Mystery Solved!

I think the mystery of the missing Sawtooth Palmetto Dates has been solved!  Early this morning, I headed down the hill to burn a bit more of the hurricane debris.  As usual, Ms. Ez, the dog, followed dutifully along beside me.  She is never more than a few steps from me except if I tell her to chase the squirrels from the garden.  She will tear out at full speed until the squirrels scamper up a tree.  Then, there she sits..for hours.  This morning, however, there were no squirrels in the yard so she simply sat watching me rake the debris into piles.

Suddenly, there was a huge ruckus in the persimmon tree!  I turned just in time to see a raccoon plummet from the top of the small tree and scurry into the underbrush!  Aha!  That little rascal was munching my persimmons and I believe he is the culprit that stole my dates!  The raccoon appeared to be well fed so I am assuming that food is easy to find around in the gardens.  Michael and I left all of the withering vegetable plants to die naturally thus providing a bit of nutrients back into the soil.  There are a few peas, squash and peppers dangling on the plants. None of these appealed to us as dinner but for a hungry raccoon, they are perfect pickings as are the table scraps in the compost pile! I suppose the dates and persimmons are dessert!

When the raccoon dropped out the tree, Ezzy leapt to her feet and started growling.  She so wanted to chase down that critter but her loyalty to me kept her by my side.  She danced a bit and growled a bit before looking at me anxiously.  GO!  She was off like a shot!  The raccoon barreled through the undergrowth to get to the first tree available. Ms. Ez took her position under the tree and kept watch.  That raccoon had no choice but to stay put in his precarious position in the tree!  Once Ezzy had treed the coon, I ambled over to check out my persimmons.  All of the near-ripe ones were scattered about under the tree.  Most had just a nibble out of them and were discarded.  I suppose the astringent quality of the unripe fruit was not to the raccoon's liking!  I am hoping the raccoon will decide that the persimmons are not worth the effort and that dealing with Ezzy is not something he wants to do on a daily basis.  Perhaps then, I will get a few of the fruit for a nice persimmon shortbread!  GO AWAY, RACCOON!  GO AWAY!