Something's roaming about the neighborhood

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
Yesterday, I went out the basement door and started up to the pool; that's usually how we go up to the garden, from the basement instead of the kitchen. I saw some scat on the steps and it's not from a cat. I don't know if it's a coyote or maybe a fox or what, but it's not cat. At least, not housecat scat.

This explains why we haven't been seeing any bunnies, chippies, squirrels, or other small animals. Rick and I were talking about it the other night. By mid-summer, the back yard was full of rabbits of all sizes, squirrels running through the backyard, cats, and other little creatures. Lately though, there's been nothing, not even the neighborhood cats. 

I've been hearing owls hooting at night across the road in the gully....they call back and forth to each other and it sounds very cool. I love to hear owls. But we haven't seen anything in about 3 weeks now. I mean nothing! Which is really weird.

I was talking to Rick last night on the phone and told him what I found. I cleaned it up and put it in the trash. We do have coyotes around here and foxes, too, but it's a little unusual to actually see their scat right by the house like that. So something is roaming around. Wish I could see it.....from the safety of the house, of course, depending on what it is!
 

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,465
Location
Where my cats are
Ooooo!  You need a video camera outside!  

Twice I've found what looks like a large bird poo on our back patio.  The neighbor's cats come over here but they never do anything like that.  it was similar in size to a cat's droppings; but had white to it.  I'm suspecting the turkey vultures that fly around?  We have a lot of those in the area.  Our yard is fenced; but small animals can get in where one of the gates is on a slope.  it's one way the cats get in and out of our yard.  
 

Willowy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
31,886
Purraise
28,287
Location
South Dakota
Ooooo!  You need a video camera outside!  

Twice I've found what looks like a large bird poo on our back patio.  The neighbor's cats come over here but they never do anything like that.  it was similar in size to a cat's droppings; but had white to it.  I'm suspecting the turkey vultures that fly around?  We have a lot of those in the area.  Our yard is fenced; but small animals can get in where one of the gates is on a slope.  it's one way the cats get in and out of our yard.  
Reptiles have white urates in their poo, too. Could be snake poop. A biggish snake if it was the size of cat poop! :eek: Well, a good large rat snake at least keeps the rodent population under control.

I want to get some surveillance cameras around the property. It'll be interesting to see what animals wander around when nobody is looking :D.
 

margecat

Mentor
Staff Member
Mentor
Joined
Oct 11, 2006
Messages
5,208
Purraise
2,556
Could it be a bobcat? We do have them in PA. We have had them in my neighborhood.
 

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,465
Location
Where my cats are
Reptiles have white urates in their poo, too. Could be snake poop. A biggish snake if it was the size of cat poop! :eek: Well, a good large rat snake at least keeps the rodent population under control.

I want to get some surveillance cameras around the property. It'll be interesting to see what animals wander around when nobody is looking :D.
Gosh i hope it wasn't a snake!! LOL Ive seen garden snakes her several times; but they were smaller than the droppings!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
 
Could it be a bobcat? We do have them in PA. We have had them in my neighborhood.
That's what I'm thinking. Bobcat. They've been around here before and we've seen them. I've never seen bobcat scat, so I don't know. I wondered, too, about bear. We've had bear around here before, too, and Rick has seen their scat up in the back yard. I saw it one time when I was out mowing and asked Rick what animal it was. I don't know one kind of poop from another, so I have no idea. A bear would come that close to the house if it was looking for food. Around here, bears aren't afraid of much anymore.

I don't think it's a snake....that would have to be one big snake!

Rick said that, next time I see something, I should take a picture and text it to him. Take a picture of poop? Well, OK!

We've considered cameras, too, just to see what's outside at night. Although, maybe we don't really want to know. 

Mooch, we've had a terrible time with bird droppings this summer. My poor red car has been almost white with it all. I wash them, the birds poop and I end up washing them again the next day. I know that poop is bad for car paint. And a couple times it's been nasty. 
 

muffy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 9, 2014
Messages
6,198
Purraise
12,664
Location
Fredericksburg, VA
That's interesting. I live in Maryland and a few years ago I thought I heard a bobcat scream. It scared the ever living hell out of me. A bobcat came to my mind and my neighbor heard it too said he thought it was also a bobcat. They say there has not been any bobcats in Southern Maryland in over 65 years. 

On the news last night they say there have been some sightings of a mountain lion in Virginia yesterday. They do have mountain lions in VA but not in the area this one was spotted. I was coming home from work one day and saw a big black cat standing on the side of the road. We are not suppose to have big cats in this area but there have been sightings of big black and tan cats in this area.
 

denice

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
18,836
Purraise
13,144
Location
Columbus OH
Black bears and cougars have both expanded their territory a lot, both have figured out how to survive close to people.  Bear have been sighted in Ohio but no confirmed cougar sightings yet.  This is the time of year when bear that still need fat to survive the winter will start pushing the envelope looking for food.
 

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,465
Location
Where my cats are
 
Mooch, we've had a terrible time with bird droppings this summer. My poor red car has been almost white with it all. I wash them, the birds poop and I end up washing them again the next day. I know that poop is bad for car paint. And a couple times it's been nasty. 
That just reminded me of my FIL a few years ago.  He had a cherry tree in his yard that reached over the deck and of course the birds loved the cherries!  The problem was; he was trying to clean his deck to stain it and re-seal it.  Every time he'd get it clean; they'd bomb it.  He got so frustrated he cut the tree down!!
 (He has quite a few mature trees on this property and is big on conservation and enjoying nature; he doesn't usually take chopping down trees lightly!)  I don't know how long it took him to get the job done in the end!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
I'd have been heartbroken to lose that tree!

My sister had an old cherry tree in her backyard and it gave us the most delicious cherries....they were wonderful. I used to go over there and climb the tree to pick the cherries for all of us; it produced a lot. While I was in the tree, she used to sit out of her attic window and pick what was really high. My BIL came home from work one afternoon and found her sitting in the attic window and me straddling a branch way up inside the tree; I thought he was going to have a heart attack. When they decided to put their pool in, the cherry tree had to go. It was a big old thing and it was beautiful in bloom. We got a lot of cherry pies and cherry pigs out of that tree.
 

blueyedgirl5946

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Sep 10, 2005
Messages
14,593
Purraise
1,695
We have some surveillance cameras in our yard. I love to watch the pictures of all the critters. The skunk were beautiful. I have never actually seen one, only in the picture. Most of the time we get stray cats in the pictures. But we do get coyotes. We have seen bear and bobcats too. So be careful, get an outside camera and watch the show. :nod:
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
We have considered outdoor cameras, not only because of the animals, but there have been times when both Rick and I thought somebody was outside walking about. There used to be a woman who lived across the road from us who was a few whiskers short of a full set and she used to walk around a lot at night, mostly on our neighbor's property, but also others as well. She's gone; she had pulled a gun on some state highway workers a few years ago.....didn't go over well and after she did a few hours of community service, thankfully, she and her family moved back to where they came from. To be honest, the entire neighborhood felt like having a party in honor of her leaving; that's how bad it was. She was always after everybody for whatever reason came into her head.

Anyway, we thought then about cameras; our neighbors have them and they saw her roaming about.

I think it would be interesting to see what all is outside. 
 

MoochNNoodles

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
36,646
Purraise
23,465
Location
Where my cats are
DH and I have talked about getting them because we don't have a good view of the front yard and front door without going through our kid's bedrooms.  I always like to look before I answer the door.  Our neighbor's had a sensor that would beep inside the house when someone approached their front door.  That would help; but I'd like to see things mostly.
 

angels mommy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 5, 2011
Messages
6,899
Purraise
6,906
Location
Wilmington,NC
 
That's what I'm thinking. Bobcat. They've been around here before and we've seen them. I've never seen bobcat scat, so I don't know. I wondered, too, about bear. We've had bear around here before, too, and Rick has seen their scat up in the back yard. I saw it one time when I was out mowing and asked Rick what animal it was. I don't know one kind of poop from another, so I have no idea. A bear would come that close to the house if it was looking for food. Around here, bears aren't afraid of much anymore.

I don't think it's a snake....that would have to be one big snake!

Rick said that, next time I see something, I should take a picture and text it to him. Take a picture of poop? Well, OK!

We've considered cameras, too, just to see what's outside at night. Although, maybe we don't really want to know. 

Mooch, we've had a terrible time with bird droppings this summer. My poor red car has been almost white with it all. I wash them, the birds poop and I end up washing them again the next day. I know that poop is bad for car paint. And a couple times it's been nasty. 
Aww, come on, you know we've had whole threads on poop before on here. 
  Where else can you post a picture of your cats poop, & ask, "Is this normal?"  
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #17

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
 
Aww, come on, you know we've had whole threads on poop before on here. 
  Where else can you post a picture of your cats poop, & ask, "Is this normal?"  
You're absolutely right! 
 Next time I see some strange poop, I'll post it here!
 

nurseangel

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 6, 2007
Messages
10,132
Purraise
4,820
Location
1 Happy Place
 
You're absolutely right! 
 Next time I see some strange poop, I'll post it here!


A little off topic (no poop involved), but one summer evening I was on my way out to DH's building (a.k.a. man cave) and heard these terrible snarling/growling noises coming from the woods right next to our backyard. Startled, I ran to get DH.  He stepped outside and listened.  "Ah, it does that every night," he said casually.  I still  don't know what it was.  I would love to get one of those wildlife cams.
 
Last edited:
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #19

Winchester

In the kitchen with my cookies
Thread starter
Veteran
Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
29,730
Purraise
28,024
Location
In the kitchen
Nurseangle, now that would bother me! I wouldn't like hearing snarling and growling sounds!

A while back, I awakened in the middle of the night to what sounded like a bunch of young dogs crying. I got Rick up (he was thrilled
) and we went over to the open bedroom window and stood there listening. He looked at me and said, "I haven't a clue!"  
 Whatever it was, they were really crying and they were very upset, or so it sounded. It went on for about 15 minutes or so, then everything calmed down. I've heard that noise since and we have no idea what it is.

One night years ago, Mom and I were sitting on the back deck by the pool. Rick was away and she had come down to spend some time with me. It was starting to get dark and we were sitting there watching the lightning bugs flying around. We kept hearing this noise and had no idea what it was. Then I looked down between the deck slats.

I looked over at Mom and said, "Mom, get up out of your chair and go into the house. Slowly. But do it now."

Well, Mom kept saying, "But what's wrong? What's wrong?" 

"Mom, go into the house!"

"Why?"

"Because there's a big skunk under the deck!"

Well! You never saw a heavyset woman move so fast in your life! 
 I blinked and she was gone.

And then there was the time when this chattering sound awakened me in the middle of the night. I got out of bed and looked out on the front yard. It was a full moon and there was a mama raccoon with three little ones. They were scurrying up the front yard and, evidently, she was chattering at them to get them to move faster or something. I watched them go around the side of the house and then went back to bed.

There's always something roaming around outside around here.
 
Last edited:

bbdoll22

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 8, 2006
Messages
1,939
Purraise
2,879
Location
Hudson Valley NY
One night we had all the windows open and window fans drawing cool air into the house.
Hubby and I heard a noise, best way to describe it is a cat and Donald Duck fighting. Well I turned on porch light , opened the door.... Then screamed to hubby shut the windows turn off the fans. Too late our whole house smelled of skunk. It smelled for hours.
 
Top