What did this???

[Aunt Angus]

I woke up this morning to find a weird scene:

My SUV car door open. Handle is 3 1/2 feet up.

The contents of the trunk strewn about the car

The goat feed I store in there all over

The bucket I keep my goat feed in about 50ft away from the car with the lid ripped off and puncture marks

Zero damage to the car or its interior, no claw marks, tracks, scat - nothing. Nothing on the ground or anywhere on the car's exterior that I can see.

Quick backstory: We're getting ready to leave for vacation, so I stocked up on supplies, which were still in the trunk of my car. I keep the goat feed in reused kitty litter buckets for convenience. I keep it in the car for the moment because my goats got into it a few weeks ago, so I'm trying to figure out a storage solution. In the meantime, I thought the back of my SUV was secure. I was wrong, clearly.

There's also a strong skunky/musky smell. And nothing else is touched (garbage cans on the side of the house, bags of chicken feed also in the trunk, etc).

Happened some time between 4:00am and 5:30am. Hubby leaves for work at 4. I went outside and discovered the scene at 5:30.

So what do y'all think did this?

 

[Canadian Wind]

Aliens?

Seriously though, no scratches, prints, scat? That is indeed strange, especially with no garbage touched either. That puncture mark is way to regular, also...

Neighbourhood kids getting into the Halloween spirit early and scattered when they heard you is the only thing I can think of.

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

Bear?

 

[Brooks_]

I would guess bear, but no damage to the car and relatively small puncture? Do you have big cats in the area? Could the door have been left open?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Aliens?

Seriously though, no scratches, prints, scat? That is indeed strange, especially with no garbage touched either. That puncture mark is way to regular, also...

Neighbourhood kids getting into the Halloween spirit early and scattered when they heard you is the only thing I can think of.

I doubt it. We live pretty far out from any neighborhoods in the woods. In order to scatter, they'd have to run about 1/2 a mile uphill on a gravel road or through the woods. And they'd have rooted through the glove box or console and opened the trunk, not the side door.

But, yeah... Weird... I'm leaning toward aliens at this point. Aliens who love goat feed - lol!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I would guess bear, but no damage to the car and relatively small puncture? Do you have big cats in the area? Could the door have been left open?

Doir couldn't have been left open. Hubby parks right next to me. He wouldn't have been able to back out of the carport.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Just saw this on the bottom of the bucket: a clear bite mark.

 

[WIchickMama]

My guess would be bear-we have had them open a metal trash can and then the feed bucket inside with no external marks except dents where they had pawed at the can to start.

Only other thing I could think of was cougar or similar.

 

[FunClucks]

Whatever it was, aren't you glad to have missed it?

 

[nuthatched]

Bear, they can get open doors pretty easily if they have figured out there's food in cars.