Fairview Critter Cams

Fairview Critter Cams (NOT A.i.) — A Curated Collection of Critter Capers
Capturing Wildlife Footage in Western North Carolina
With Motion-Sensor-Activated Trail Cameras since 2011

06/02/2026

🥳🤎🐻🐻🤎🥳
BEAR MATING SEASON has begun!








05/29/2026

🤣🤣🐻😅🤣🤣 !!!! TIMBERRRRR !!!! — (No A.i.) —
If a Bear Falls in the Forest, Does He Get Embarassed?

Figured it was worth re-sharing this moment because it’s so dang hilarious and is one of my favorite captures. It’s like that awesome Far Side cartoon, “Nature Scenes We Rarely See.” These klutzy moments really do happen in nature! And one of them happened right in front of my trail cameras.
(Thank goodness! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)

To be fair, this wasn’t entirely Cyder's fault. The poor guy had an eye injury, which led to his depth-perception issues.

We’re not laughing *at* you, Cyder.
We’re laughing *with* you.

P.S. Thanks for the laughs!

05/28/2026

Good mornin’ to all y’all from my front porch here in WNC!
I love it when, after a rainfall, the clouds come creeping up to my little mountain-top from the valley below.

Y’all — this is “Scruffy”He’s the same Bear in the Tub video that I posted earlier today. This screen capture is from se...
05/26/2026

Y’all — this is “Scruffy”
He’s the same Bear in the Tub video that I posted earlier today.

This screen capture is from several years ago, during one of his trips through here as part of a larger entourage of bears. (-With Ernie, and a couple other adult males, as well as a couple sows who were in estrous.) This pic was also before Hurricane-Helene, and before his major injury to his hind-quarters, back when he was younger and more svelte.

Scruffy always reminded me of a dog with his various poses. When I saw this moment, all I could think of was, “Best in Show!” The way he plays with other bears also reminds me of a dog, too, with all his mouth-jousting, and his playful romps. He often exhibits a friendly demeanor with other bears, including other adult males, which is partly why he won my heart. I’ve always liked how “he plays well with others.”

Isn’t he a stud?

05/26/2026

🎵🐻💦
There's a Fat Bear....in the Bathtub....

Scruffy needs his beauty rest and spa-night!
He wants to get all spruced up, just in time for the start of this year's bear mating season. Gotta make a good first impression with all the Grrrls!

I love Scruffy’s noises. The first one, mid-clip, I can’t tell whether it’s a fart, a burp, or a gruntle. At the end of the video, when he’s licking his front paw, it’s most definitely an adorable gruntle. Clearly a comfortable, contented boy!

P.S. This is NOT artificial intelligence. This is real intelligence. If a bear wants a soak in the tub, he's gonna have a soak in the tub. He knows what he's after.

05/25/2026

Cautious Coyotes!
(aka the reason why I have indoor cats.)
This is kinda bittersweet for me, actually. It looks like the old matriarch of our local coyote clan, Brenda, who I've been watching for years, has been displaced or replaced. I don't know if Brenda died, aged out of her position or just moved to a new territory -- but, this is a new Mama Coyote that you see near the very end of this clip. Her teats are visible as she trots past the camera. That means she has a litter stored away somewhere nearby. Perhaps the pups are being babysat by the rest of the pack.
One recent year, Brenda bore her pups not far from my lower logging road cameras, so I got to watch the pups emerge and play and learn from their parents. Of course that was the year my doggy Sampson tried to follow the puppies down the mountain and nearly didn't live to tell the tail-tale.

05/24/2026

SCRUFFY's BACK!!
HALLELUJAH!!

One of my most favorite males is back again. He looks glorious and is adamantly leaving his mark for all the grrrls to find. In this clip, Scruffy was on his way to the Rub-a-Dub-Tub for some Beauty-Rest and Bath-Time. Wait til you see that footage. lol!

As some of you may recall, this is the poor soul that nearly succumbed to traumatic injury a few years ago. I made a semi-viral post about how relieved I was that he managed to return that year. (Winter and bear-hunting seasons can take quite a toll on our beloved bear population.)

I thought I'd never get to see Scruffy again, his wound was so severe! But this bear survived, adapted, and learned to thrive in his own way, despite his injury. When he stands on his hind legs now to mark a tree with his back, he stands primarily on his right foot, to relieve the pressure on his left leg. And he jumps with both back feet into the tub after lifting his weaker left hind leg up with his stronger right leg and perching on the tub's edge, rather than climbing into the tub one leg at a time. He's got it figured out. He still manages to make the girls happy, too, since they seem rather fond of his scent when they find it, and tend to stick around and search for him. Dude is clearly ready for a hook-up!

Below is the link to the clip I made about Scruffy's return. May there be more video clips and more Scruffy-cubs in store!

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17UgjodWMu/

05/23/2026

Mama Bear & Cub Cross the Ridge
Wait for me, Ma!

This was a few moments before they went on up to the Rub-a-Dub-Tub for a soak and a wrestle. So precious!

05/21/2026

!! Whip-Poor-Will !!
-SPEAKERS ON-

I never heard the whip-poor-will singing before Hurricane Helene ripped through here! (Never heard it before in my life, tbh, best as I can recall.) Silver Lining #?

It’s crazy that the Merlin app won’t pick up this call. Why not? Not even when the bird was even closer than this, right next to my house, and there was no other ambient sound and no wind to contend with the audio. (Before I made this recording.)


-poor-will

05/17/2026

Part 2 from that very windy day!
The harder the wind blew, the more frenetic her energy. So hilarious.

Can't wait to see what footage I captured from yesterday's visit. The air was much calmer, but Mama Bear still played like a crazy grrrl.
_____________________________
(GardePro E8 2.0 Trail Camera)

I'm still putting this new Garde Pro trail camera through its paces. I’m having fun seeing what it can do. It was a really windy day, so conditions were not ideal for recording video. I did what I could to minimize the wind-buffeting sounds, though. Not that it matters all that much. It’s those moments of glee that Mama Bear had while playing that matter the most!

If you want to try one of GardePro's cameras, too, you should be able to use the following code for a 15% discount. LMK if it works for you? Hope it does!
(Link in the comments. Hint: It’s GardePro dot com)
DISCOUNT CODE: AMY1510548862







GardePro

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PO BOX 1093
Weaverville, NC
28787

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