Oct 19th, 2012 – More Camera Trapping
Couldn't sleep last night knowing we blew our first shot at recording this Himalayan predator. I had dreams throughout the night of seeing the image of a tiger captured by the camera trap. Wishful dreaming? Yeah. The movement of wildlife can be unpredictable but I am hoping this cat returns from the east to provide us with another opportunity to capture it on film.

We rose before the sun once again and headed out to collect the five camera traps. I walked out to the two areas closest to camp while two of the young Sherpa guides went to collect the cameras placed further into the jungle. I stepped carefully down the trail. Trying to control my breathing. When walking up hill, hyperventilating is a common occurrence for me at this altitude. Any animal would here me approaching. I kept my eyes on the trail as much as possible. Looking for fresh prints in the dirt. Nothing seen as I neared the first stationary camera. It snapped a photograph of me as I approached. Good to know that even though the temperature was currently below 32 ° F (0 °C) this camera was functioning. A ten minute walk to the next location. No prints seen in the dirt diminished the images in my mind of seeing the face of a tiger looking directly into the camera. “Here I am, John. You can return home now.” As beautiful as it was in these mountains. I was not prepared for the frigid air nor walking up hill everyday. The trek was not easy. I felt as though I were carrying me on my back every step of the way. I would not, however, give up until we photographed a tiger, or our allotted time had expired and I needed to make our way back to Kathmandu for me to be able to fly back to the States. Still, the sooner I could see a tiger with my own eyes, the better. I wondered if Marlin Perkins had issues such as this while filming Wild Kingdom.

The other team also reported that no fresh tracks had been observed and the their cameras did not record any movement. They did, however, find what appeared to be tiger scat and scratch pads. To my great disappointment, nothing was recorded on the camera I had check as well.

We'll be placing the cameras out again in the same locations. One of our cameras is still not working properly. We will be relying on just four cameras to document wildlife movement. We could actually use about five more cameras to adequately cover the trails. These trails our still our best leads given signs of recent movement.

None of the scat samples can be verified until we return to Kathmandu.

Follow established animal trial

Dawa photographs scratch pad

Documenting old feces