I am now three months into filming a new documentary titled Suburban Woods. It follows wildlife interactions within a five-acre nearby wooded setting. Two trail cameras are currently deployed and moved around two to three times a month. So far they have captured opossums, raccoons, groundhogs, deer, foxes, turkeys, and even a coyote (once). A professional 4K camera is used for most other scenes, and a small drone on occasion for establishing shots.
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| A pair of raccoons cross the runoff creek in search of a nighttime snack. |
What got me started on this venture is simple: it fills my spare time, allows for exercise, and is within walking distance. I also wanted to see exactly what animals are able to survive in such a small space, as developments around suburban areas increasing push animals into these limited areas. Some animals, like deer especially, tend to move throughout nearby wooded patches, which means crossing streets and sidewalks.
There are many challenges for these creatures: food and shelter scarcity, disease, noise, pollution, and human disturbance. Amazingly, many have learned to survive. Whether or not they thrive is to be determined.
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| Picking up trash early in the year that is mostly caused by stormwater runoff. |
I limit my interactions by using trail cameras that allow videos to be remotely retrieved. This means sifting through a lot of squirrel footage. For other shots (creek, insects, plants, trees, etc.), I only spend about two hours a week down in the wooded space. Most birds and squirrels really don't seem to care about my presence and even venture closer. They have a curious nature, I guess.
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| A groundhog whisks by this little nook where the opossums hang out. |
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