Vandalism at the Baker house.

Evidence: Click on pictures to examine.

At approximately 2 PM on August 14, Husband (me) was walking out of the workshop when he noticed a pile of wood chips on the lawn.

He looked up to discover that something had chewed a large hole in the side of the Baker house.  The vandal had also ripped off the fence on three sides and then chewed up the floor along one whole wall.  It was obvious what the vandal wanted but we've never seen this sort of flagrant disregard for property in all the years we've lived here.

We keep a lot of bird seed in that house (mainly black oil sunflower) so we figure the vandal must have been after food. But everyone in the neighborhood knows they are welcome to take whatever they need - free of charge - no questions asked. All we ask is that they don't waste it -- and they allow us to watch.

The Baker house has been hanging in the yard all summer without anything taking much interest. It is much smaller than it's neighbors and more difficult to access. And, although it is regularly visited by many birds and an occasional squirrel, it remains the least popular hangout in the yard. Everyone has been very nice about eating the seed and leaving the house intact. Why would someone suddenly take such an enthusiastic interest in such a meager supply of food.

The Baker house

The only known witness to this event was Wife, who was  in the living room - which over-looks the yard - when it happened. Wife explained; "I was sitting in the living room, watching TV, when I heard this awful racket in the yard." She explained; "I didn't think much of it because it's common for the birds to make a commotion when a neighbor cat is in the yard."
 "I should have looked right away."; She admitted; "But I was distracted and by the time I did look - all I saw was the house swinging madly from on it's hanger. "

Of course the first suspect is the rascally squirrel. But it looks like the whole corner of the house was bitten off. This would take much too much strength for a squirrel; or at least a much larger mouth.

Other possible suspects could be deer, bear, opossum, muskrat, gopher/chipmunk, and raccoon. We live in the middle of the city so if there was a bear, we would have heard about it. And a bear would have chomped this whole house in one bite. Deer have been seen in our yard but not for a few years. Opossums, muskrats,  and gophers don't usually climb and probably couldn't jump the 4+ feet to reach the house. This leaves the raccoon as the prime suspect.

We haven't had many raccoons since the city switched to covered trash cans but there have been recent reports of sightings in the neighborhood. A waste basket was overturned and emptied on the deck. And, on the night following the vandalism, a large feeder was completely emptied. 

So Husband and Wife agree that it must have been a raccoon. Another mystery solved. Which only leaves some minor house repair and maybe a little higher location for the Baker house, and neighboring feeders, in the future.