Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency Year Six:

Case File No. 11-271

AMBER LOVE 25-JULY-2022 Find out how all this began. Catch up on Year One, Year Two, Year Three, Year Four, and Year Five plus now Year Six cases at the Winchester-Nabu Detective Agency.

This work is supported by the generous backers who adore my cat stories at Patreon.com/amberunmasked and they also get first access to what’s happening with my books and podcast. 

Where We Left Off:

We discovered a new genetic attribute to the cryptid hybrids, Jersey devil-deer, who can have wings or not; those with wings have the ability to hide them.

Point and Shoot:

I’m jumping around the calendar to bring you case file reports because it’s July now and I still had some possible case reports from May to write up. However, there are already some things from June and July that are much bigger news. This week, we get to revisit a volkolak friend thanks to the new trailcam capturing some great still images. Included in the case is my review of this camera model.

We had a bunch of trailcams set up. Actually, the Grumpy Old Man did. They’re StealthCam brand and a few years old. The battery terminals (?) are corroded. I tried cleaning them with baking soda which is what I read on the internet to do. New high-quality batteries and new SD cards were tested. Still can’t get them to work. That’s why I started to shop around.

Trailcam Thoughts:

The first thing I decided was that I do not need a cellular connection and don’t want to pay a new monthly fee to Verizon. I also looked at how the cameras are reviewed and what specifications matter most. Ability for night vision was a must. Quickest trigger speed possible for a good price. At the store, I found Browning Command Ops Elite 20. It takes 6AA batteries instead of 8 like the old ones. There is also an option to have videos with sound which I haven’t tested yet.

I know some reviews (I read a lot of them) talk about camera trigger speed, trigger distance, resolution, yadda-yadda-yadda. One of the things mentioned was if the red laser light would scare animals away and eventually do the opposite of what you want: train them to stay away because of scary red light. From what I’ve seen so far, they definitely notice it when approaching head on, but when they’re walking from the back of Fort Winchester to the road, they don’t care. The image quality from other times of day and night aren’t as good as the ones of this black bear visitor.

According to my notes, there was a sighting of a black bear or one of our supernatural shapeshifting volkolaks on May 18 by The Cook, Oliver, and Gus. It was a comically funny interaction by the way The Cook described it. She heard a noise outside the side door. A bear was next to the garbage can lifting a bag of refuse out and ready to make off with the loot like a pirate. The Cook tapped on the window and said, “Put that down,” and the bear did! It gave her an “aw shucks” look, put the bag down, and walked up the driveway. They didn’t have any photos though.

I don’t know if that’s the same one who was caught on the new trailcam or perhaps if it was Silly, the now full-grown male with the one floppy ear that had lunch with me, Gus, and The Grumpy Old Man one day. That will be covered in its own case. The Cook didn’t say the garbage bear had a floppy ear; that doesn’t mean it didn’t.

Gus and Oliver were able to engage their olfactory senses around the garbage cans. They believe this case was not Silly with the floppy ear!

Oh, also, I bought a few catnip mice at the store where I got the trailcam. Ollie and Gus have enjoyed them.

Case Findings:

The new trailcam isn’t the best. It worked well at this time on this date. There are many other creatures caught by the camera that will launch investigations. We could definitely use your help in identifying them! The picture quality is much clearer than all the other posts in this series (you can see on Instagram from the date I posted these).

Gus and Oliver found that the creature caught in these photos is the same as the one who was trying to steal the garbage.

Case Status: Closed

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.