Steven Helmer Publications

I don't normally put my trail cameras out during the winter, both because the batteries don't usually hold up in the cold and because there isn't as much activity in my back yard this time of year. However, I decided to put one out near the bird feeders last night, just to see what it picked up. As expected, there wasn't much variety and most of the videos were tripped by the same two rabbits. We did, however, have a feline visitor that I hope found some place warm later. Here is a selection of the videos: ____________________________________________________________________ Here are some more trail camera photos and videos: Trail Camera Videos (10/9/2024-10/10/2024) Trail Camera Photos (4/7/2025-4/8/2025) Trail Camera Photos (5/22/2025-5/23/2025) Trail Camera Photos (3/29/2025-3/30/2025)

I decided to change things up a bit last night and both put one of my trail cameras in the new spot near the birdfeeders and set it up to record videos. It turned out to be a busy night last night with the rabbits and opossums taking turns, so I ended up with quite a bit of footage. Here are some of the videos:

I discovered a new trail camera challenge this morning, retrieving the cameras without walking through a whole bunch of spider webs in the backyard. It's amazing how much those tiny arachnids can do in just a few hours, making me feel very guilty when I accidentally break one (and do some karate moves in the process). Anyway, here are some of the videos from last night and early this morning:

 There is a possibility for storms tonight and tomorrow morning, so I probably won't put my trail cameras out. I did, however, place one outside last night and once again had quite a bit of activity from our usual guests. Here are some of the videos:

After catching that fox on video the night before, I decided it was worth putting new batteries in each of my trail cameras and setting them both up outside last night in the hopes of finding some other surprises. As it turns out, it was just the usual suspects last night, but I did get quite a bit of activity. Here are some of the videos:

I am going to need to put some new batteries in my trail cameras because I had both out last night, one on photo and one on video but had little recorded after dark, despite what looks like quite a bit of activity. I did, however, get some useable videos for my efforts, including one of a spider that dropped down and the return of the fox that visited us some time ago, which are below:

I once again set up one of my trail cameras in my back yard last night and found myself rewarded with quite a few videos this morning. This included multiple visits from the local opossums and as a pleasant surprise, the return of one of the masked bandits that occasionally visit.  Here are some of the videos:

 I skipped a day because of the weather but put one of my trail cameras out yesterday evening, just to see what it caught on video last night and early this morning. I had fairly decent selection of the usual suspects (including two separate stray cats). Here are some of them:

It was reasonably warm enough for me to put out one of my trail cameras last night, just to get an idea of what might still be wandering around my backyard. I had some of the usual suspects but one canine-related surprise. Here are some of the videos:

I switched to rechargeable batteries in my trail camera this week because it's been burning through them a little too fast. Last night was my first time using them and as it turns out, it wasn't overly busy. I had a couple opossum visits but nothing after 9. Here are some of the videos:

It was kind of a quiet night last night trail camera-wise. I didn't have any visitors in front of the camera after midnight and nothing other than the opossums that usually check for food around the apple tree and bird feeder. Here are some of those videos:

I didn't have the trail camera out a lot earlier this week because of the rainy weather. The critters still come out, but the quality just isn't that great.  I did, however, get it set up last night (in the dark thanks to the time change) and was rewarded with some videos. Here is a selection:

I decided to move the trail camera last night because I've seen signs of something living in my brush pile and was curious if I could get a video of it entering/exiting. That didn't happen, but I did get some videos of an opossum that may or may not be an occupant. Here are some of them:

I am clearly not getting as many videos now that it is getting colder at night but do still see the opossums on the trail camera coming out in search of food. That included last night from right after it got dark until about 9:30. Here are some of those videos.

Wow, can you believe it's almost November? I could have sworn we just turned the calendar to October only a few days ago but we're only a couple days away from Halloween. On the bright side though, it was a warm night last night. I forgot to turn off the furnace, but I don't think it kicked in at any point. The warmer temps also meant a bit more backyard activity in front of the trail camera , mostly from the opossums again. Here's a selection of those videos.

I have been debating whether to bring my trail camera in for the winter because as the temperatures get colder at night, the quantity of videos shrinks. In fact, I only had the camera tripped once after 11 p.m. last night with most of the videos happening within an hour time window. I'll make a decision after the time change this weekend (maybe I'll leave it out there and just check it once per week for a while). I did still end up with some great opossum videos last night though. Here are some of them.

It wasn't an overly busy night on the trail camera last night and early this morning. We once again had an opossum visit though and I would up with some videos of that. Here is a selection of them.

It wasn't as busy last night in the backyard, which was a little surprising because I thought it was somewhat warmer than previous nights. We did, however, get some opossum visitors in front of the trail camera again. Here are some of the videos:

It wasn't as busy in front of the trail camera last night, possibly because the temps were around freezing and, while I'm certain the opossums and other critters that usually come into the backyard don't hibernate, I also could understand why they wouldn't want to spend too much time outside their warm homes. I did, however, still get some videos. Here they are.

It's been warm enough for us to still keep the bedroom window open at night and as a result of that, I heard the opossums in the back yard talking to each other at one point. I was a little concerned the wind would cause the tree branches to trip the trail camera and leave me with hundreds of videos of nothing but most of the ones I did end up with featured the opossums hogging the spotlight. Here's a selection: