I had a partial bird seed block (was eaten down from it’s original 20 lb size) that just disappeared overnight along with some old cat food we put out for the birds. I thought it was an isolated incident, but the replacement bird block was out for three days, then disappeared overnight, the entire thing. No sign of anything or traces. Just…gone. Any idea of what could have done this? I live in the Phoenix desert in an area where most people have 1-5 acres of land.
Raccoon?
The raccoons and squirrels where I am are more than capable of dragging away such things. Would think a coyote might also enjoy a treat like that. Not sure what kind of critters you have in the area?
I know I have coyotes that come through the yard (it’s just open desert), but I can’t imagine one would eat a bird block, especially the whole thing! This is what was missing: http://www.curiousnaturalist.com/blog/gambels-quail/
We have little ground squirrels, and I have seen a regular bushy-tailed squirrel here, too, but how can they cart off a 10 lb block of seed with no signs? As for raccoons, I have never seen one and lived in AZ all my life. I did check on line and saw that they do exist here, but are not studied much in AZ.
I would guess it’s a coyote. Seriously. They’re omnivores and creatures of opportunity.
My vote is raccoons or a desperate coyote.
A bear!
We had to stop feeding the birds years ago when something kept tearing the bird feeder down from the tree where it was hanging. It was high up and on a strong chain, but it was no match for whatever was determined to get at it. We do have bears around here so it’s a pretty good guess that that was what was dining on our bird feed at night. A couple of years later they made it illegal to put bird feeders out in our town because of the bears.
A bear could easily carry off a 20 lb. feed block.
