what am i feeding?

hi, i posted a week or so ago about a mom and some kits under my shed. I caught the mom, spayed her and then had to let her go to take care of her small kittens. In the meantime, we caught etc a kit from a previous litter who is slowly moving into my house (last night we installed a door to the back room so we could get her out of the garage)
(here is a pic.. isnt she sweet! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...3/emmacopy.jpg)

I am still putting food out for the mom. However, I have not seen her since we let her go. Something is eating the food i put out, but I am wondering if any of the experts have a way of telling if it is the cat or the nasty possum i have seen around. I want to make sure mom has food, and then perhaps she will bring the new kits by, but i do not want to encourage that possum to take up residence in my yard....

I have a small colony in my yard along with a visiting oppossum. One night, I watched through the back window when all were out and about. I can tell you that oppossum's for the most part are not aggressive animals...they are extremely shy & passive. My adult females have not shown any fear of the oppossum...even with babies close by. Believe it or not...here is a pic. of one of the females eating side-by-side with Oppie

I am still putting food out for the mom. However, I have not seen her since we let her go. Something is eating the food i put out, but I am wondering if any of the experts have a way of telling if it is the cat or the nasty possum i have seen around. I want to make sure mom has food, and then perhaps she will bring the new kits by, but i do not want to encourage that possum to take up residence in my yard....

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Hey Twinka...when are you feeding?? To avoid feeding raccoons etc. it is suggested to feed in the early morning or late evening and not allow the food to remain out all day or all night.

Katie

mine eat next to the skunks and the possums, the only animal they seem to run from are the racoons. Unless you install a video cam trained on the spot with a motion detector light you are not going to know if the mom is eating. You can put down a thin layer of flour around the feeding area and then check out the pawprints in the morning- but other than that, you can just hope the momcat is eating.