We had a nice selection of visitors to our rainwater guzzler and game camera recently. You can see from the date and time stamps on the photos, these occurred in late January and early February.

First is a nice 8-point white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) buck. He appears to have a scar on his right side. The photo isn’t clear enough to see if it’s just his fur being ruffled or whether it’s a true scar.

White-tailed buck

Next is a Rio Grande turkey (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia), a male or tom.

Rio Grande Turkey

Here’s something we’ve never had before – a pair of bobcats (Lynx rufus). The one on the left is smaller and may be a female. They are looking at each other and appear to be circling. I don’t know if that means anything. Could it be a mating dance? It’s exciting to think we may have a breeding pair on our property! Unfortunately, my wishes don’t have much to do with it. They could also be two males or two females about to attack each other!

A pair of bobcats

The game camera also caught three feral hogs (Sus scrofa). They are fairly large animals. They can weigh over 200 pounds.

Feral hogs

And finally, a nice photo of a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).

Gray fox

It’s interesting to try to compare the sizes of all these animals. The game camera is in a fixed position, attached to a tree, about 2 feet off the ground. You can tell which animals are close to the camera and which are farther. Their body builds are different and that makes comparing them a little more difficult.

I think the gray fox is the smallest one, both in height and weight. I guess the large hog is the heaviest one and the buck is the tallest.