Wildlife Caught on Camera—Volume 17

Night Moves on the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch

The Club’s very own George Shiras III was known as the Father of Wildlife Photography. A hunter and inventor, he is credited with building the first trail camera. He loved stalking his subjects after dark, getting close via canoe, and scaring the daylights out of them with a bright flash to grab a photo.

Not to be outdone, Boone and Crockett Fellow Chris Hansen is a modern-day George Shiras as he tends dozens of trail cameras on the Club's working cattle ranch on Montana's Rocky Mountain Front. His Ph.D. dissertation examined the impact of various land uses on plants and animals. He placed trail cameras in various locations on the TRMR as part of his research. After sifting through tens of thousands of photos, he sends the absolute best images of wolves, badgers, bears, deer, elk, and more to the Club. The resulting images and videos are on the Club’s website, Caught on Camera.

The "Front" is home to a diverse array of nocturnal animals whose behaviors are finely tuned to the region’s rugged landscape and changing seasons. Key nocturnal species we catch on camera include mountain lions, owls, coyotes, grizzlies, wolves, foxes, badgers, bats, and even an occasional flying squirrel. These animals are most active after sunset, utilizing adaptations such as keen night vision, acute hearing, and stealthy movement to hunt, forage, and evade predators under the cover of darkness.

Nocturnal life on the Front is shaped by the need to escape daytime heat, avoid human activity, and exploit food resources that are more accessible at night. Predators like mountain lions and owls hunt prey that are also active after dark—make sure to watch until the end to see what we're talking about. Smaller mammals and amphibians use nighttime hours to feed and move about more safely. This dynamic nighttime ecosystem plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance and health of the Rocky Mountain Front’s wildlife communities. And thanks to a pile of trail cameras, you can see what goes on after dark thanks to Chris Hansen and Caught on Camera. 

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