsing for buckeyes and perhaps acorns in the grass. While doe and fawn pairs are not uncommon, I selected this video for the unusual evening lighting, which makes the deer look almost blue. A slightly longer winter coat is visible on the fawn.




From the upper mountain camera in the bay laurel grove, another unusual (?) group. A blacktail doe and fawn are accompanied by a yearling spike buck. Is this an earlier offspring? Or an overgrown teenager from the same litter as the smaller fawn?




This video from the same upper mountain camera captures the seasonal excitement.  A doe is chased by a buck. Is this courtship behavior (blacktail rut starts about now, mid-October)? Or are both running away from something?  Note the strong winds on the high mountain after midnight. These were so-called Diablo winds, hot dry winds from the northeast. This year, fortunately, we seem to have dodged the fire danger they bring.




Here is a closeup of the mother bobcat in the video above. We've seen both bobcats and mountain lions use stepping stones just as humans do.

Female bobcat



In the same spot at night, what is very likely the same bobcat carries an animal she has killed. This is a larger prey than we have seen previously, possibly an opossum. It's difficult to identify without seeing the head or tail.

Bobcat with large prey



This buck was observed on several nights munching determinedly on a particular broadleaf plant growing in and around the creek.
I'll try to identify the plant next time I visit this camera, and will update this page.

Buck eating greens



Two hawks came to drink at the creek on warm October days.
The first appears to be an adult redtail. Video shows it drinking from a pool with a scooping motion of its beak.
The second, coming in for a landing, has been tentatively identified as a juvenile redtail.

(The watercress-like plant the buck was eating above is visible here on the left side of the second image.) Redtail hawk at creekHawk landing at creek



On the hillside forest trail, a Stellar's Jay with a Coast Live Oak acorn.
Subsequent video shows it wedging the acorn beneath the fallen branch and hammering it open with its beak.

Stellar's jay with acorn



A raccoon on the same trail at night. While raccoons are common near human habitation, we see them only rarely on these cameras.

Raccoon at night



This appears to be the same large feral boar we saw last month, and named "Tusky boi."

Tusky feral boar



Good looking coyote on the upper meadow in daylight.

Coyote on upper meadow


Handsome, full-grown blacktail buck on the upper mountain. This looks like the same guy chasing the doe in the video above.

Blacktail buck


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