My bird feeder is gone (rabbits, mice, turkey, coyote)
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All good points fisheye!
Love the the photo of the Rocky raccoon's! No raccoon's here as yet chowing down on the bird feeder, but I do have a major over abundance of squirrels. I wanna say grrr, but that just doesn't cover my frustration.
The squirrels will damage your birdfeeders and bird houses - more so than raccoons and opossums.
About ten years ago my wife noticed that bird seed was missing every night from our birdfeeder. She thought that it was early rising squirrels. I suspected raccoons. So I placed a proximity detector close to the bird feeder pole. When we heard it we looked out the window with flashlight and camera. It was exciting at first to see all of the nocturnal creatures: Fox, opossums, raccoons, deer, and finally bear. But; you have to know when it is time to call it quits.
All good points fisheye!
Love the the photo of the Rocky raccoon's! No raccoon's here as yet chowing down on the bird feeder, but I do have a major over abundance of squirrels. I wanna say grrr, but that just doesn't cover my frustration.
Why all the hating on squirrels? I've never gone out to my car and found it covered in squirrel crap!
I emailed the DNR about the feeder damage in case they think that bear traveled this way. There has , except for the sighting last month, to my knowledge,never, in living memory, been another bear sighting in this part of NW indiana. I've lived around here 70 years.
Well, we have no bears in our area (thank goodness!). I do have racoons around...one was able to repeatedly bend a shepherd's hook pole down enough that the other could reach up from the ground to get the birdseed. Also, racoons do damage my feeders enough that over time they eventually do destroy them. I've got my shepherd's hook pole tied to a fence pole now so no bending, but the coons can still climb up to the feeder regardless.
Well, we have no bears in our area (thank goodness!). I do have racoons around...one was able to repeatedly bend a shepherd's hook pole down enough that the other could reach up from the ground to get the birdseed. Also, racoons do damage my feeders enough that over time they eventually do destroy them. I've got my shepherd's hook pole tied to a fence pole now so no bending, but the coons can still climb up to the feeder regardless.
Most of our experience has been with raccoons that eat methodically and delicately - they take their time. Of course you can have more than one raccoon at a time trying to feed. That might account damage to your hook? Some raccoons are also noticeably heavier than other raccoons - perhaps the Sheppard's hook manufacturer's should put little weight limit signs on the bottom of the poles? Our airlines are trying to do that! Maybe the whole family is just too heavy:
By the way; to the OP's missing bird feeder: Even if a bear or raccoon did take the feeder; it would not have gone very far. Most wildlife will only take things (like a bird feeder or food container) that they want to a safe place - it might be the first tree, shrubs, or away from your house. Even with bears and garbage bags; they are usually found just a few hundred yards away or much closer. My feeling is that they move these because they are afraid of humans or they do not want to share with other wildlife.
The feeder was along the lot line of the vacant, thickly wooded, lot next door. In the late fall when the leaves are gone maybe we'll find the feeder somewhere in those woods. There's thorns, hanging branches, half fallen trees, ticks, and thick brush making the woods not the most fun place to walk around.
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Our airlines are trying to do that! Maybe the whole family is just too heavy:
