It seems we have a thief among us.
One of the cute and furry variety.
The other night the cat didn’t come home when we called her, so we left the garage door cracked a bit so she could get in, and then we went to bed.
In the morning we found the brand new bag of cat food ripped open and cat food everywhere.
Yes, Ricky the Raccoon found himself dinner at La Garage.
The ripped up bag of cat food was put in a plastic container with a snap on lid, several rocks were piled on top, and I even stuck a bucket on top for good measure.
The next day?
That’s when my husband decided to borrow a trap and catch the little moocher.
An hour after the trap was set up we went out to check it before bed.
My husband loaded the cage up in the back of the pick up and drove Ricky to a new home.
We never dreamt we’d wake to yet another stripped-tale thief.
We caught one more the next night. I’m thinking Ricky’s whole family knew about the great dining here!
Needless to say the kids have enjoyed checking out our little visitors. They have been pretty cute, but I also know they could pose a danger to our kitty…
Have you had any experiences with furry thieves?
Cindy says
We haven’t had any problems but last year we had a family of raccoons living in our next door neighbor’s yard. Keep in mind we live in the middle of a subdivision. I went out to water the garden one morning and three babies meandered through our yard over the fence and into another neighbor’s yard. The only problem the neighbors had with them was the poop on their deck…yuck!
Interestingly enough the same neighbor had a family of groundhogs living in their backyard the year before:-) I don’t know why they seem to get the fun wildlife while all we seem to get are moles! The groundhogs weren’t really a problem at all. They just lived under the shed. It always surprises me that animals adapt so well to suburban life!
OneMommy says
Love it! They must just have the “perfect” yard for all those critters!
Our cat is trying to keep the moles and other little critters at bay… She’s become quite the little hunter!
Mary says
As a child, yes, there were raccoons that would hang around to get our outdoor cats’ food. They were a danger, as you mention, and killed my most beloved cat. So I’m glad that you were proactive about relocating these guys, and now that you know, I imagine you won’t leave cat food outside since even the precautions you tried were not enough.
OneMommy says
Oh, I am so sorry to hear about your cat!
That would kill my daughter if that happened, so we will be finding another way to store the food before tonight!
Jen says
Our culprit was a skunk! lol We were lucky to not get sprayed.
Jen
Creative and Curious Kids!
OneMommy says
Oh! I keep waiting for one of our pets to get sprayed!
Ginny Marie says
Those thieves do look rather cute! We have a skunk that comes to eat grubs in our backyard. I’d rather run into a raccoon!
OneMommy says
Yeah, I will take a raccoon, or 2 or 3 over a skunk any day! 🙂
Ella, Baby Strollers says
Aww how cute (although annoying I’m sure!) I’m from the UK so we don’t have Racoons here but we do have foxes and they sometimes steal the rubbish, but then so many people feed them these days that they don’t have to anymore, at least not in the towns anyway!
Deb says
Haha….every time we try to catch our local furry thief, he’s somehow able to open the trap door and escape! Maybe someday we’ll catch him = )
OneMommy says
Oh, an escape artist as well as a thief!
Deb says
Isn’t that why God made them with masks on their faces ; )
Donna says
We’ve had stray dogs and cats wander in and help themselves to the dog food, but no raccoons, thank heavens.