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Cameras Reveal Secret Life Of Appalachian Trail

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Nov 18, 2007 4:00 pm US/Eastern

Cameras Reveal Secret Life Of Appalachian Trail

WASHINGTON (AP) ― Photos taken by the Smithsonian Institution along the Appalachian Trail are providing glimpses of wildlife in the forest surrounding the famous footpath.
  
In the spring, researchers attached 50 motion-sensitive cameras to trees near the trail. More than 1,900 photos have been collected, and researchers have found the area is teeming with life much of it hidden from hikers.
  
The goal of the project was to document animal traffic along a nearly 600-mile stretch of the footpath in Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.
  
William McShea is a Smithsonian ecologist. He says a lot of the activity is nocturnal.
  
White-tailed deer were seen most often, but pictures of more rarely seen animals were also snapped. They include a long-tailed weasel, a flying squirrel, wild ponies and more than 10 bobcats.
  
However, the Eastern cougar was not found. It's feared to be extinct.

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