Monday, March 25, 2013

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

15 comments:

  1. That is such a shame, Denise. Maybe they dropped it somewhere under some bushes. Hope you either find it or can get another one just like it.

    Hope your weather improves. It has been sunny today but very cold and it will get down to 31 tonight they say. It always get cold right before Easter!

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  2. Little buggers! Right now, we're enduring skunks. Blah...

    Little critters can sure wreak a lot of havoc and do so much damage. I'm all for dispatching them to the great beyond.

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  3. Wow, I think it must be a raccoon, they are so sly like that. xo

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  4. Oh they are rascals. They love getting in garbage cans too. It is so windy outside and cold, I'm convinced winter is back!

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  5. I don't have raccoon's but do have other critters but they don't bother my feeders. Summer time they love my tomatoes.
    Hope your weather improves soon.
    Mary

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  6. Bet it was a raccoon...they can be little bandits!!!
    Maybe the bird shop will have some suggestions for feeders that the raccoons can't mess with...
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  7. Oh that's such a shame, Denise! Those pesky raccoons must be the culprits!! I filled my bird feeder up today and the grackles devoured it. I'm going to change bird seed to safflower seeds as I read they don't like that. If you have any hints, let me know! xo

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  8. I have always thought those little buggers were creepy, but I didn't know they were so evil as well. I'm glad we don't have any (as far as I know) hanging out around this joint.

    Ugh!!

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  9. That story sounds so familiar. Raccoons took away the peanut butter and bird seed wreaths I put out for the birds. The was years ago and I haven't made any since. What a shame your little feeder is gone. Hopefully, you'll find it somewhere out there.

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  10. Oh, that is awful. We have a bad problem with squirrels so I wonder if they would do the same? I still need to get one of those feeders and just see.

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  11. Ours is hanging too and I thought it was safe, aaaack. :)

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  12. Well, those lowdown, good-for-nothin', thievin' little so-and-so's!!! I think you need to put out an APB and have them all hauled down to the station for questioning! Ugh! It's like if you're going to steal the food, that's one thing. But don't tear up all my stuff in the process! And leave my dang flowers alone!!! Yup, to paraphrase that song from "The Music Man", "Once you've got raccoons rambling around your property, ya got big trouble!" I sure wouldn't want to fight one of those bad boys. I hear they've got a temper that makes Alec Baldwin seem genteel! :-)

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  13. That was too bad, Denise. Cute little feeder. Raccoons are very mischevious. If you notice the fountain in front of our cottage, one weekend we had gone to visit our kids and when we came home the fountain was all over the ground. We knew the birds couldn't have done it as it is quite heavy, so hubby put it back together and a couple of nights later we saw this huge raccoon sitting in it. So mystery solved. They are always coming up on our porch to see if there is anything to eat there..Happy Wednesday..Judy

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  14. Boo to the mask bandit!!!!


    Today I am rejoicing that the tomb was empty. Wishing you and yours a very Happy Easter!

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  15. Those pesky raccoons!

    Have a great weekend!!

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