Sneaky little vermin

For the last month probably, something has been getting into our cat food bin. We wake up in the morning to find it knocked down the stairs or the lid wide open. The stinking thing has broken the handle off the dog food bin and a wheel off the cat food bin. We kept catching stray cats by the bins and suspected they were the culprits. The only thing is, the bins are pretty heavy, and the handles would be hard for a cat to open. A raccoon maybe? Hmmm. We saw a raccoon trying to get into our garbage a few months ago. The other night around midnight, Hyrum heard a noise outside, and when he pulled the curtain aside on the front door, this is what he found.

Busted!

And the next morning, here's the evidence. They even got the heavy grout bag off the lid!

I know, our front porch is a mess right now with tile supplies and fans and all. (That's also part of the mess I was determined to clean.) I was up late last night and caught a lot of action at the cat food bin. Around 11pm, I heard the latch on the cat food pop open. I saw a raccoon in the middle of opening the bin, but he saw me open the curtain and promptly halted his thievery. He didn't run away though. Instead, he curiously watched me watch him. I called the kids over, so they got a good look. Tilly was enthralled, but Hyatt's comment was "I'm scared of the raccoon." Typical Hyatt. The masked vermin was missing his tail, so we named him Stumpy. I was wishing I had bought Hyrum a .22 for his birthday so I could take care of the robber like I did the opossums years ago. Hyrum's guns aren't in the house though (where would we put rifles in this tiny house?). Besides, he only has hunting rifles. I didn't know what the rules were about shooting raccoons in town anyway. After the kids went back to bed and I had my fill of watching the raccoon laze about on the railing, watching me, I took a broom and ran out swinging. He leaped off the railing to the ground (it was a 2 story drop), and ran off. I figured I'd scared him away for a while, so I put a heavy bag of grout in a WalMart sack on top of the bin and called it good.

Well...at midnight I heard the WalMart sack crinkling. I peeked out the window and saw a raccoon again! Could he possibly be back for more? Nope. This one had a tail. He couldn't get the grout bag off, so he took off, and a minute later I could hear the faint sound of my dogs freaking out. They've been banished to the big house ever since they got sprayed by a skunk. (Don't I live in town? What's up with the country wildlife?) I figured the raccoon was in the house since they can get in through the floor right now. Then about 12:30 it was back. It made one more futile attempt before exploring the big house again. Then at 1 am, a cat was making an attempt! If the traps didn't cost $50, I'd have one out.

Stinking vermin!