The Bandit Reveals Himself!!!

Last night, while the rain was pouring down, I was computing, and Fred was in the family room. Wait, I am getting a little ahead of myself.

We have several bird feeders. Suet, corn, sunflower and safflower nuts, raisins and cherries are a few items we put out for the birds. Along with all the fun birds we attract, there are some black and gray squirrels and families of bunnies. The deal is this...we've been going through way too much bird food lately, even considering we feed the squirrels and bunnies. Also, one feeder in question has been a bit of a mystery. It's a feeder with clear plastic windows. It also has some decorative leaves made of metal that a bird could not bend and, would take a pretty strong squirrel to do so. The bottom of the feeder is nearly 2 and a half feet off the ground. The metal leaves are bent and twisted almost daily.

Anyway, back to last night. So Fred calls me into the family room and said to be quiet and look out the big window. Ah ha, there he was, hanging from this feeder, and literally shoveling the food into his mouth. The dogs were going crazy, as this feeder is easy to view and only about ten feet from the house. This little rascal was shameless! He hung on the feeder, was pulling the little metal leaves away from it, probably thinking he could get more food. This guy was the chubbiest raccoon I have ever seen! Easily 30 pounds. Yikes!

So, today when I got home from work, I made my way through the current blizzard, filled the feeders, made sure there was water in the heated bowl, and maybe, just maybe tonight I can sneak up and get a pic of this masked bandit.

Truth be told, I love the wildlife, and in some small way, it makes winter more bearable. Plus, I get all warm and fuzzy knowing they are well fed and happy. If you are a bird, squirrel, bunny and now raccoon in the Schmidt yard, life is good.