Something raided my can

[Fred]

For the first time in over four years I had my garbage can raided. It sits on the ground at the end of my porch, next to the yard my dogs "use".

I typically don't keep smelly garbage in the house container, so after finishing some take out wings last night I put the bones and leftover dip in the outside container.... like I've done a hundred other times. This time the smell of the leftover wings must have been stronger than the dog turds and a critter managed to get in. I saw the wing box (minus the eaten lid), a dip container and a paper towel 20 ft away in the yard this morning. No bones could be found and the dip container was licked clean. Looking at the plastic can closer I saw that the edge of the garbage bag that was folded over the rim had been nibbled or scratched at about 1/4 way around the can. The critter must have hit the part of the lid that un snaps it and found its feast.

I have a crushed limestone driveway with some dust, but didn't see any footprints between the can and the garbage in the yard. The scratches or bites on the can were almost "dainty" looking, very tiny, and the handle on the side of the can had been nibbled on. I didn't see any sign other than those marks. Whatever it was had an appetite for 16 wing bones and some dip, but the other garbage, which included crab leg shells, was left alone. My ATV was a foot away, but I only had the shock alarm turned on, not the perimeter alarm, which an animal might be able to set off. Still, it wa close enough that if something had bumped it, it would have gone off.

Marlin and I might need a little night time surveilance and I might need to get a metal can.

[egon]

The Masked Midnight Bandit strikes again! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Best be getting a substancial metal can that has hinges and a paddlock for the Bandit will be back! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Fred]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
for the Bandit will be back!

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That's what I'm hopin' for.... when I'm waiting for him.

I haven't seen any coon tracks around here for a while. The little bugger must have quite the appetite..... and possibly a torn stomach lining from the cooked bones. [img]/forums/images/icons/ooo.gif[/img]

[BlueRidge]

Yep, that sounds like Ole Mr. Coon. They are regular visitors at my place. I'm tired of cleaning up after them, so this weekend I'm going to remodel an old dog house that the previous owner left. It's a good 8 feet wide and 4 deep, about 4 feet high at the back, 5 at the front. Shingle roof and nice siding, it looks decent.

I think it's going to make a nice trash corral, complete with locking doors. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

HEY!! Rocky needs to make a living too! I used to keep a trench (FEL dug) next to the garden and as we separated all trash into different categories we emptied the compostable edible garbage into the ditch and covered it with a few spades of dirt (dailyor every other day routine. Then weekly add more dirt from the pile.

Well the critters, mostly coons, constantly dug up the stuff they wanted littering the place with what they didn't want so... I started just dumping into the trench and NOT covering it up at all. The critters take what they want and then the next day I cover the rest. Saves the critter all that digging, less stuff is scattered, and it is no hardship for us so it was a win win situation.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat

[Fred]

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Rocky needs to make a living too!

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Rocky can make his living across the "Rainbow Bridge", if they have such a place.... [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

Last night he had the lid popped by 8:30 and also a couple small holes in an unopened bag of birdseed I had on the opposite end of my porch. I replaced the lid and this morning there was a hole eaten in the side of the can and the bag of seed was about severed in half.
Tonight I'm going to give it an hour or two approaching dusk and see if I can bait him in.

[BlueRidge]

We keep our bird, dog, and rabbit feed in standard metal trash cans, secured by a bungee cord from handle to handle, and through the handle on the lid. I bought them new just for that purpose, so they're clean and odor free. Works great.

I don't feel like buying enough of them to hold all our trash between twice-montly trips to the dump, or I wouldn't bother with the old doghouse.

[Fred]

Yeah, I suppose I'll have to go metal for my house garbage, but I'll miss this old plastic garbage can.... The last time I went garbage can hunting I couldn't find any where a standard sized garbage bag (30 gal?) would fit the rim well. I then tried various sized bags and different makes of metal and plastic containers, but didn't have any luck. Either the bag wouldn't stretch over the rim or it was so loose that it would constantly fall in [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img] I don't get it [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] I think they have the same deal going on as the hot dog and bun people [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Wouldn't you know, I'm raided two night in a row and twice the one night, so last night with more bones and an open can of tuna fish just 10 ft away from the garbage can in my driveway... and with a nice clean view from a window in the house [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] .... he's a no show. Murphy's Law I guess.
Either that or he's dead somewhere with a torn stomach lining from all those bones. That'll work.

[Pat]

Fred, If you wire a motion detector security light with a bell or an AC operated radio or other sound producing device instead of putting light bulbs in it then it will alert you to the arrival of a warm blooded target. Put it where it can see the area of interest and run an extension cord from it to the house and plug a radio into it. When something big and warm enough to trip the circuit shows up the radio will go off like a radio type alarm clock and you know it is time to keep your appointment.

It will not discriminate between species so you'll have to have the discretion required to ID your target and not shoot your pet or neighbor.

Helpful hint from Heloise: Go ahead and buy your trash bags a little loose fitting and use a bungee cord around the top of the can to hold the folded over portion of the bag/liner. A DIY giant rubber band made from an old inner tube works super. The extra capacity of the loose fitting bag/liner makes closing and tieing the bag shut easier too and has some reserve space for last minute additions.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

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use a bungee cord around the top of the can

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That's such a simple solution, anybody ought to know that! Wonder why I never thought of it before. [img]/forums/images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

I don't know why they don't make the cans and the bags fit when they're supposedly the same size. I have a 30 gallon plastic garbage can, but use 39 gallon Hefty bags. Those bags fit perfectly with the top of the bag stretched over the rim and it stays securely.

Then I also have a nice bigger plastic garbage can that was here when we bought the place. I'm not sure what size it's supposed to be but 39 gallon bags cannot be stretched over the rim. Instead I use 45 gallon bags and they're a little too big and loose, but I think the bungee cord idea should work just fine.