The New Hotness

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.