Damned Raccoons!

Photo: The bird feeder put back together. See the long metal plate on the side toward the rear? There is one on each side and the little critter(s) got one or both of them off last night in order to drop the feeder. Half the seeds are on the ground at the base of the tree. Notice the metal rod...bent!

The Dream
Last night I dreamed of a raccoon. It was running down the side of the house I lived in as a kid. Then the raccoon became a strange looking coyote (white in color with big pointy ears that were fringed in goldish color fur) that I beat to death with a white curtain rod. And the coyote didn’t struggle while I did it. It was tested for rabies and was not diseased. That was all in my dream!

Bizarre, right? When I got up a little after 6 a.m. and looked out the window into the back yard, I saw the bird feeder on the ground and seed spilled in a nice pile behind the opened top. Upon closer inspection the hanger gizmo was still hanging on the line. The mechanism that held the hanger to the feeder had been forced off. Now that had to take some intelligent know-how and strength. Was it one or two working in tandem? I wish I had taken a picture of the “hanger” before I put it back together.

Just to be cautious, I used gloves to handle the downed feeder. It had bits of grey fur around the lid latch (which had been mangled) and the perch, which is a metal rod wrapped in plastic, was bent. Not too many weeks ago the rod was broken and hanging on one side. There was evidence of its having been chewed.

I’m glad I don’t go out in my back yard at night. No way do I want to meet up with a raccoon or family of raccoons who can do this much damage.

Do you remember last year I took pictures of raccoon footprints on storm door windows leading out to the back deck? On the left click on 2008, then April. Find "Sports and Wildlife" which should be April 9th when you open it up. There are the footprints.

Back to my dream
Had I heard these critters in my sleep, which triggered the dream? I must have sensed their presence somehow. I have no idea what the compliant coyote is all about. There is no evidence of a coyote carcass in my yard, never mind one I beat to death. And I wouldn’t do that anyway.

I must consult my Medicine Cards.