Weirdness in the woods.

[Jeff]

If you spend as much time in the woods hunting as I have over the years, I know you have seen some interesting and maybe even wondrous things. A couple nights ago, I saw something that was sort of freaking me out while hunting on my property.

It was last light. The kind of light where you may or may not be able to see antlers on a deer. We had a lot of snow, and snow was sticking to everything making the ground and the brush white. This is when I saw what I saw. This black object kind of came floating in several inches off the ground. It was moving left and right, and moving up and down from the ground up to about two feet. It would also "blink out" just disappear for a second or two and them reappear. At times it would just hover above the ground not moving. It had movement sort of like what I had seen from small drones, but this was black, and looked sort of fury. It really was starting to disturb me that I had no idea what I was seeing. Within just a couple minutes, the last light was gone. I left the blind and drove back to the cabin in wonderment.

The next evening I hunted in the same spot. yesterday. Just before that last light, I discovered what it was that I had been observing.

Any Guesses?

Marcel can't guess. I was on skype with him today, so he already knows. :D

[Jeff]

It wasn't this. But this was wonderous as well when I came across it a few years ago.  Snow on a web.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPB_5hFkP-o

[Ljohnsaw]

Some dirt on your glasses? :D

[Jeff]

Or maybe floaters from another torn retina?  Nope.

[beenthere]

I was going to guess it was Marcel, but now know that it can't be him. 

[Left Coast Chris]

The moon casting a shadow from a clump of leaves left in a tree or other shape above?

[Chuck White]

Snow flakes on a spider web!

[Jeff]

nope.

[isawlogs]

 I told him it was flashbacks from something he may have consummed back in the seventies......     

[thecfarm]

A bat???

[Jeff]

Nope, not a bat.

[fishpharmer]

Wolf

[Jeff]

Wolves don't hover. 

[fishpharmer]

I figured it was a stretch.   

[Jeff]

Good try though for a Gentleman from the south.   The answer has a Northern flavor.

[Texas Ranger]

fox fire

[beenthere]

Sounds like could be an owl, as I had one fly in at the end of a hunting day while in my blind. Knew I'd seen something, but couldn't make it out, until it came to the ground for a mouse (I think) and did some movement feeding. Owls are so silent when they fly and move about. Don't know if this is even close.

[Dave Shepard]

I don't have a guess as to what it is, but I bet it's related to whatever is sneaking into my house and leaving hickory nuts in my boots. I've gone around to every door in the house with a hickory nut as a gauge, and none of them will let it under.  :D No mouse doors in the baseboard, either. ???

[Jeff]

Good guesses, but all nope so far.

[Babylon519]

Swamp gas? I live on the other side of the lake from you, and we noticed an odd fog Monday or Tuesday night...
Jason

[clearcut]

Hummingbird?

[Jeff]

I'm afraid it would have had to have been a hummingbird sickle!  Nope.

[Left Coast Chris]

1)   A martin or wolverine or other animal with a high bushy tail?? 

2)  A spot on your glasses

3)  Swirling wind blowing some type of debris or other natural material

4)  Low spider webs reflecting remaining light.....

5)  Wood chuck strutting with feathers out

6)  I give up.......

[Jeff]

Happy Birthday Chris!  Guess what??  You Got it... wrong. ;)

[fishpharmer]

What are those birds you have up North...Ptarmigon or grouse, guess they are different.  Maybe they hover?

[Jeff]

Twas not a bird.

[pabst79]

A broken pine bough hanging from another branch?

[Jeff]

Great guess.    Back in line.... :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   A flying squirrel?

[Dave Shepard]

I don't have a guess as to what it is, but I bet it's related to whatever is sneaking into my house and leaving hickory nuts in my boots. I've gone around to every door in the house with a hickory nut as a gauge, and none of them will let it under.  :D No mouse doors in the baseboard, either. ???

If it is a flying squirrel, then it is related to my nut hider. :D I'm pretty sure it's a normal squirrel coming down my chimney.

[isawlogs]

 I know....   ;D     ;D :D  But I can't tell all ya all!!   Is that how ones writes all ya all  ???

[Jeff]

Okay Marcel, your turn to tell them they haven't got it yet.

[Left Coast Chris]

     Darn......     I hope Marcell comes to the rescue....

[Banjo picker]

I think Marcel wants to play the game a little longer.  Banjo

[Jeff]

   Darn......     I hope Marcell comes to the rescue....

Ummm no...  I asked Marcel to tell you that you had not got it yet, not to tell you what it was....   Punctuation is most important.

[starmac]

I don't have a clue what it was, but do know that low light or fading light conditions can sure play tricks on you. I have wasted time more than once watching a stump, bush, rock outcrop, that I would swear moved a time or two. lol

[Jeff]

Oh, this was something. I got video on night two when it came out again a couple minutes earlier where it was still light enough to have an ah-ha moment.

[Dan_Shade]

Was it a turkey?

[Jeff]

No, but these were earlier in the day.



 

[sawguy21]

Dinner?

[fishpharmer]

Did it leave tracks?  Maybe it was one of those snowshoeing bunnies?   Maybe it was part white and part brown or black and looked hoverish.  Or probably not...

[Left Coast Chris]

A dense swarm of no see-ums or other insects.  :'( (memories of the Alaskan pan handle in the summer)

[Grandpa]

Was it a weasel?

[Roxie]

A lynx? 

[Jeff]

Did it leave tracks?  Maybe it was one of those snowshoeing bunnies?   Maybe it was part white and part brown or black and looked hoverish.  Or probably not...

You got it!

This was the biggest Varying Hare (snowshoe) I had ever seen. He has changed completely white other than his FACE. This was the best video I could manage the next night when he appeared and I had my ah-hah! moment. 50 yards away with a cellphone as it is getting dark it look totally different the night before when there was more snow stuck to all the brush and weeds and stuff as well, when I was only seeing the disembodied head floating around. :D
If you full screen the video, you can catch glimpses of the black face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WWMmTKvLA0

[Roxie]

Yeah for fishpharmer!!   8)  I guess his only prize is bragging rights.   :D

[SwampDonkey]

Does it count if this was already posted on Facebook?  ;D :D :D

[fishpharmer]

Thanks Roxie. Swampdonkey, I don't do facebook.  Thats a cool story Jeff.

[doctorb]

Great story and mind teaser.  I didn't try a guess as I was completely stumped.  Did you see any deer?

[Chuck White]

We used to have a lot of Varying Hares (snowshoe) here, as well as Cottontails, but now we only have a few Cottontails and it's very rare to see a Varying Hair.

For most of us, coyotes are always targets, SSS!

[Jeff]

Great story and mind teaser.  I didn't try a guess as I was completely stumped.  Did you see any deer?

Seen very few deer. One buck first day, but no shot at him. Had some deer on the camera, one buck there,

[SwampDonkey]

Deer kill here was down 40% from last year during the hunt. The government still won't admit that wintering habitat is part of the decline since the mid 80's when CC's took off as pretty much the only way industry harvests wood now. What few selections have been done are closer to high grades followed by cleanup clear cuts. It's the worse harvest since deer were hunted for game in early 20C. They really don't have a long history here, no deer were here much in the 18C at all.

[beenthere]

Don't quite follow that post you made Donk.

[Jeff]

I'm guessing in reference to my very few deer statement. When I went south on the bridge (Everyone should kno what the bridge is) the 4th day of season, the sign on the tollbooth window said that crossings of harvested deer so far for 2015 was down 42% from that time last year, 2014. Last year the season ended up being down 47% from 2013. That's a huge decline.

One of the things the DNR cites is the loss of winter habitat due to cedar harvest, probably similar to what Donk is talking about.  Here, its the 4 legged meat eaters that is causing the majority of the issues. 

[SwampDonkey]

Beenthere, the deer decline and presence of deer I was talking about is for New Brunswick. And  yeah we never had deer here in NB until the early 20C.

A recent example of deer deaths due to habitat loss was the new 4-lane took out a local deer wintering area. Wiped the deer out in that area pretty much, between road kills and freezing and starving. And the highway was fenced except one area adjacent to fields where they were getting onto to road. When you see deer in that area in winter they are in deep wooded ravines along the creek that couldn't be cut. They come out of there and mill around the new Hospital grounds in spring. And there aren't many left at all in the whole area.

Another example. Where we used to go trout fish 30 years ago, there is no colder a place in New Brunswick, in western Northumberland county, eastern Victoria county. The deer had shelter then but it was fast being cut. In new CC's you could see 50 to 100 deer in the summer. As the landscape was all turned to young growth within a few years the deer was wiped out. There's no sign of a deer there. And that's a huge acreage. If you Google it, you will see no mature timber there at all. I've looked at it from 50 km above the ground and see no mature stands in site. The amount of roads there is mind boggling. :D

[Jeff]

I just came back across the bridge to come home this morning, and that 42% decline was now only 7% from last year. Not near as bad as it first appeared to be early in the season.

[coxy]

jeff that was no rabbit that was that 10 pointer  in  bunny fur  :D :D :D :D :D