Last week, my garbage can in Mazama was assaulted by an apparently short-statured predator/scavenger, while it was out at the highway for pickup.
It left a lot of very deep grooves and scratches from serious claws in the sides of the can, but they were barely halfway up the can. And the can was heavier than usual that week so it wasn't able to be easily knocked over.
I would think it the work of a bear, except for the height of the scratches and that they all seem to know how to knock cans over to get at the goodies.
I'm discounting the possibly of a canine origin due to the depth and ferociousness of the scratches. They seem like they were done with very sharp claws.
So perhaps a bobcat/lynx, or (as I suspect) a wolverine?
Anyone else notice new major scratches on your can? They are hard to miss.