Aha! You are caught! I should have known it was you! You thief! Why do you just hang there like that? Do you really think you are entitled to that nectar? Hey, I’m talking to you! Turn around and look at me. That’s not for you!
The creature drops from the feeder and walks over to the upside down bird bath bowl. While looking at Anne and me with indifference, it paws a monarch butterfly chrysalis that once hung from the bottom of the bird bath. “Hey, leave that alone,” Anne shouts. The animal rolls it around a bit and proceeds to eat it. “I hope that makes you sick,” Anne tells it.
Even after we open the back door, motivated by hunger or maybe a sweet tooth, the offender continues to eye the hummingbird feeder. It turns its head and looks over its shoulder weighing its options. Reluctantly, it saunters off into the darkness.
So now, I bring the hummingbird feeder at night and hang it each morning. I still haven’t seen hummingbirds come to it, but it will always remind me of the night I caught the masked bandit.
naturechirp 