quick question

Today I went to feed the cats in the woods - the leaves in a few places were a mess as if they were looking for food - i just want to know if it was possibly the cats and not another animal

do cats dig???

I cant say there were actual holes in the ground like from something going into it - just a LOT of leaves moved about and slight digging into the ground.

(sorry tried to explain that as best i could)

thanks

Maybe they were digging into the leaves to get some warmth. Is it cold where you are?

it warmed up for a few days and then got a little bit cooler in the last 2 days. That would make sense but it has been freezing within the last few months and i havent seen this.

I just want to see if its possibly the cats or if its definitely something else (which I hope not)...

I know its so hard to answer - but they will dig correct? and make a pretty big mess???

They will try to hide their food when they are done eating. I would feed my feral cat from a frissbe and she would try to cover it up when she was done. They also cover up their bathroom breaks.

This can be the cats "covering" their own pee/poo OR "covering" their food to "save it" for later. It also is a behavior in the wild that saves cats - covering food reduces smells so other predators don't come to the food site(s) to eat. My ferals do it quite a bit.

You may have a possum or racoon eating with the cats but in general I have never seen problems between my cats and possums or coons. Not even skunks or small fox. The only thing I worry about is coyote, which are not
as likely I would guess as the other animals.

I would say you are fine... keep it up! If you want to create a camoflaged feeder ;

take a dark colored rubber maid container (72 quart size or larger)...
lay it on the side, no lid. Anchor the bottom down with 4 bricks or
stones. Place the bowl back in the rear of the shelter formed. This
helps keep dry during rains. I used bricks, then too the cover
and put it ONTOP of the bricks, so that there was a natural platform.
That helped with slugs eating the food...

thanks for the replies.

Yeah - im still debating on what to do over the summer - with not just possible wildlife coming around (I looked it up and it seems as if none of those mentioned by opilot are hibernators - there had been quite a bit of food left over when it was really cold.... when its warm the food is all gone - again dont know if thats cats or wildlife)...

anyway to finish my thought - im not looking forward to having to deal with bugs!!!! I need to keep feeding in the woods though because of the neighbors' dislike for the cats...

Im already getting shaky thinking about spiderwebs and well... spiders and such.... blah

We've got woods right behind the house and we did feed up there. Don't worry about bugs - if you've got a trail you walk every day, it'll stay clear.

Laurie