The Crime Scene Investigator

Photo taken on a Wednesday afternoon, January 5, 2005

After lunch, I decided to take Papa out in the neighborhood for his regular exercise. Since today is Wednesday, it's Garbage Day; on the front lawn of almost every house, at least three garbage containers (the limit per pickup) can be found. Thus, usually every Wednesday morning, I peek through the front-window blinds and delight on how the garbage collector single-handedly and very quickly picks the containers and disposes off their contents into his relatively tidy truck (very unlike the filthy, malodorous, and dilapidated garbage dump trucks in the Philippines). More so, the garbage collector is usually also the one driving the dump truck; talk about multitasking; of course, with a lot of help from the garbage owners who make it a point that they securely tie the plastic bags and then put these inside plastic containers with lids.

Unfortunately, because garbage had accumulated during the holidays (due to parties), aside from our usual two containers holding the black plastic bags we had an extra plastic bag which, albeit securely tied, was not in a container. If that bag was in the Philippines, scavenger cats and rats and dogs (and even a few street children) would have certainly feasted on the contents of the garbage bag. In the neighborhood where I live, there are no rats nor stray cats and dogs; however, don't think that the garbage is already safe because similar garbage-messing scavengers exist here in the form of birds and squirrels.

Yes! Black crows, and white and gray gulls never waste their chance in feasting on leftover food by pecking on such exposed plastic bags of garbage until these rip and the contents scatter in a mess. Squirrels can also be blamed as an accomplice once in a while, although this is rare because squirrels rarely look for food in garbage; they'd rather prefer fallen fruits and nuts.

And today, after lunch, going out of the front door for the walk, Papa and I had witnessed how a flock of crows and gulls had ripped our extra garbage bag and scattered some of the contents on the lawn. I would have ignored the mess, but I simply couldn't leave without tidying the seeming scene of a crime. Also, I saw a brown squirrel lurking near the front-door pathway. I would have accused the little adorable rodent being an accomplice, an inevitable suspect if I may say, but the look in its beady eyes was kind of pleading its innocence. I let the squirrel walk away, but not without capturing it first in a few shots on my digital camera. The way it posed with pride convinced me that the squirrel was, indeed, not a member of the gang of garbage messers.

After putting the pieces of evidence into a new plastic bag, I with Papa went on my way...

Epilogue:
The garbage collector customarily picks up the bags in the morning; today, however, the time was already 5:30 p.m. but the garbage bags were yet to be picked up.

Then, around six, cousin Mike arrived from work. He said that the birds had scattered the garbage and made a mess on the lawn. I said, what! But I already cleaned that up this afternoon?

Oh, well, the pesky flock had returned after all; but this time, I didn't see them do it. I think, tomorrow, I'd just look for Squikky to ask him if he saw the same flock of birds returning to mess up the garbage for the second time.

On second thoughts, well, why blame the birds who were simply looking for food to live by, when it was we who placed the extra garbage bag on the lawn without putting it first in a container?