Back to Square One........

So, we put the plant hangar high on the flag pole and hung the hummingbird feeder.  Very happy with ourselves.  And the birds seemed happier, too.  Being that the feeder was no longer close to the ground where any 4-legged predator could attack.

All was good for 3 days.  Friday morning,  yep,  the feeder was totally empty.  What the hell??    I walked over and checked the flagpole.  Oohhh yeah......muddy paw prints all over it....and the rope for the flag was pulled out, as well as the chicken wire/clematis trellis that is wrapped around the pole, about 4 ft. high.

A raccoon.   Definitely a raccoon.   My apologies to the deer.   What to do...what to do.....?

Back to square one.....we will now bring the feeder in at night.  The advantage to having it up so high from the ground means no ants (yet), and the bees are generally gone by evening.

Oh, I don't mind (too much) when the wildlife finds their meal at our expense, in our yard, but......the price of sugar???? (I make my own nectar for the hummers).  Not here, buddy....move on!  

Just for the heck of it, I checked the pole (sans feeder) yesterday morning. Hahahhaha......paw prints even further up the pole!!  He must have been looking and looking for that feeder  (it was dark, ya know).

The strange thing about this whole situation is.....we've never, ever seen a raccoon in our yard!   I mean....never!!  Never had any signs of one.  No garbage can opened and trash scattering the lawn.....no remnants from the compost pile laying all over the place.   No cooler left on the deck overnight (son's) opened and ravaged.   Strange.  Very strange.

So, there you have it.  This is the last chapter in the hummingbird feeder saga.   Now for something totally different...........