OK! I’ve gotten raccoons the last 2 nights, and on the 9th, I even got one to rip a hole in the bag! So, based on that, I was certain to get something interesting on this night — the weather forecast was perfect, no rain, no clouds, nothing… I had the perfect selection of food to attract them - during the day of the 10th, we ate out as a family at a local steakhouse in the area, so we had some bits of fat left over from the meal. This was certain, almost assured to bring something interesting! “I’m going to get a fox tonight!!” Where I’ve been waiting for 10 years to see a raccoon, I’ve been waiting even longer to see a fox — it would be an absolutely amazing sight for me, and with this selection of food, I didn’t see how it could possibly fail! With the weather being as nice as it was, I had the perfect opportunity to put out all of my equipment. A pile of wires about 2″ thick running everywhere, power cords for 2 cameras, panheads for 2 cameras, video cables here and there, FireWire cable running from the one camera, my mic wired to the main FireWire-connected camera with it’s levels set… I was all prepared for this night, the night I was going to get a fox! I could just sense it! I made a special project, put a little bit of meat in the side of the bag, just in case I could get a fox, everything was set. And this night, as another change in my itenerary, I was going to sit there and watch it. All night - that way I could be sure I was there to get the shot… everything’s perfect — it’s ready for the fox to make it’s entrance! Everything’s ready…

…but apparently… something wasn’t perfect. I didn’t get a fox. I didn’t even get one raccoon! The difference? When I had the camera in the house, the motion sensor light completely blacked out everything inside - that’s why I was able to get the shots when I moved the camera — it was behind glass! The glare from the light completely blocked anyone from seeing in — nothing can see the camera move! But now I have one huge freaking tripod, fully extended, just sitting in the middle of the yard. Wires, everywhere… and another camera, not less than 5 feet from the project - my ideal project setup at home - but these aren’t urbanized animals! These are forest animals - something that looks like a huge animal (like the tripod, for example) is going to scare them away — and it did! I didn’t realize this until about 3a.m., which was much too late for a shot — I moved the cameras, but that’s close enough to dawn to be too late… I missed it, an entire night. No fox, nothing…

…well, not nothing exactly, either. I did get an opossum (it walked by, uninterested) and a rabbit or 2… but here’s the juicy part: As I was sitting there watching the feed go on, in total darkness in the kitchen for hours on end, I kept hearing noises from the mic… from rabbits, chewing on the bread again (weird rabbits here…) but the light outside didn’t kick on… “I could be missing something, here!” This happened a total of 3 times - so when I finally moved the shot, I also moved the project to an area that I thought would fix the problem. This little bit of trivia is a HUGE piece connected to the next night’s project - the most important shot, ever captured, of my project, since I’ve been doing it — but oh, how the plot thickens…