Mary used a garbage can lid to shelter some plants, left it in the garden for a while, and a critter moved into the new shelter. She first noticed two well-prepared front entrances:
And a rear entrance or, perhaps, the emergency exit:
Gingerly lifting the lid, she found a dismantled bird corpse:
Along with a large stash of sour cherries from a nearby bush:
A good-size toad kept an eye on the proceedings:
We didn’t know toads ate sour cherries, but the evidence seems clear:
The image of a toad taking down a bird can’t be unseen, but, more likely, a recently fledged nestling took shelter and couldn’t figure out how to get out again.
We’ll never know the rest of the story.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 