A close call for my Nikon D700 DSLR trail cam…!
The ‘Tiger Log’ is No More…!
An Indochinese tiger crossing ‘tiger log’ in the ‘Western Forest Complex’ of Thailand…!
Asian leopard crossing ‘tiger log’ in the ‘daytime…!
‘Tiger Log’ is left in a long pile of ash after a serious forest fire in late-March, 2016…!
In early March of 2016 before my trip to India, I decided to move my old D700 trail cam as forest fire was edging closer and the fires this year were very intense due to serious drought conditions in Thailand.
A large Indian civet crossing the new log…!
This Nikon D700 full-frame DSLR with a 35mm Nikon manual lens in a Pelican 1150 case enclosed in an ‘elephant proof box’ has worked on the ‘tiger log’ in the Western Forest Complex for several years now.
A black bear walking the log…!
In the past, I always moved my cameras out of the dryer deciduous areas (usually in March at the beginning of the dry season) to semi-evergreen forests that grow in profusion at higher elevations all year round. Due to moist conditions, these evergreen forests do not burn for the most part.
A male muntjac (barking deer) about to cross….!
However, I did have a good run on the log and was lucky to get some really great tiger and leopard shots plus other creatures, big and small. Another location in the semi-evergreen forest was chosen where fires never reach and this year, it was a good thing that I moved my camera as disaster would have killed it on the ‘tiger log’.
A female muntjac sniffing some scent (Thai fish sauce)…!
When I got back from India, I made a trip into the forest and when I got to the ‘tiger log’, I was shocked. The dead tree had been completely burnt to the ground. All that was left was a long pile of gray ash. If I had left the cam, the old D700 would have been a goner of melted plastic, metal and glass.
A big elephant crossing the log…if not tightly secured, the trunk and foot can wreak havoc on cams…!
Here is a collection of images I got from the new log yet to be named. It was OK for a first set but I want to fine-tune the cam (only one flash was working) and also be on the lookout for other ‘log’ locations in the meantime. Fortunately, the first rains have come through and there is no more danger of fire this year. More to follow from the new log…!
A lightweight porcupine on the log…!
A heavyweight ‘tiger hunter’ testing the D700…!
