DescentBB

I've got a small mystery out in my barn. I have two cats that live out there and I've got their food in a 5 gal bucket that has a top that snaps very firmly in place. Last week something ( I suspect raccoons) learned how to open it up. So being the savy camper, I got some bailing twine leftover from the bales of hay I got and tied the bucket up to the rafters so the pail hangs about 5 feet off the floor. There are bales of hay by the bucket that a raccoon could stand on and reach the the buckets lid. I figured that the raccoon could not apply any force as the bucket would swing away from him. Secondarily with the handle now verticle as it is tied to the twine, the handle also puts a pinching pressure on the lid making it even harder to remove. Well I thought wrong. This morning I went out to discover that the lid had been removed.
So tonight be ready for one of my patented accounts of a real life event. Turn off your absurd reality program and check in here for a in the raw mystery.
I left the lights on in the barn and from my bedroom window I have a clear view of the bait er... bucket.
So with my Bushnell 16 x 50 spynoc I'll be able to get close up and personal with the little blighters. Just in case it is a yeti I'll have my .45 strapped to my hip.

don't discount the fact that racoons can work together.

Don't discount the fact it is a homeless guy.

Mmmmm, cat food.

Time for a night-vision, motion-activated camera.

By the teeth marks in the lip, I don't think it is a homless person...but then yon can never tell.

Whatever it is, we demend pics.

Dedman wrote:Whatever it is, we demend pics.

We're American's dangit! It's our RIGHT!

opps I mean X2 ...hehe

I'll try but all I have is my film camera with slide film. Light level is kinda low so not sure how clear things will turn out. I'll try though. Maybe a couple of weeks 'till I get them developed.

Good Luck Chip, you're going to need it

I remember trying to keep this one racoon out of my damn garbage cans, I even put a 12" 3-core concrete block (about 72lbs) on the lid but the little bastard still got in. In the end it required a #2 Victor coil spring and a .22 long rifle, his final resting place was in that garbage can he was so fond of.

Well it's been 2 hours and no sign of the darkling demon. The vigil continues.

It's hungry aliens man!!!11one

it's an al-qaeda plot to steal your cat food.

Hence the .45
Now been 3 hours and still no movement. Usually raccoons come around the barn earlier than this.

Better watch out Woody.. those sneaky, evil Liberals are using their alien technology to get a bead on you and now are coming to suck your brain out.

that's what the tin foil hat is for.

Heh...thats why I use tin foil condoms so I don't have to *#^% with them alienated liberals.

Well close to 4 hours now and no action. I see one of the cats is sleeping near the bucket of food. Maybe he thinks he's a guard cat.

I'm tuned in! Where is the sniping action play by play!?

So are you actually camping near the cat food? That's too funny.

No action so I'm gonna hit the hay. If they make a raid while I'm asleep, I'll figure maybe they're related to the tooth fairy

woodchip wrote:Heh...thats why I use tin foil condoms so I don't have to *#^% with them alienated liberals.

lol!
jiffy puff orgasms!

TheCops wrote:

woodchip wrote:Heh...thats why I use tin foil condoms so I don't have to *#^% with them alienated liberals.

lol!
jiffy puff orgasms!

Warning! Do not microwave!

Well It is morning and no visitors. Maybe the 'coons went into hibernation as it's been getting down into the 20's at night. I'll keep watch again tonight.
(me rummages thru old marine footlocker to see if the're any claymores laying about)

Down into the 20's? Dang chip, where do you live? It has been getting into the mid 40's at night here in Atlanta.

Hey if it is a coon, can I have dibs on his tail? I always wanted me one of those cool hats.

Dedman, just west of Ann Arbor in Michigan.

With racoons, I'm thinking some sort of team effort. Looking forward to hearing the solution. I love your real life puzzlers. I still think about the office mystery one. Wasn't that the janitor's kid playing with your 'puter?

Margo

Now I'm really heading out to work da dawgs. Got sheep woodchip?

It was all a diversion.
I think while they had you watching the catfood the 'coons took your truck and credit cards down to the local topless bar and ran up big tab on you!
Be expecting to hear from the police regarding your truck being used in drive by trashcan raids throughout your county.

woodchip wrote:Dedman, just west of Ann Arbor in Michigan.

Hmm... I'm just east of your just west...

And a few months back I trapped a racoon and released it a few miles west of Ann Arbor...

Probably not, though... right?

I dunno Krag? Was the 'coon missing a leg, blind in one eye, have a chewed up ear, suffer from mange and go by the name of "Lucky"?

Well second night and no apprearance.

Still leaving the barn light on? Maybe that's scaring them off.

another hint for keeping the critters away.

Go to the local thrift store and buy a cheap radio. Clock radios go for a couple bucks. Tune it to your favorite station and let it run 24/7.

Since doing this the critters have stayed away from our barn.
Leaving the lights on as you have found out is also a good deterant.

is there any evidence of the raccoons trying to enroll in flight training programs? are they sending any of the stolen cat food to swiss bank accounts?

please keep us informed.

To hell with the raccoons... What the hell does a possom eat?

My daughter had a little run in with a new resident to our back yard...

We were finishing up some yard work... roughly 8:30PM when I asked my daughter to go in the woodshed (10x20 cinderblock building) and pull out the kerosene cans.

Well, she stepped thru the doorway and promplty screamed, and closed the 10ft gap between us so fast I barely saw her move! Turns out there was a possom in the attic area of the shed. When she entered, it thought she was going after its nest.

So once my ears stopped bleeding (man that kid can scream) I verified it by whacking the ceiling a couple of times with a shovel. Yup... definatley a possum.

Now the question.... What the hell do these things eat... I'm setting up a trap tonight, and plan on using some leftovers from yesterday's dinner - some fine polish sausage - and just wondered if there was something these little beasts would kill for.

Oh yeah... pics to follow after I trap the little monster. (then release it over at Woodchips )

Your leftovers should work fine.
If not,Cat or dog food (dry) should do the trick.

I find that they really like .22 longs. You don't even need to give 'em dessert. Use a gun, save a sausage

KompresZor wrote:Still leaving the barn light on? Maybe that's scaring them off.

When the raccoons were raiding the horses sweet feed (which I keep in trash cans) I could turn the lights on and stand 5 feet from them and they didn't seem to care. So even curiousor, why was what ever is pilfering the cat food not going for the sweet feed? hmmmm.

Clutch, 'possums are basically scavengers and what Hattrick said is good.

You might happen to catch me in that trap because I kill for some nice Polish sausage.

Raccoons dont seem to care about light. I shined my flashlight at one in the dark while I was observing it eating some seeds from our feeder (sneaky bastage). He didn't move at all.

llClutchll wrote:Yup... definatley a possum.

I believe the word you are looking for is

DEFINITELY

It is the word "definite" with a suffix. Try to remember that please. There's no such word as "definat".

Hey mobi... GO FIND A LIFE.

definatly

Hmmm.... Looks like I have a few more critters running around my neighborhood than I thought!

Ok Woodchip... Where do you want it?

Heh, take it to Detroit...maybe you could sell it.
(Chuckles to self)

s. wrote:definatly

*snicker*