Night marauder

I have a night visitor which I'm trying to pin down - leaning toward racoon. I first noticed that the cat food drawer (in the barn) would be pulled open and completely cleaned out. Then I put the cat food in a plastic juice pitcher with cap, and that too was opened, eaten, and tossed out in the yard. I then started feeding my elderly cat in our covered porch, wetting down her dry food with water. One night when the dog slept inside (she usually sleeps on the porch), something made a gigantic mess of eating the cat's damp food. It looked like whatever did it just jammed their face into the bowl and swirled it around. Since it was damp, it looked like something had vomited all over the bowl. The vomit-prints also showed up on the dog's food bin, which is tall and narrow. Looks like whoever investigated this was not willing to dive down into the void to get to the food itself (about 1/4 full). The cat's dish is on a 3" windowsill with a table tucked up to it full of various pots and plants. I would think a racoon would have knocked over the plants, but they were undisturbed. Are they messy eaters? Whoever is visiting is a true slob. Also ate 5 of my 9 goldfish from a little pond in the front yard.

I do have to say that we've lived here unmolested for 30 years - no 'coons, squirrels, deer, or other native pests. We've always had a dog, and usually some sort of livestock. We now have no livestock, but do have a dog - so maybe it's my time to experience critters.

The best thing to do is quit leaving cat and dog food outside at night. Or even in the day. They start coming during the day if they know they can get pet food. Coons usually aren't concerned with knocking things over, but everything else sound like coons.

Wow, that's quite a marauder you've got. Everything you've said sounds like raccoons to me except for the messy eaters part. That sounds more like possums - if I may stereotype from the members of the possum and raccoon species that have each marauded across our back yard.

Regardless, I'll have to chime in and say we have found that cat food seems to be impossible for those of the raccoon or possum persuasion to resist. Day or night.

I have been feeding numerous neighborhood cats in the barn for years, and would be happy to quit doing so. I think I'll move my 'real' cat's dish and food in to the porch and shut the door at night to see if that dissuades whatever critter is coming around. Not sure what will happen to the black cat who actually belongs to the next door neighbor but has taken up residency here -- I assume it will figure things out.

My best guess would be raccoons. It seems like anything bobcat, raccoon, oppossum, nutria, would have knocked things over, but maybe not.

This message was edited May 6, 2010 10:36 PM