What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I'm asking because I know there are at least 2 obviously boy felines that wander in my yard; I've seen them during the day. They along with 2 others I've seen in the past are probably "drop offs" since my neighborhood is prime for that. They seem hungry and I don't mind feeding them. But for the past month I have not been home regularly during daylight hours; this pattern will change on Saturday for the next 2 months but for now food is out during dark hours mainly.

Who is eating the food after hours? Armadillos, I doubt. Rats? Hope not. Coons? Perhaps--I do have a bowl of water beside the food. Any ideas as to what is dining at Kat2's place?

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

If it is a coons it will probably bring friends and family to the feast. Get a cheap trail cam and find out for sure.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Possums love cat food more than cats. They are also fearless so sooner or later you will see one if they are around.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

yes the possums become relatively tame. I have not seen many coons after cat food, however the smaller possums usually are close by and eventually you will see one in the daytime at the feeder.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

When I lived in town, I found a possum that took up residence in my garage close to the dog food bowl and he didn't like being evicted. :woohoonaner:

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

yes they do not move easily.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I've seen small coons at the cat's bowel; But, possums will move-in. I've seen mama and two little ones eating along side of the cats. .... I just evicted a Mama and a baby .... 410 ga. They were knocking the chicken feed buckets open and helping them selves. They will also kill and eat chickens.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I'm know there are coons around here; I'm not sure if there are possums. When I had chickens, we trapped a mink, a possum, 2 coons and a skunk; they were dispatched and became buzzard food. I understand animals killing to eat but taking just a bite and killing another 1 or 2 is wrong.

I have a camera here left by former owner; maybe I should see if it works?

Food is out now but will be brought in tonight.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

there is a cheaper way of doing it. on a dark night, about 9 or 10, take a can of sardenes and place out back here you can turn on light and see it from a window. after placing it wait about 10 - 15 minutes, turn on the back light and watch your back yard move. I wont tell you how to get rid of them, especially coons. but I will say a gun and one shot does the trick.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

There are cats around too ... The sardines will be gone before you can get back to the house.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

my ex-wife liked to call me a baby animal killer. well one night she saw a coon in the garbage can so decided to put out cat food for it in the carport where my boat was. undaunted by my warnings she did it anyway. well after awhile, maybe a week, there where 5 coons eating cat food. this was in the middle of Jacksonville fla. when she had trouble getting out of her car, fearing she would be bitten, she told me to do something about it. instead of a gun being in the middle of the city I used my bow. never saw any cats, like say put it out about 10 minutes before turning the light on. you do not have to shoot anything, just shoot the ground. in my case it was one of the largest possums I had ever seen, I thought it was a big coon. I did not miss. never saw the coons again. now I live in the woods and just feed the cats enough to keep them for the night. ever now and again I see a possum on the porch but none of them have been aggressive so I let them go on there way. when the wife was feeding the cats we had a small possum that stayed in the corner of the porch, our porch is enclosed but no screening, we new he was there and we sit on the porch a lot talking and watching the night or the morning. he never bothered us, we did not bother him.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I lived in Jacksonville and know people used fire power there. ;) Even though I now live in the county where all bets are off, I don't own a gun and my friend with one is leaving for 2 months on Saturday. I guess I'll stick to daytime feeding and hope nothing but cats visit. At some point I plan to have chickens again but they'll be housed in a fortress. Prior owner, who sabotaged the stove, toilet, kitchen faucet and slit my heat/ac vents, also left behind a very nice 5 mile fence charger, insulators and wire. Maroon!

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

basically all I was saying you can find out with a quickness what you have out there with is using sardines. I guess I should have thought to word the gun part more properly. I have guns and none of them have been shot in years. I have friends that bring me a little deer and I am good with that. hunting takes a lot of time here in florida and I have other things I need to do. course I do take sometime to go fishing in the gulf when my friend from tennesse comes down. we set at his house in the mountains and watch deer and turkey walk by. we set in his porch in the gulf and watch hogs and deer and gators and manatees, but if a snook swims by, Katy bar the door.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Leaving cat food out? Genius, brilliant, and you are the Darwin award winner.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Wow, just wow!

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Down here in the Keys, the prime suspects would be raccoons, opossums and tree rats. If you have skunks up there, they also love pet food.
:doggyandnaner:

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Skunks was the first thing my wife mentioned... Try some rat poison next time and there won't be another next time, plus... cats won't touch it, but all the unwanted critters will.

This works fast and tastes irresistible to them.. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Central-L...&wl13=&veh=sem

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

About the only thing I haven't seen eat cat food is a snake!

I've even seen birds and large (Florida large) roaches eating it.

Leaving cat food out at night exposes the problem. Now you just have to decide how to handle it. I have a possum problem that I will have to deal with soon. They are digging my mulched garden up at night. Don't think it's an armadillo. I think they are digging up worms. I have thousands of worms everywhere since I have the thick mulch and regularly water.

Good luck and keep us apprised of your progress.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I took up the food before I left around 7. There was a cat sitting on my driveway when I walked outside so I grabbed the bowl and started towards it; it ran away before I got very close. It was getting dark so I'm not sure if it's one of the 4 I've seen before. There's a feral colony down the street that are cared for by a woman who doesn't live in the area; she spends her own money for food, "fixing" and such so it's probably not one of hers. Not sure I can afford to feed 5 or even want to. Just 1 or maybe 2 would be fine.

And, yes, I put the food back in the freezer; apparently ants like cat food very much.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

yes but cats eat some of the pests that eat rat poison.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

hummm ... It's not likely the rat eat enough poison to kill a full grown cat. But the CYA answer on the "Just One Bite' website is call the Poison Control Center for treatment. ....Just One Bite's Frequently Asked Questions ...

Also, well feed cats (pets) usually do not eat already dead animals they find. They prefer to kill their prey. It's more fun!

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

In the Florida Keys my trail cams have picked up as many raccoons eating the cat food as cats, if not more. I cannot say I have ever seen an opossum at the dishes on camera, but live catch trap results suggest they're just not as good at setting off the motion sensor. Rats are indeed too small to set it off and there's no way those cockroaches of the mammal world are passing it up. Snakes will come looking for the rats, and the native snakes will stand no chance with cats around. But pythons will. In fact all this supplemental mammal feeding everyone is doing will ultimately turn into a python-a-thon. Fire ants and carpenter ants also relish cat food very much.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Welcome Champhibian,

Looks like this is your first post! Congratulations. If you haven't already, post in the new members area a little bit about yourself. Looks like you live in paradise in the Keys. Interesting name Champhibian! Is there a story behind that. There is a South American lizard that has invaded the Glades and upper Keys. Have you seen them? They probably eat cat food too!

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I saw a bufo toad eating bread that was thrown outside for the birds. I imagine they would eat pet food as well.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I came up with that name by marrying the words "Champlain" and "amphibian" because at a family summer residence on the NY lake by that name there seems to be world-record-sized swimming salamanders that account for stories of a lake monster. We have our own crummy photograph of one of these critters at dusk consistent with a youtube video by user "mookibone."

As for South American lizards on the loose in my neck of the woods, I've seen tegus, amievas, rainbow lizards, and a whole bunch of stuff.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

The tegus are what.I was referring to. They can give a nasty bite and seem to adapt readily to suburban life. I would think that cats and small dogs would be fair game to them. If I remember correctly they have very strong jaws. Probably strong enough to eat small pythons! LOL

That's a good name.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Mystery perhaps solved, perhaps? Food was inside as it has been since my life calmed down but I left 6 corncob halves by my backdoor; it was too dark to navigate to the compost pile. This morning 1 has been chewed to a pile of "kernels". Never known a cat to chow down on cobs so I'm thinking coon. Sound right?

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

needs more salt.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Mucho salt, butter and Parm cheese. Whatever showed up, apparently liked it. Kinda. Pile looked like they regurgitated the cob. Guess there was enough salt to "chew on it" for a bit. Gotta grab the bowl; stupid DST means it's dark already.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Minutes ago I stepped into my kitchen and turned on the light. I saw the original cat from my quest from months ago take off. I set down the food bowl. He or something will dine tonight.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I'm late and didn't read above.

Raccoon, Opossum, Bobcats, Bear, Panter, Pigs and homeless people. At least I have been able to trap all of the above with cans of cat food.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I caught a couple of these last week.....


Blueberry Baby by lifes ill,
on Flickr

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Are you feeding them cat food?

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Okay, so let's get a pro in here on this...




Aside from other cats, possums are #1 when it comes to eating cat food.

Raccoons are more partial to meat scraps and shiny things.

DO NOT PUT OUT POISON!!! You will probably involve a few neighbors' cats, and if I find out it was you, I will track you down to all 72 corners of the Earth. So...

Set a trap. Catch the bugger. I have mellowed in my later years. Years ago, I would have simply shot them. I now trap them, pick them up and pet them, and then take them for a ride into the country, where I then turn them loose.

Possums do NOT carry rabies! Their body temp is 3F too cool to contain the virus. Never be afraid of a possum. It's the coons and skunks that concern me.

Skunks are really friendly, so it can be hard to tell if they are looking for a handout, or trying to kill you. Just avoid them if you are unsure.

Raccoons are typically nocturnal, so if you see one during the day, be aware! A few years ago, my neighbor called me about a coon trying to open her front door. I grabbed my 9mm and hotfooted it down the street. We had a close encounter, where I talked to it, and it shrieked at me just before it came towards me...

On the phone with 911 at the time. First shot fired through the chest. It looked at me and blinked, like "Why did you just do that?" That is a confirmation, my friends. If you ever shoot something or someone, and they ask you why you just did that, it's a pretty good indication that they are not in their correct venues.

Followed by a shot over the fence into the heart, and a third into the head. It was confirmed rabid.

Do not trust cats, skunks, coons, foxes, or coyotes. All are in the temp range to carry rabies. If you trap one of these, call Animal Control. Unless you know the difference. My favorite cat was a stray that bit me on our first encounter.

When in doubt; SHOUT!

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Funny, I was always told to SHOOT when in doubt.

Says the old bat who owns no firearms which is probably a good thing since I could probably, maybe, hit the broad side of a barn but then all bets are off. :ha:

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Well, by shout, I meant call 911. When shouting didn't work, shooting did the trick.

Some neighbors who didn't know me were having a cookout in a nearby yard. They started yelling and bitching about me discharging a firearm in city limits. I told them I was on the phone with Dispatch. They kept it up until I badged them. Then they all got really quiet and left.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Badged? What the heck is that?

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

In addition to the one pinned on my chest, I also have one in my wallet. When you ID yourself, it's called, "badging."

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

So what gives you "badge" rights?

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

The one in my wallet. Did you miss the big pic of me in uniform? :waving:

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

No, I didn't miss it but I am not a "uniform" kind of gal so I haven't a clue what any of them mean. Sorry.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Stray Kats?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEtbfzMLVWU

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Okasy, if you've ever seen a plain clothes cop ID themselves to someone, that's badging. :p

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Good one! Love that guy's hair.

Food is still put away at sunset but now something is drinking a bowlful of water every night; it's dry as a bone come morning. Do I need to remove that also?

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I haven't. I try very hard to avoid "those" situations and people who get into them.

Kat who has been driving since 5/8/1970 but has never had a moving violation or accident. (Parking tickets? Sure. I lived in the DC area so that's a given.)

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I'm sure you've seen it on TV though. ;)

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Possibly. I'm more of a chick flick kind of female.:ha:

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

I did not think to add the 2 pair of red cardinals that raid our cat dishes. but why I have come back to this post is this guy. he started showing up a little after kat2 started this thread. last night he finally started not running off when he saw us.
no that is not a dog house in the back ground its a cat house and he does not live in it. we are calling this guy cat too.

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Damned possum!!!

Re: What besides stray cats eat cat food at night in FL?
 

Yea ... they get food on a regular bases, then think they own the place and your their Butler! ... hahaha ... I recently evicted 3 at 410 gun-point. They resisted and now history. A few nights ago, I found a 4th little one behind my washer & dryer. I couldn't get my hands on him and haven't seen him around since.