No, it wasn't the bear. I've been taking the sunflower seed feeders inside at night to discourage that particular visitor.
Late yesterday afternoon I refilled the hummingbird feeder that hangs from the front deck. This morning it was empty and a set of very sugary paw prints could be seen both on the railing near the feeder (along with lots of little brown ants) and on the steps leading up to the deck. Raccoon paw prints to be more precise. The little bugger climbs up on the railing and licks all the sugar water out of the feeder but he spills quite a bit of it too.
It's annoying on two counts. First, I have to mix up more sugar water when the masked marauder hits; and two, the potted tomato and pepper plants are sitting on the deck and could easily become the food of choice for the 'coon. I can bring the hummingbird feeder in at night, but the seven pots of tomatoes and peppers? That's getting to be a little too much. And there is no way to keep the critter off the deck. Even if I were to put a gate at the bottom of the stairs, he'd simply climb the posts to get around/over it.
Let me make a short list of the mammals we have seen in the yard at the Aerie:
White-tail deer
Black Bear
Groundhog
Gray Squirrel
Red Squirrel
Chipmunk
Cottontail
Porcupine
Opossum
Raccoon
Everyone of them, with the possible exception of the porky, would gladly dine on many of the vegetables we could plant in the raised beds. (Although--so far--they have left the herbs and zucchini pretty much alone.)
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