My neighbor is nervous around people...so much so that it took over a year and a half of leaving cookies and other goodies on his front porch before he would say hello to me. He used to peek through the window until he was sure I was gone and then scurry out, grab the stuff, and scurry back in. I never got any of my containers back, either. I have to admit that at some point I started to feel badly about coaxing in an elderly man the same way you do skittish stray cats, but by that point I HAD to see how it would end up.