Slacking Scarecrow?

Remember the scarecrow we put up at Halloween?

Well, bless his little pinestraw heart, he has been standing out there protecting us from all manner of fearsome things ---as well as a few dogs and people---all this time. He had appeared to do a good job.

It’s not that I intended for him to be on duty for so long; it’s just that the rain kept getting him all soggy. I would wait for him to dry out only for the next soaker to come along. Well, finally on Thursday, it was dry enough before the rains were due (and delivered!) on Friday. B and I got out after an early supper and took him down.

The first piece to be removed was the neckerchief. As soon as I began to loosen the knot, I saw what it was hiding: a very large wooly bear caterpillar.

 

Then I saw the hickory nut that a squirrel had stashed under there, too.

My first thought was: For shame. I guess he must have missed the line in his job description about wooly bear and squirrel scaring. Squirrels, in particular.

Of course, he could have been merely enhancing his image by adding a boil and a hairy mole to the back of his neck. That’s something to think about. (But not for long.)