This is the second time a complete feeder has vanished, The last time, it was a really big feeder that could hold almost 10 pounds of seed. We never put that much in it because with the raccoons and flying squirrels stuffing their furry faces between dusk and dawn, even when bird seed was less expensive than it is now, we couldn’t afford that much seed. We bought the big feeder because it was on sale figuring we just wouldn’t fill it all the way.

It was up for a couple of days. One morning, it was gone. It was a big feeder, so I looked at the ground by the deck. No feeder. Owen went down to inspect the site. Still no feeder. I had — still have — an image of a big raccoon with the huge feeder tucked under his arm carrying it into the woods.

We never saw the feeder again.

At the beginning of this week, I put up two new (identical to the previous) yellow feeders because the old ones were beginning to fray and the paint was peeling. This morning — three days after hanging them — one of them was gone. It didn’t get knocked down by a branch (we lost one that way a couple of weeks ago). It didn’t fall. The hook was intact and no one can see the feeder on the ground.

Another one. Gone.

Why do they take the NEW ones? If they are going to steal feeders, steal the old peeling ones with the frayed hangers. Since to the best of my knowledge we don’t have bears, it has to be racoons. Raccoons are smart and have hands with thumbs. They are good at prying open suet feeders and extracting complete wedges of suet. I have tried to figure out how to keep them from stealing it, but short of wiring them shut — and then they’d probably take the whole feeder instead of just suet — I’m doomed.

Take the seeds but please leave the feeder! I put back one of the old ones for now, but I’m at a loss as to what to do next. The one that’s hanging there is going to fall. The wire is frayed.

This is a tough neighborhood!

Categories: #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, Anecdote

Tags: #gallery, #Photography, birds, Marilyn Armstrong