Racoon go home!

Hummers not appearing 

You know I have been feeding birds for years.  I've never had a problem with raccoons before, squirrels yes but never raccoons until now that is.  My frustration is mounting while this furry raider comes no matter what I do and drains both the seed feeder and the hummingbird feeders every single night!

I can take the feeders in and put them in the garage every night for a week and leave it out one night and by morning he has put his germy mouth all over them and they are empty.  Hummingbirds that are usually are fighting for space on my deck are all but absent this year!

He's scattered my pots of mint all over the deck...so much for raccoons hating mint!  And I have even stood there by the sliding doors and chased him numerous times but the persistent thing just comes back minutes later.  It's like a war, and who is going to give up first.  It's stating to look like it will be me!

Last night we had a thunderstorm and I figured that I would just leave the feeders out.  Sure enough they were empty in the morning.  It's starting to make me very sad because I am truly thinking of giving up, raising the white flag, retiring the feeders, and put aside my enjoyable pastime of watching the birds.

But wait...maybe I can figure out a way to make some sort of baffle.  Will it baffle me or the coon...time will tell.

Mystery solved!

Some of you may remember that this summer I was visited by a thief, a hummingbird nectar thief to be exact.  This went on all summer.  I either had to take it in every night, or just make more nectar every day--every single day or disappoint the hummers.  If I got home a bit late or had something going on and I didn't get it in--it was drained dry.  Some weeks I remembered to take it in every day for a week and I'd think that maybe if I left it out he wouldn't come, but I was always wrong.  What could it be, I wondered, bats, possums, raccoons?  After I found one feeder on the ground with it's top unscrewed I pretty much figured it had to be a raccoon.

I haven't seen a hummingbird for 5 days now so I think they have embarked on their journey to warmer climes.  Still I have put the feeder out every day just in case a lonely hummingbird passing through may stop to refuel.

Tonight I was bound and determined to catch the thief in the act if only to see exactly how he does it.  So I got a couple pillows, cracked  a space in the vertical blinds overlooking my deck and waited.  I pretty much had figured out that the culprit visited around 7:30 every night.

7:32 on the dot, he came.  Yup, raccoon alright and he was a pretty gutsy little dude too.  He reached up and tilted the feeder.  Our eyes met and I swear he gave me the stink eye, since I was  ruining his party. I opened the sliding glass door and he ran, but only after he gave me one last very dirty look.

Sorry I have no photos since my camera is not that high tech and all I got was a very blurry furry!

Mystery solved and since Hummingbird season is over, he will have to get his kool-aid somewhere else.

Anyone else have raccoon raiders?  

Bats in my belfry, or is raccoons on deck?

I love feeding hummingbirds so from early spring to late September they frolic and flit around my feeder.  Lately, however I am experiencing a bit of a mystery. Every morning I fill the feeder and at dusk there is till nectar in it, but by the next morning, it is empty.  This is no one time occurrence but happening every single night!

So since the feeder is not leaking, a nocturnal visitor must be the culprit.  What could it be?  My first thought was that it was a raccoon, but upon further investigation I am coming to believe bats are visiting my feeder.

Anyone have this problem?  I don’t know why it is-- but odd things always seem to come my way.  As it stands I am re-filling the feeder every morning.  I have sat up late, looked out on the deck hoping to catch the little thief in the act with no luck. Just last night the feeder was knocked off it’s pole completely.  

So, I am thinking  I have no choice but to take it in and put it in the garage every night.

Suggestions are welcome.