What the Goblin Saw

Discoveries through a Trail Camera

We have always wondered about the variety and number of animals that roam around our woods by night. Over the years there have been tantalizing glimpses and traces, hints of an invisible world: porcupine quills; marauded plants in the early days, when our garden was fenceless; strange smells; varieties of scat and of course all the sounds, from the roe deer's raucous cries to undergrowth crackling at the passing of families of wild boar.

Porcupine quills can denote a fight; we have recovered many over the years

Boars, porcupine, roe and fallow deer, squirrels and even hare occasionally cross our path, but the wildlife is nocturnal, cautious, nervous and all but absent. Seemingly.

we occasionally hear the fox's scream, but rarely see them 

Hence our decision to invest in a photo trap or trail camera, a device used perhaps more frequently by hunters to locate prey. Our trail camera is named Goblin because it reminds us of a wood sprite or even the Green Man.

our Goblin 

Good practice would require leaving the device for longish periods in the same place but we have been tempted to shift it around, always in search of the best locations. 

Fallow deer stags...

Over time we have identified these: deer clearings; caves and other interesting holes; and riverside paths or anywhere near water. 

The first time we caught a wolf on film we were delighted but assumed he was a loner...

After some months of trial and error we captured hare, foxes, deer, porcupines, badgers and occasional birds in our sights.

One of the best, also because caught in early morning light, was a series of videos of fallow deer stags of which this is one.

Stags enjoying our driveway

But the best sequnce of all was taken over 10 nights down by the river Pesa. The variety of animals was already a treat - but then the wolves appeared!

all sorts of creatures, large and small

Although we knew there are wolves in the surroundings, we never expected to film a pack. In the video the wolves appear twice since we copied that clip to better enjoy its unique protagonists.

We wonder whether one day some bears will turn up.*

* To date there are no bears in Tuscany.