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Where We Left Off:
The cats didn’t have much to do with the previous case other than supervise as the human tried to repair our lead gnome, Gnomez Addams.
Wiley Coyote:
It’s the last official case of Year 8 investigations! We have an exciting mystery and its solution which makes this extra wild. It involves one our rare visitors and one of our frequent visitors.
Since Oliver had been needing daily doses of medication, he had no interest in being too close to me. He hasn’t been jumping in his buggy to go on outside investigations. However, he has thoroughly been enjoying the new pet door on the second floor leading to his observation zone where he can have conversations with his network of bird informants.
There’s some “good” news. Oliver doesn’t need the daily medications anymore and he does not have chronic kidney disease and diabetes. He “only” has diabetes which we’re going to try treating with a food change. No more daily demon wrestling—only every few months of it to get him to the vet for routine bloodwork now. Three doses of tranquilizer over the 12-hour period before his last visit did absolutely nothing to dampen the demon from appearing.
Both the Grey and Red squirrels have their own essential lookout towers as well. They share space on every tree stump: the tallest is the chopped, dead maple that had been a huge part of the landscape; the medium cedar stump where I’ve been giving them snacks for many years; and, the newest, a small tree stump from a dead ornamental tree. What I find curious and fascinating is that Gus has no interest in trying to climb those tree trunks, no even when a ladder was against the tallest one for months.
Gus has slowed down with his age, but he keeps a close eye on the critters of all sizes. He absolutely loves the pet door so he can go onto the roof and have Batman Time whenever he wants. That doesn’t stop him from crying to go outside on adventures though. On April 20, 2025, Gus and I made an alarming discovery on the “invisible” wildlife path that runs along the northern border of the Forbidden Forest. Gus began questioning the blue jays, chipmunks, and squirrels to see if anyone had relevant information about what was clearly a small mammal murder.
When we got home, I told Oliver what we found. He was willing to be in the office with me but not too close to me. We checked the cameras and began to put together our murder board. I took out the evidence and analyzed the hair.
Victimology
Species: Eastern grey squirrel
Location discovered: tufts of hair directly in front of CAM3 (the red maple tree) on the Invisible Widlife Path
Date and time of discovery: April 30, 2025 09:16 AM
“There are so many creatures that prey on squirrels,” I said. “This could be a long list.”
Gus came closer to me and demanded a treat before speaking. “But we have a precise window of time when this murder occurred. I didn’t see that fur on the 28th.”
I sifted through the properties of my photos and videos from that day. My last photo of Gus was taken at 10:37 AM on the 29th. We could narrow down our suspect list to anyone who wasn’t caught on CAM3 in that 48-hour period. On April 28th, The Cook did most of the escorting for Guster’s time outside. I was in the shop with The Grumpy Old Man working on my car! I only met up with Gus at the end of his adventure and we spent the whole time inside the desicrated mobile command unit. The Cook and Gus walked the Invisible Wildlife Path on the 28th at 11:28 AM and again at 11:38 AM. Gus stopped only to watch living creatures, but never found the fur on the ground.
There were deer, raccoons, and an opossum—none of those prey on squirrels. That left the stray tabby cat and a coyote!
We looked at the photos and videos from every possible angle we had. The tabby was certainly on the hunt, but he was never caught on camera with anything in his mouth during the time of opportunity.
That left one culprit—Cookie the Coyote!
Case Findings:
After finding the crime scene, Oliver and Gus worked with their human biographer to narrow down the window of time (opportunity). Then the surveillance footage helped elimate suspects who would prey on the victim species (eastern grey squirrel). This eliminated everyone except the coyote who could be seen with something in its mouth at 1:10 AM on April 29, 2025.
Of the two more frequently seen coyotes, Armando and Cookie, we don’t think this was Armando. He’s heavier in build. This was Cookie. She may have needed the squirrel for herself or even to take back to pups. We don’t know for certain only that Cookie needed meat for food.
Case Status: Closed