Golden Oldie: Diamond Jane

The tag line under "Belize Field Notes" says "Camera traps, natural history and news featuring Chan Chich Lodge." It probably hasn't escaped your notice that I haven't posted camera trap photos for a long time. There were 3 on loan when I started this blog but they have since gone south, that is, are defunct. They need repair and honestly, it is not worth it to send them up to the USA, get repairs, have them shipped back and pay duty on the whole shebang. And anyway, technology being what it is these days, we'd be better off buying the latest and greatest instead of trying to fix several-year-old units.

Oh well. I thought you might enjoy my favorite jaguar photo of all time which is also my very first jaguar camera-trapped. This was using a small all-weather film camera and the TrailMaster set up. August 8, 1993 a bit after 11AM, this gorgeous female jaguar was photographed at the intersection of the River Trail and Sylvester Village Road at Chan Chich Lodge. Could she have been more beautifully illuminated?

Remember Norm? Some of Belize Field Notes readers will remember Norm, the well-loved, irreverent heart-of-gold bartender at the Looter's Trench back in the day. As we carefully studied this fabulous photo, it was Norm that dubbed her "Diamond Jane" for the horizontal diamond shape smack in the middle of her side. Can you find it?

More July Jaguars

Apparently, July 2010 was a good month for jaguar activity at Chan Chich Lodge. The above photos are of the same male first on 28 July and then on the 30th of July, photographed at the same location not far from the Lodge. Now ... the question is: is this the same male from 09 July (see 13 September post)? It could well be. Jaguars tend to stay in an area for several days to a week or so before moving on. These images depict the left profile of the jaguar allowing them to be matched to each other, while the 09 July images (previous post) depict the right profile of the jaguar.

In a perfect world, I'd have cameras on either side of the trail so the jaguar photographs both sides of itself at the same time!

We have a match!

You may think that I am reaching ... but I believe we have a database match of jaguar images! The top two black-and-white images are part of a blurry series taken near Chan Chich Lodge on 09 July 2010 just before midnight. The quality is so-so but there are some areas on the animal where the pattern is distinct. So it was without a great deal of hope that I went through the jaguar photo database comparing images to the new photos.

I was stunned to get a match with the color photo above! So how did I do it? In the far left image, the extended right rear leg matches nicely with the color photo, as does the inside left rear leg. In the top right image, both the forelegs match nicely with the forelegs in the color image. In the top images, the body pattern is quite blurred but you can still make out a general spot pattern, which to my eye, looks like a fairly good, though rough, match to the lower photo. It is the distinct leg patterns that made the match possible.

And now for the fun part ... what do we know about this jaguar? Well, it is an adult male, evident by the robust build (in the lower photo, you can just see the scrotum). The color photo was taken during my jaguar density study on 04 April 2005 at 3:49 PM. So this animal is probably more than 5 years old given that it appears to be an adult in the color photo. Even though the top half of the animal was not photographed, the photo has proven its data value since it has allowed a match. The color photo was taken about 12 km east of Chan Chich Lodge, along the southern property boundary by the lower escarpment.

The color photo was the ONLY photo I had of this individual and thanks to the recent images, it is nice to know that this male jaguar is apparently healthy and still roaming the Gallon Jug Estate.

Nice Jaguar Sequence

A very nice jaguar sequence from Ben at Chan Chich Lodge just came in. I've cropped the images to enlarge the jaguar for your viewing pleasure. That removed the data which some of you enjoy, so just to let you know, it was taken on 28 May at 06:47 AM on the Bajo Trail intersection.

Beyond that ... what can I tell you? It appears to be a male but not Curious Jorge or Prowler although admittedly it is a bit difficult to make strong comparisons when the animal is in this position. It's also somewhat dimly lit due to the early hour and infra-red use. So for the time being, we'll have to wait for more images to confirm its identity.

Kitty's in the Neighborhood

What can I say, it is always nice to see the jaguar known as Kitty Carlisle. And here she is, moving fairly rapidly, through the Bajo Trail intersection at Chan Chich Lodge. She's made regular appearances near the Lodge with a portfolio dating back to 2004. I keep hoping sometime she'll bring her offspring by the camera (since she's almost certainly had young every other year or so), but it hasn't happened yet.

Female jaguars, as it turns out, are fairly secretive and not photographed as often as males by the camera traps. This is borne out with my own data, and that of colleagues. Still, on occasion, I've met a researcher who has shown me camera trap photos of young jaguars in their study area -- I'm envious! It hasn't happened here yet although there are plenty of eye witness reports (sadly, I am not among those that have seen a jaguar cub). At any rate, clearly the Kitty feels confident in the Chan Chich neighborhood to venture out during all hours.

Another Male Jaguar

Here's a new sequence of 5 images from Ben's very prolific Bajo Trail camera near Chan Chich Lodge. The first 3 are within seconds of each other beginning at 11:03PM on the 14th of April. The last two frames are somewhat later, at 11:19PM. It's likely this is the same individual, a male, who laid down for a moment, got up and then came back past the camera.

Night time shots like these are tough to match with my database jaguars. I can say for sure that it is definitely not Prowler, who visited this camera a couple months ago (see posts for 12/11/09 and 2/23/10). And it is not Curious Jorge who gave us the nice sequence checking out the camera "up close and personal" (see post for 01/05/10). There are a couple of other similarly blurred night time photos of jaguars from this area, but until we get a clear shot, it will be impossible to make a match.

Another New Jaguar

As if one new jaguar wasn't enough, much earlier that same morning, the morning of April 7, this jaguar passed by. And that very afternoon, the stub-tailed puma. Same camera, same location, the Peterson Creek intersection on the Gallon Jug Estate. Interesting that the 3 big cats were using this same spot separated only by hours.

While it is always great to photo-capture a jaguar, unfortunately the image here is not a "flat profile." That makes it a bit more difficult, if not impossible, to say whether this animal has been previously recorded in the database. The image above is the clearest of the lot -- the others are quite blurred -- and is one of 6 taken. The heavy stocky build makes me believe it is likely a male and from what I can tell, more than likely a new addition to the database.

In the Pink

With great pleasure, I would like to present a new jaguar! This individual -- whom I believe to be female -- was recorded on the Gallon Jug Estate's Peterson Creek road on April 7 at 9:33 AM. This animal does not match any previously photo-captured in the database. There were just these two frames, and very nice frames they were.

Actually, they would have been awesome, had the normal color appeared. I had to doctor the images to remove a disconcerting pink cast. Evidently the infra-red did not switch over to the regular day time color. I have several pink turkeys recorded as well. We've emailed the camera company to see what they recommend to correct this. Nothing like being forced to view the world through rose-colored glasses ... !

What Did She See?

Another nice jaguar sequence from Ben at Chan Chich, not far from the Lodge! It's an early morning sequence, 4:22 on 4 March 2010. This female jaguar regards the camera -- she's clearly aware of it -- then sees or hears something that causes her leave. Interesting. Makes you wonder what exactly it was. At that hour, unlikely a human. Another jaguar?

A comparison with my jaguar database photos reveals no matches. This is definitely not "Kitty Carlisle" who was appearing in Ben's cameras regularly a month or so ago. Often female jaguars that have overlapping territories are related, perhaps mother-daughter. But unless we had some way to collect hair or scat for genotyping, that is something we'll never know about these two!

Hillbank Road Result: a Jaguar

When we set up the camera trap on the Hillbank road by the old rail bridge a couple of weeks ago (see 25 February post), I mentioned we'd seen jaguar tracks. Maybe they belonged to this animal who was photo-captured in a series of 3 photos on 22 February 2010 at 1:11 in the morning.

This sort of head on, or three-quarter view, type of photo can be very difficult to match with database photos. A full-on side shot is much better to try and make a definitive match. The distance from the camera and infra-red are not ideal here either. Still, if we get more photos of this animal in the future, there will be more we can learn about it. By the stocky build, I would guess it is a male. No telling though without more photos.

The Prowler is back

Just in from Ben, another jaguar photo! Those of you that have been following this blog for awhile now, probably can immediately recognize that this is not the jaguar known as Kitty Carlisle! For one thing, it is massive, a much heavier build than Kitty. This stocky body is typical of adult male jaguars, and yes, if you look carefully, you can see the "details."

So we have a male jaguar on the move near Kitty's hangout. A comparison with my database photos shows that it is "Prowler," who has appeared 22 January 2009 (see earlier post). That's almost a year ago to the day (see date/time stamp top left corner of the photo above).

The Prowler's photo file dates back to March 2005, a few kilometers northeast of Chan Chich Lodge. It seems more than likely Chan Chich figures in his regular territorial "patrols." He'll make his presence known to Kitty and any other jaguars in the area through scent marking and spraying.

Note the confidence shown by appearing mid-day near the Lodge. Clearly, the Prowler knows he has nothing to fear striding along a main trail close to the Lodge without cover of night or vegetation.