We have a bird feeder hanging in the back several feet from any trees. It weighs several pounds due to batteries and a motor that spins the perch if squirrels get on it. It is hung from a rope about 3 meters above the ground by a sturdy carabiner clip.
This morning the feeder was lying on the ground. This is the second time it has happened. The only way to unhook it is to grip the spring clip on the carabiner and lift the feeder support wire out of it. You need hands with a strong grip to do that. We suspect raccoons are the culprit.
Our View From Iowa 
Maybe a protester who feels you discriminate against squirrels 🐿😄
Our next door neighbors walk by there now and then. But, not in the middle of the night. I don’t think they would protest squirrel discrimination either. I will keep them on the list of suspects anyway.
😀
Looks like the word is out that yours is the ‘party-house!’ Well, at least they left your bird feeder. If it was a bear, it’d be hauled away and destroyed. Which reminds me, I need to start bringing the feeders in at night!
We don’t have to worry about bears. I guess they are very hungry after their hibernation. They will eat anything handy. My brother used to live in upstate NY and had to deal with them.
NO fun to deal with!
They are pretty clever creatures…I had similar problems here and our joke for a while was instead of filling up the bird feeder, I was filling up the squirrel feeder. Our squirrels are quite bold and not intimidated at all. Rick used to throw up the window and yell, “get out of my bird feeder!” The squirrel would startle for a moment, jump to a nearby tree and then stare daggers at Rick. He’d stay there until we chased him away and would be right back as soon as we turned our backs.
I love the woodpeckers in the background. 😀
Clever and most persistent. They can solve almost any puzzle they face.
We do have lots of Downey, Hairy, and Red-Bellied woodpeckers. I like their plumage and calls.
Yes…the woodpeckers are quite beautiful!
Your suspicion is most likely correct. We’d be happy to only have to worry about those little masked vandals. Now bears…those are quite pesky. One year our feeders disappeared…found in neighbors’ yards…and the poles they hung from were bent flat on the ground. We are about to take ours down in the next day or two as they are starting to leave their dens with the return of warmer weather.
There are some wild youtube videos of hungry bears and feeders. http://bit.ly/2mqtifd
When a bear wants to eat the bear finds food. A friend thought he could hang his feeders from a wire high up between trees to avoid bear depredation. Late one night he looked outside to see that a bear had pulled the feeder down far enough to shake the seed out for his mate below. Another night he and his partner went out and came home to a ransacked kitchen. A bear had climbed in the window to get at the birdseed they stored in a barrel in the kitchen. Later that night the woman got hungry and went to the kitchen for a snack. The bear was half way in the window coming back for seconds. Storing seed in the house=bad idea.
Bad idea for sure.
I’m betting on your raccoon. I have raccoon tales galore, but this one will do. We had sailed down to Port O’Connor, and were tied up out at what they call the Army hole on Matagorda Island. There is (or was, at least) a house there for the Texas Parks and Wildlife guys who keep an eye on the place.
One night, they came home just after sunset, and discovered the screen had come off the kitchen window. When they went in, they found a nice, fat raccoon in the middle of the kitchen table. It had taken a big jar of peanut butter, opened it up, and was sitting with the jar between its hind legs, scooping out the peanut butter with its paws.
Never, ever underestimate a raccoon.
I agree. They are smart critters. Funny story. I can picture it. Thanks.