I used to live on a ranch, lots of open space and a few tall trees near my house. I decided to get a cheap night-vision monocular to check for coyotes before I let my dogs out in the evening. The first night, just looking around for fun, I was shocked by the huge owls that were living in the trees, and flying around looking for prey. They had learned to take flight as soon as I opened the door, the noise + running dogs frequently kicking up a scurrying meal for them. I'd lived there for a year, and had no idea. You couldn't hear a thing, even with them swooping in for a kill just feet away. It was incredible to watch!
I now feel stupid. I have a LWIR camera. I can find the owls.
One of the big revelations from our security cameras is how much animal activity that goes on which we'd otherwise have no idea about. We're visited almost every night by skunks, racoons, and foxes... but we only see them first hand a couple times a year.
