Objects in house moved-need some logical explanation

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In a two-story home, a resident discovered two patio pillows had been moved from their original positions, prompting a search for logical explanations. The gardener, who visits weekly, reported nothing unusual, leading to speculation about possible human or animal involvement. The pillows were dry despite the sprinklers, raising questions about how they ended up on the lawn. The homeowner considered scenarios involving a stranger, the gardener, or even wild animals like raccoons or squirrels, which are known for stealing items. The discussion highlighted the improbability of human interference and leaned towards animal mischief, with anecdotes shared about local wildlife's propensity for taking household items. While some participants humorously suggested ghostly explanations, the consensus leaned towards a mundane, albeit mysterious, animal-related cause.
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Objects in house moved--need some logical explanation

I currently reside in a 2 story single family home. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwZN-VaEpzfwaEE4ZXRpRnV3cVE/edit?usp=sharing. This past friday afternoon I noticed that two of my patio pillows (that looks like this) has moved from the patio couch. One was in the middle of the backyard lawn and the other was on the floor next to the couch.

Our gardener comes every Thursday morning, and we questioned him about this and he said he didn't see anything amiss on Thursday morning. Therefore my conclusion is that the pillow moved sometime afterwards. Our sprinklers turn on every morning. When I found the pillow on the grass, it was bone dry, which makes me wonder if it had sat out in the grass in the night, but probably not. The weather was hot, so the pillow possibly could have dried up by the afternoon. There was no wind, and even if it did, it would not explain how it moved that one pillow 30-40 ft across.

The side gates to the left are unlocked, so it's possible some stranger walked into my back yard and threw my pillow across the lawn for no apparent reason (although nothing else was amiss). I live in a quiet neighborhood in a cul-de-sac. There's hardly anyone on the street. This scenario is possible but very unlikely. Maybe the gardener threw my pillows? Possible, but again, unlikely. He could have lied about not seeing it, but very unlikely. The fence shown in the figure are intact with no holes to allow any animals/persons through, and tall enough to prevent climbing over. Again, my side gates are unlocked so it would be unnecessary for anyone to climb over. In addition, even if they had, the motive would be unclear. So my conclusion is that the possibility of another human being doing this to be unlikely.

My last deductive possibility is a wild cat climbing across the fence and played with these pillows. Again, seems unlikely, but that's the only possibility I have left. I'm not sure what the behaviors are of wildcats and whether they like to play with martha stewart pillows.

lastly, I was home most of Thurs and Fri and had no experience of anything amiss. My wife was at school both days and hadn't been out to the backyard at all (and she was the one who noticed it).

If anyone can think of any other plausible causes I would be interested in knowing.
 
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Oops, I forgot about those. Sorry. :shy:
 
arildno said:
Oops, I forgot about those. Sorry. :shy:

thanks for sarcasm
 
Or as Yoda would say
Those sorry oops forgot I about.:smile:

where you walking outside taliking on your phone at all?
 
256bits said:
Or as Yoda would say
Those sorry oops forgot I about.:smile:

where you walking outside taliking on your phone at all?

Nah, been sitting on the comp all day. haven't stepped foot to the backyard for several days (unless I sleep walked out)... pretty weird as far as I am concerned.
 
Raccoons?
 
The gardener decided to take a quick nap in the yard and forgot to replace the pillow when he was done
 
Bored kids, or racoons. Even squirrels, last a year a squirrel stole a neighbor's DUFFLE BAG off their balcony and I found it in the squirrel's nest in a nearby tree! Amazing. The squirrels here are really bad about stealing. I have to be careful what i leave outside. I'm always finding my stuff dumped places after they got tired of dragging it.
 
By the title I really thought someone mixed up this forum with another well-known one by physicsforums members :-p
 
  • #10
Evo said:
Bored kids, or racoons. Even squirrels, last a year a squirrel stole a neighbor's DUFFLE BAG off their balcony and I found it in the squirrel's nest in a nearby tree! Amazing. The squirrels here are really bad about stealing. I have to be careful what i leave outside. I'm always finding my stuff dumped places after they got tired of dragging it.

Interesting bit about the squirrel, at least it supports my guess about it being an animal that did this.
 
  • #11
franklinwu said:
Interesting bit about the squirrel, at least it supports my guess about it being an animal that did this.
Mind boggling what they've taken off with. Some I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen them, a flower pot! It was plastic, but it was bigger than the squirrel.
 
  • #12
The story was so interesting and then you killed it with the logical explanations/rationale thinking. Deep down I
was rooting for a cool ghost story...

I mean raccoons?

Arrested Development... COME ON! - YouTube
 
  • #13
Caveat said:
The story was so interesting and then you killed it with the logical explanations/rationale thinking. Deep down I
was rooting for a cool ghost story...

I mean raccoons?

Arrested Development... COME ON! - YouTube

well, unless i actually capture some footage of this happening, this still could be a ghost story. i mean i do hear things that go bump in the night :rolleyes:
 
  • #14
franklinwu said:
well, unless i actually capture some footage of this happening, this still could be a ghost story. i mean i do hear things that go bump in the night :rolleyes:

Raccoons exist; ghosts don't. Raccoons make things go bump in the night; ghosts can't because they don't exist.

Do you leave food around, like for a cat or dog?
 
  • #15
As usual the answer is obviously ALIENS.
 
  • #16
Evo said:
Mind boggling what they've taken off with. Some I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen them, a flower pot! It was plastic, but it was bigger than the squirrel.

We used to have a string of the old-fashioned Christmas lights across the front fence of our property. One by one the bulbs were disappearing - I thought it was neighborhood kids. But years later we found the nest, a squirrel's nest with about a dozen Christmas light bulbs (they had to unscrew them, for crying out loud!1!), empty cans, lots of fluff (did they tear up a pillow?!), a few socks (none that I recognized). Strings, bits of rope and wire. Nails :confused:. Amazing what they find 'valuable'.
 
  • #17
lisab said:
Raccoons exist; ghosts don't. Raccoons make things go bump in the night; ghosts can't because they don't exist.

Do you leave food around, like for a cat or dog?

there are some fruit trees in the yard; don't know if they eat that kind of things, but otherwise no food outside.
 
  • #18
franklinwu said:
there are some fruit trees in the yard; don't know if they eat that kind of things, but otherwise no food outside.

Yes indeed, they will go after fruit. They'll eat just about anything, especially high protein foods. Do you eat on the patio very much? Could there have been some food inadvertently spilled in the area, or on the pillows?

franklinwu said:
I'm not sure what the behaviors are of wildcats and whether they like to play with martha stewart pillows.

that made me lol :biggrin:
 
  • #19
franklinwu said:
there are some fruit trees in the yard; don't know if they eat that kind of things, but otherwise no food outside.

Is there any possibility that a monkey or chimp is hiding around your house and did everything ? I guess it might be so.
 
  • #20
It was the daleks! Run for cover!
 
  • #21
Remnants of a drunken pillowfight, which you blacked out during.
 
  • #22
franklinwu said:
well, unless i actually capture some footage of this happening, this still could be a ghost story. i mean i do hear things that go bump in the night :rolleyes:

there are still things modern science can't explain, as such the answer could be mundane, or not. Who knows.
 
  • #23
phoenixphysics said:
there are still things modern science can't explain, as such the answer could be mundane, or not. Who knows.

Indeed, It was the Daleks.
 
  • #24
Enigman said:
Indeed, It was the Daleks.

Lawn gnomes.
 
  • #25
Drakkith said:
Lawn gnomes.
278819957_23acae90f6_z.jpg

:-p
 

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