The Meek and the Mighty

As for the other visitors to the little Tehachapan side canyon of the Clockwork Cougar, a nice range of Rodentia also showed. I guess where there's cats, there's mice.

Photos are rarely good enough for positive IDs, but I'm happy to speculate wildly. :)


Peromyscus mouse - Brush (boylii) or Pinyon (truei)?


Another Peromyscus, but bigger - maybe a California Mouse (P. californicus)?


Big-eared woodrat, Neotoma macrotis


Pocketmouse - but Perognathus or Chaetodipus? And which species? Could 
be one of the local species of special concern...


Merriam's chipmunk (Tamias merriami)

After the meek, came the mighty, as these 2 "black" bears trundled into the scene.

Young siblings by the looks of 'em. And obviously down playing in the crick...


Wet chocolate black bear checking the cottonwood - I probably had my hand there


And inspecting the camera - gotta love that curious gaze


Sibs together sniffing at the scent-mark


Parting ways


But there's always time for one last camera adjustment

Sure glad these Tehachapi bears haven't picked up the nasty habit of cracking open cams like walnuts. They just seem to nudge them around a bit.

That's one camera down, 3 to go. Next, we'll head higher up - to 4,500 feet - where the live oaks canopy, and a granite-strewn creek caught our eye.

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References:

• The Nature of a Man (this blog) - The Clockwork Cougar
• The Nature of a Man (this blog) - Trapping the Tehachapis

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