Perhaps a Visitor

    "I need you to look at something".

   A plaintive cry from the kitchen area this morning.

   I was in the living room, reading, when this urgent request came to my ears.

   I looked out the screen porch to the walkway that led to the garden shed. 

   At first look, through the binoculars, I thought I saw some movement. On closer inspection, it appeared to have the same coloring of our resident hawk, and I wondered if we had a baby hawk or a juvenile.

   Or something else!

   Only thing to do was to get dressed and find out.

   Just last summer we had a visit from a coyote. I wondered if some critter had come our way and left a calling card. He or she did just that.

   Someone had enjoyed a good meal, not only that but had to take time to rid his intestines of some previous food. A ham bone that still had a bit of meat on it. The coming sunrise might have scared the animal away.

   It would take a fairly large animal to carry or drag this from somewhere not on our property. 

   But whose bone?

   From whence did it come? 

   And most puzzling of all, what kind of creature did this deed?

   We may never know. The bone is now in the garbage, and tomorrow will be in a landfill somewhere.

   And some visitor will be disappointed that his interrupted meal will not be there waiting for him tonight.

   And all the other four legged beasties will be ragging him/her this evening after arriving from afar in response to an invitation to share a banquet. Several may be disappointed, but the one with the shamefully red face could be a tad angry.

   Such is life.