Two months ago when I went outside to refill the bird feeder, I found a pastry wedged into a corner of the back porch.
“Looks like someone is having a bit of fun,” I said and asked Henri if he knew anything about it.
“Madame, Henri does not play the practical joke”, he answered in an injured tone. (Sounding exactly like the great David Suchet in his role of Hercule Poirot.) When Henri refers to himself in the third person I know I’ve said something wrong.
“Perhaps it was faeries then,” I replied.
“Madame is away with the faeries again,” he muttered under his breath. I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
A few weeks later when I went to refill the bird feeder, I found a small cellophane package of cheese and crackers sitting on the middle step of the back porch.
I asked Henri if he or Porthos had any clues.
“Madame, gnomes do not eat packaged foods,” he replied in a superior tone.
“Chocolate is packaged,” I countered.
“Madame, the magnificence of chocolate transcends all packaging, no matter how pedestrian.”
He had me there.
Porthos was rather crestfallen when I mentioned I had thrown the cheese and crackers away.
Two weeks later when I went out to get the mail, I found a half-eaten piece of bacon-festooned pizza on the window ledge of the front porch! It appeared to have been nibbled around the edges.
“An odd mystery”, I said. To Henri, the only mystery was why someone would want to eat such a strange combination of foods and leave bits on my porch.
Last week, Henri called me to the window. “Madame! Regardez!”
I saw a rather large squirrel scampering across the front yard clutching what appeared to be a brownie. He jumped up onto the front steps, gave me a big smile and hopped off the porch to enjoy his prize. Case of the mysterious snacks solved!
P.S.-Today I went out to get the mail and found a very nibbled-upon piece of apricot jam-filled pastry tucked into a corner. Apparently the squirrel is improving his selection of treats. 😀
MagickMermaid 
ADORABLE!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Susan! 🙂
LikeLike
So sweet! And I can relate
My squirrels haven’t access to such treats. Stashed behind the bench is a mound of pine cones and sunflower seeds. And at the beginning, when I first started filling the bird feeders, on going to refill one, I found all the seeds covered in dead leaves – keeping the seeds to himself me thinks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Patrice! I think you’re right; your squirrels are hiding the seeds for themselves. I guess that is the real mystery; where are my squirrels getting these treats? Their snacks are more varied than mine! 😀
LikeLiked by 3 people
Apparently you are a trusted stash place thou! The only time I saw one of our squirrels with something human related was when a little red squirrel was wrestling a paper towel roll across the fence top. Pretty cute to watch. Think it was for ‘Home Renos’
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was wondering the same. Perhaps he’s raiding someone’s trash can. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Either that or there is some sort of Squirrel Underground Treat Store. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe, I have seen squirrel do clandestine things. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think squirrel etiquette dictates that you take a bite of each morsel and add a few nuts to the stash!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, dear! I hope I won’t be written up in the Squirrel Gazette! 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Too late I fear!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Henri appears to have quite refined taste when it comes to food. A gastroGnome, one might say 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
HAHAHAHA! 😀 Henri is beaming with delight and I’ll never hear the end of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a delightful tale! Perhaps the squirrel wanted to share with you. We have a squirrel feeder and I often find a buried peanut in one or my flower pots or one that has sprouted. You have wonderful companions!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Jo Nell! Maybe he did. Strangely enough, the piece of apricot pastry is still on the front porch. 😀
LikeLike
So cute! It reminds me of this time I took my kids to the local pool and there was a squirrel sitting on a bench eating a bagel. It was so perfect that I wanted to go get him/her a cup of coffee with it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s hilarious! Did he have cream cheese and lox? 😀
I was once sitting on a park bench watching several squirrels who were bold enough to beg for snacks. A man seated on the bench next to mine was eating a sandwich. When he paused to chew, one of the squirrels grabbed the sandwich right out of his hand and ran off with it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! A similar thing happened to my son when he was about 5 or 6. He was eating lunch outside and a bird swooped down and grabbed his baggie of whatever he was eating. He was livid!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen seagulls do that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cute story!
Now I’m hungry.
Tell me, does the squirrel deliver? 😀
P.S. – yay, now Safari lets me comment!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Ellie! He does deliver but he takes a bite of the treat first. 😀
LikeLike
Brilliant! — But you shouldn’t hurt Henri’s feelings 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Sometimes Henri thinks he is in charge. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, cute, let him think that. Gnomes can get so pouty …
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀 He seems to forget I am Queen of this castle!
LikeLike
Your simple story told so entertainingly😄 The squirrel looks so cute
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Nandika! The squirrel has been having parties in my back garden! 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww😊
LikeLiked by 1 person