Spring Lake Township boy nurtures love of nature with trail camera

A 9-year-old Spring Lake boy has taken pictures of his share of rabbits, turkeys and raccoons, but it was shear luck Tuesday when he discovered he had taken a picture of a coyote. Aidan Carlson, son of Barbara Carlson, uses a trail camera to get pictures of the wildlife in the area around his home at the east end of Bridlepath Court. The Holmes Elementary School student can't wait to get off the bus at the end of the day and retrieve the memory card off his camera, his mother said.

Becky Vargo

May 6, 2011

“On Tuesday, he ran home from the school bus, dropped his bag down and ran right back out the door, just like he does every day,” she said.

This day there were 57 images taken over the past 24 hours on the card. He downloads the pictures into an iPad and “nobody could believe what was in the downloaded images – a coyote,” Barbara said.

“We heard that there was one around, but had not actually seen one,” she said.

Aidan said they knew it was a coyote, and not a dog, mostly because of its short, “raggy” tail.

Aidan said that friends of his father had lots of pictures around their house taken from one of their trail cameras.

“I couldn’t stop talking about it,” he said.

To read more of this story, see today's print edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.