Mystery Solved but still upsetting

Culllman,  AL

My friends on Facebook know that I have been posting regarding Sunday, the cat that was left here by the previous owner.

It took over 6 months before I could get near Sunday.  Then it got to the point that when I sat on the porch swing he would walk by and I could pick him up.  He loved laying on my lap sweetly purring and slobbering all over my jeans.

Last summer we were visited with a young Raccoon eating Sundays leftovers.   It never seemed to be a threat

On Sunday February 4 while watching our Philadelphia Eagles whip New England Patriots Leonard said he heard a thump on the back porch.  Since we heard nothing more, sadly we never got up to investigate.

As per my usual routine, the next morning I walked to the back porch to feed Sunday.  I found his house pulled out about a foot from where it had sat.  And the thick padding we placed inside that kept him warm all winter was pulled out of his house another 4 feet or so.  Next to the padding lay Sundays body. 

We took a quick check of his body but saw no bites or marks.  We wrapped him in a towel and Len buried him placing a large flat rock over his grave.

What could have killed him we wondered.   I did some Internet searches.   I disregarded Coyotes, although I know we have them in the area. A coyote would have eaten him or carried him off.  Maybe a dog?  A Raccoon?  I didn't think so.  What about a bobcat.  They eat their prey and this was not the case with Sunday.

A few days later I saw footprints near the porch that appeared to be those of a raccoon.  Maybe?

It continued to play on me.  So we went to a sporting goods store and bought a game camera. We talked to the owner of the store and he believed it would have been a Bobcat. He said it happens often in this area.  So we figured the same.   We then placed the camera two feet higher than the porch floor and left it there several days. 

I had tossed Sundays dry food that was left out in the yard.  Birds took care of it.  So I wondered if whatever it was would return.

It did.  We got four sets of pictures.  One set was taken about 6:30 at night.   One around midnight, the other two around 4 am.   Most of the pictures had an animal in it but just a small bit of the back, ears, etc. One had a face.  And since night pictures are black and white it was difficult to determine what it was.

Well yesterday we contacted the local conservation officer.  He asked me to load the pictures on my computer and send to him.   Now the pictures were clearer.  Our first suspicion was right.

Raccoon!

The officer says a Raccoon will become very vicious if another animal interferes with a food source.   They are well known to kill small dogs or cats if challenged.  Their bites so small and often not evident.   After getting the pictures from the camera we  put it back out on the porch.... no further night visitors.  But there is no food there now. 

I regret that I would leave food out at night.  I knew Sundays habit of eating.  I would feed him in the morning and it would take him all day as he "grazed".   The food at night was always gone in the morning.  I suspected raccoons were eating what Sunday didn't but never knew they would kill for it.

I so miss our time together on the back porch on the swing.  I would go out and call him to me or he would sit on the railing looking in the kitchen window as if to say... when you gonna come out and pet me?

We had our time together the evening before this sad ending.   Now often both in the morning and in the evening I will have a quick flash in my mind..... time to feed Sunday.   Then I remember.