Solve the Case of the Missing....

We have been putting an aluminum pie pan with cat food on it on our extended deck nightly for over a year. Usually a couple of feral cats come in the middle of the night to get their hand out.

Lately though the pans have been disappearing along with the food. So I started putting the food on folded paper towels, but then the towels would disappear also. We looked around - no pans and no towels. Who was this cat who could carry these things off?

Sherlock has solved the mystery. Can you? The evidence is conclusive. I found the paper towel still on the deck with the food gone, but it was securely under the big water bowl. Scratches were in the towel and the water bowl was full of dirt. Someone had dirtied the water, taken the food, but was unable to get the towel loose. Also a wet footprint revealed all. Who was the culprit? A bit of a hint is that we live in the woods. If you wish to venture a guess just post it and in a few days I'll post the answer.

:rolleyes: :confused: ;)

A raccoon???? I can't wait! PM me the correct answer. I won't tell anyone else..he he he

a racoon

Depending on where in the Pacific NW you are from, I am guessing A) BIGFOOT ? .......;) ;) ;) :D orB) Rocky Racoon.

grizzly bear!
field mouse!
moose!


just kidding.... ;)

My guess is also

RACOON!!!!!! :D

I just sent out PM's to the three of you who have answered so far and have PM's, but will no more to PM's and just will give the correct answer here on the forum in a couple of days. Keep guessing all of you animal and woods lubbers; this is fun. I am surprised someone hasn't guessed "human" yet cause for a while I thought only a "human" could have such agility. Also will post what happens tonight. BTW, I have seen the culprit.


Cat W. ;)

Was it a crow???

I say it's a raccoon too. Or a bear, but that's highly unlikely. And if it is, I'm not sure you want to continue feeding it! :eek:

Could be a deer?

Is it a skunk? Or a squirrel can be pretty crafty too.

my guess is a raccoon. maybe a possum, but I don't know if they are that crafty.

My vote is for the raccoon.

It could be a possum (an opossum?) though, -- I found one in my recycling bin licking out a can when I lived in North Eastern Connecticut! After that I made sure the cans were spotless!

In that same area I once left my back door open to air out the kitchen and came back a few minutes later to find a raccoon next to the stove, eating out of my cat's dish! So I know they like cat food...

But what on earth does a raccoon (or any other fuzzy critter) want with an aluminum pan? Or a paper towel? That's what I want to know!

I also vote for the Raccoon. As another Pacific Northwesterner - I have seen these vistors in my back yard.

The best way to describe them is that they behave like a pack of juvenile delinquents - tipping things over, muddying up the water... I can always tell when a raccoon has used my cats' outdoor water dish.

One time my next-door neighbor left a plastic container of cat food outside, we found it the next day in our yard, with a hole chewed through it. Also, because they need water, our sprinker hose that was lying on a new patch of lawn was chewed and rearranged


:rolleyes:

My guess is also for the raccoon.

My guess is either a raccoon or a skunk. While I was feeding my parents cat, something other than the cat was eating her food and drinking all of her water. She had a kitty door so that she could come and go as she pleased. We thought it was another cat but it turned out to be a baby skunk. :eek:

Ahmmmmmmmmmmm.....I agree with most on here mainly because, unless it was Sasquatch ;) >>the bandit with the black mask who washes his hands in the water and is known to carries things off is the culprit - Yeah, one or more raccoons.

Last night I put out an old plastic lid with the food on it for the strays. The food was gone, the water dish dirtied, but the lid remained.

To all who responded and all who viewed too:

I appreciate the replies but NO it wasn't a skunk(haven't seen nor smelled one around here ever), not a moose(although saw lots of them when we lived North, not an opposum, not a deer (although they are around here), not a crow(but thought it might have been one or more of those big Stellar jays who rob our little bird feeders), not a dog, not a mouse, and although I gave the matter some thought - not Sasquatch(Big Foot). Sometimes the old timers in this area say cougars have wandered down this way, but not a cougar either.

Rosy the Raccoon must have a new friend or relative. She has been eating our outside cat food for a year now and never moved a dish nor has bothered a thing. Anyway, the forum was fun and thanks for participating.

From the Big Woods.....:) :)

for those of you that like mysteries....the missing cat food dish mystery made me think of this site

http://www.aande.com/mysteries/index.jsp

We have a family of "Rockys" in our back yard (in the city no less!) The get in the garbage cans...tossing out bones and the like but ALWAYS put the lid back down (as someone pointed out -- must be female!) One morning my husband saw momma coon looking on proudly as her two babies climbed out of the cans.

Last week just about dusk my niece saw Rocky ambling about in the back -- he even stopped to look into the house through the french doors -- just like on the commercial!

Our back yard is often "Raccoon Central" a momma and 3 babies once waddled through the yard and brazenly revealed themselves as the culprits who climbed up onto the deck, on the railing, removed the lid from the bird feeder, flung it into the yard and proceeded to climb inside the feeder (the little ones fit all the way inside) and eat all of the finch food...


Also see them at night parading around the deck railing, trying to open the Weber kettle grill...cute, but destructive!

We also have squirrels who come up to the apple tree, get an apple in their mouth (which is probably about 4 times the size of a squirrel's head...and try to run back to the woods with it...usually resulting in the squirrel tripping over the apple and doing several flips over the apple before regaining control and running to the woods.

The patio window is Ritzy's "big screen TV" this time of year...so much activity!

We once had a squirrel or other rodent problem in a home we owned in town, and put a live trap to catch and relocate the critter.

We put corn in the trap, thinking "perfect squirrel or raccoon" food

The next morning, we drove in to find the trap had indeed caught something...something BIG....all we saw was this square wire cage with orange tiger-striped fur sticking out all over..

Yep, one HUGE, frightened, tabby cat! I don't know how he got in there or why an ear of field corn was attractive.....but had to practically dismantle the trap because the opening wasn't big enough to let him out. Poor kitty! We wondered if he chased a critter in there and ate it, causing him to be too big to get out :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Poor kitty! We wondered if he chased a critter in there and ate it, causing him to be too big to get out

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LOL!!!

Our squirrels are madly preparing for winter. Although the weather people say it won't be a bad one the squirrels seem to disagree. We have a huge oak tree with tons of acorns. The squirrels are constantly running about with them. Edwina sat in the yard yesterday just watching them! I've asked her to talk to them -- "bury your nuts in the garden, under the trees or in the bushes, but please....quit tearing up my grass!" It's like a bunch of rude golfer passing through. I'm forever replacing "divots."

They are so intent they run within a foot of me sitting there as well. Yesterday a black beauty was at work when another squirrel ran him off...."My turf!"

Quote:

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Originally posted by Edwina's Secretary
LOL!!!

Our squirrels are madly preparing for winter. Although the weather people say it won't be a bad one the squirrels seem to disagree. We have a huge oak tree with tons of acorns. The squirrels are constantly running about with them. Edwina sat in the yard yesterday just watching them! I've asked her to talk to them -- "bury your nuts in the garden, under the trees or in the bushes, but please....quit tearing up my grass!" It's like a bunch of rude golfer passing through. I'm forever replacing "divots."

They are so intent they run within a foot of me sitting there as well. Yesterday a black beauty was at work when another squirrel ran him off...."My turf!"

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We've got the same thing, except with chipmunks. Yesterday Terry and I were sitting on the patio and the little devil was so brazen as to come right up to us. He sat up on his hind legs, chewing or rearranging whatever he had in his mouth and just looked at us. We both sat real still until he ran off, then burst out laughing. He was so comical, and didn't seem the least afraid of us. He sometimes sits right on the back step.....
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...9/fd448298.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...1/fd448297.jpg

I don't mind him being around, but he digs up my tulip bulbs. :mad:

I don't currently have any racoons in my neighborhood but there used to be some HUGE ones running around. Mind you I lived in San Francisco! It was a residential area without many gardens but they must have lived in Golden Gate Park though it was at least ten blocks from my house.
My warning is that while they are very cute, my friend had bunnies who lived in bunny hutches outside. One day he came out to find his poor fluffs had been mauled and killed. He lived in Oakland which is also pretty urban. He said it was definately a racoon. Poor little guys. So if you have outdoor kitties and there are racoons in the hood I'd beware although I suppose kitties can outrun them where the bunnies were trapped.
Another friend moved into a new house only to find in a few days that things in the kitchen were strewn about. She blamed her kitty. Boy was she amazed when she came home one day to find a coon sitting in front of her open fridge. He'd opend a tupperware and was noshing on the salad inside, tossing the olives he didn't care for over his shoulder! Her rather large kitty was on top of the fridge looking down on him quite worried! Seems Rocky came in thru the cat door!:eek:

ROTFL T & P's Mom - - -
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I don't mind him being around, but he digs up my tulip bulbs.
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Yep over here 'our' little squirrel insists on digging up my container of lilies!! I've lost count of the number of walnuts and peanuts I've dug up from this container!!!
:) :) :)

Kitten645 - How good of you to provide self-service 'fridge for a racoon restaurant - ROTFL. :D :D :D

Lynne