I have only recently become aware of this forum and hope that someone of you knowledgeable folks can clue me in on an odd happening. A young feral cat has made her home on my small farm in south-central PA. Last winter when the weather turned bad I began to feed her. She is still quite wild but comes to find me in the barn or garden if she needs to be fed. I don't have any cats of my own. I suspect that other feral cats or other critters share her bounty based on the quantity of food that is consumed. In the last week not only is the food disappearing but the entire dish is gone in the morning. I've walked around the area and find no sign of the dishes. One of them was a fairly large metal dish--say the size of a soup bowl. I have seen skunks and foxes in the area and there are coyotes but I don't see them. I feed the cat near a feedshed that has enough clearance that she can go underneath it. A few feet away is the sheep barn that is on a concrete slab. I imagine my dishes have disappeared under the feedshed and I am really curious about what critter would do this. I feed her only dry food. Any thoughts?
spiderwoman
Thanks, I forgot to say that I also have racoons here but I only see evidence of them at the pond which is far from where this problem is occuring. My pond is full of crayfish and they are huge this year. That is where I see the little racoon tracks in the mud. I also have fat furry woodchucks hanging around tormenting my dogs. spiderwoman
Raccoons do this all of the time. When we were doing field research in a forest with small live traps, the traps would often be moved around. We have even lost traps completely only to find them inside of a hollow tree after the tree was blown down after a storm!!!
Dogs are notorious for carrying off large food dishes. Ask some of your neighbors if they have found some dishes around. Coons don't take dishes to far just far enough to eat it all then go back to look for more.
