A Thief In The Night

Hi friends!  I hope you've all had a decent Monday -- such cold and dreary weather we're having.  Brrrr!

Those of you who regularly read my blog know that we love to feed and watch the birds at our house.  Well...this morning I opened the blind at our kitchen window where all the feeders are visible, and there was an empty chain hanging where our cute, new bark butter feeder used to be.

At first I thought maybe I was mistaken, so I looked again and sure enough, it was gone.  I searched the ground beneath as best I could from the window, and I didn't spot it.  Then I went to the den and looked out the window there, but couldn't see it anywhere.  It was cold and nasty out, and I didn't want to go outside right then, so I waited until this afternoon when it was time to take the dog out for his afternoon walk.  Before we went anywhere, I walked around back and looked all around, but there was no bird feeder to be found.

I've come to the conclusion that a raccoon must have made off with it -- an evil raccoon, at that.  They can use their little paws/claws, whatever, like hands, and they're very dexterous.  My in-laws have bird feeders hanging from their deck rails, and they have to take the feeders inside every night, or the raccoons will eat all the bird seed, often throwing the feeders on the deck and being destructive when they've finished eating.  They're also spiteful little not-so-little creatures.  When my in-laws used to go out of town for a week or more, the raccoons would pull all of my mother-in-law's flowers out (by the roots) of her outside planters and throw them on the ground because there was no birdseed for them to get into.  I witnessed this myself because I was the person who watered the flowers when they were traveling.

Since they are known to carry Rabies, I don't really wish to have a confrontation with one.  I used to think they were cute, but I've changed my mind about that.  I guess we'll have to start bringing our feeders inside at night now.  I'm going to have to pay a visit to the Wild Birds Unlimited® and see if I can get another feeder like the one that was "stolen," because the birds really LOVED that feeder, and so did I.

How was your Monday?  I sincerely hope you had a good one!  We'll just keep hoping Spring will be here soon; in the meantime, thanks for stopping by.  I always appreciate your visits.

Denise