Whodunit Mystery Solved

 
For a couple of weeks now, I’d been wondering who the hell was leaving a half-eaten orange on top of the backyard fence. Could it be the next door neighbor? I doubt it. He doesn’t seem to be that friendly. At the same time, I shudder at the thought that he might be suspecting me doing it as some kind of prank. Trust me, you would get scared, too, if you see him. He’s one you don’t want to cross. He’s built like a defensive tackle on the football field.

well, The mystery was solved this Saturday and I have the picture to prove it. I was about to open the kitchen door leading to the outside deck when I caught the culprit in the act. Seeing him stopped me dead in my tracks. Right then and there, I wanted to shoot him. no, not with a gun, silly, but with a camera.

It was a squirrel using his front paws to carry the loot. He placed the orange more than twice the size of his head on top of the fence, peeled it slowly with his teeth, and feasted on it while securing it with his paws. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How could a squirrel be that nimble and clever? And doesn’t his kind just eat nuts? Then again, if you have to survive and fend for yourself, everything is possible. As Patricia Ryan Madison once wrote, “If something is not to your liking, change your liking.”

The picture was taken while I was hiding behind the glass door curtains to avoid detection. It looks grainy and blurry confirming what I already know. That I’m not fit to be a paparazzi and would never make it to the pages of the National Enquirer. If there’s any consolation, I think it’s good enough to show to my neighbor just in case.