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Where We Left Off:
A dead bird was found right outside one of our doors. We launched an investigation immediately.
Murder Among Thieves:
To be honest, I wasn’t sure if this investigation was going to lead anywhere and hesitated about opening an official case file. Once we had the dead body of Maurice Sparrow and it was in the vicinity of this evidence, I had to do due diligence and see what we could find.
Between the patio and Gnome Grove is a stretch of the backyard on Oliver’s side of the residence. One day while Gus and I were out, I looked down and found feathers. Some were still attached together by a fleshy bit (Ewww).
I didn’t collect the evidence that day as I should have, but I bagged it on a different day. That bit of flesh told us a big part of the story: those feathers had been violently ripped out of the body of a small bird.
I knew Gus didn’t do it. He would have been proud of his assassination and told me. He also would have tried to bring it in for The Cook as a present. We didn’t find any other remains so whatever killed the bird most likely made a meal out of it.
Victimology:
This was definitely a small bird because the longest feather retrieved was only 7 centimeters. The three curved wing feathers are less than 6 centimeters. This perfectly aligned with characteristics of feathers cataloged by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
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- two-tone rectrix
- solid dark grey/almost black secondary wing feathers
- sex: female
- species: Dark-eyed Junco
These small round birds are a type of sparrow. They are abundant around this area. It’s much easier to see them in the winter when there are less birds around and no foliage to block them. They seem to be very social among their kind. However, it is common to see a solo junco at a feeding station. There is a pecking order with these birds, particularly the males.
Suspects:
- Feline, domestic (free-roaming neighborhood cats)
- Feline, wild (Bobcats)
- Hawks: Cooper’s Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks
Although still considered common, Partners in Flight data show that Dark-eyed Junco populations declined by over 40 percent in the last several decades. Like many other bird species, this species is vulnerable to habitat loss and is a frequent victim of window collisions. —American Bird Conservancy
Domestic cats are also a reported problem with these birds according to several sources. Free-roaming cats are certainly a problem to many bird species. In this case being where we are, the juncos are thriving; that’s not the case at Guadeloupe Island which is all the way across the world.
Armed with this information, Oliver and The Cook reported that there have been nights when the patio security light is triggered. However, The Grumpy Old Man said the security camera isn’t working. We had to be on the look out for other evidence of suspects in the vicinity. Fortunately, the trail cameras have been useful for that. The neighborhood cats are still milling around, but none of them fit the description provided by The Cook: big, long-haired. We have seen one like that in the past, but haven’t caught a photo of it in a long time.
Most recently, the trailcams have a black cat and a black and white cat we’ve code named Lokai because we don’t know their real name. We’re pretty sure Lokai was responsible for a dark-eyed junco murder that I wrote about in December. I’ve reviewed footage from the past two months, and Lokai is the stranger who shows up the most frequently. To be honest, we only deduced through evidence we found that Lokai could be a killer and didn’t have any solid proof like security cam images. Lokai also looks rather well fed. Could we be making a terrible mistake blaming an innocent cat?
Part of me keeps wanting the bird murders to be the result of the bobcats so I know they’re getting food. I have no idea if they would eat a fresh kill that just happened to be lying on the ground. I thought I’d get an answer to that in the last case file when I placed the body of Maurice Sparrow in view of the trailcam. I never got an answer. His body was gone the next day.
The Failed Security Camera:
We also had to take into account that the security cameras were suspiciously taken offline while the motion-sensor lights worked fine. Who has the dexterity and the personality to sneak around in the dark?
Although several species have the dexterity, there are really only three that actively look for vandalism jobs: squirrels, mice, and raccoons.
The mice wouldn’t care about activity outside the walls of the residence. That rules them out.
The grey squirrels have seemed grateful for any snacks provided. The tiny red squirrels are simply insane. There is one grey squirrel that demonstrates similar chaotic evil characteristics. None of us could believe that a squirrel that would work for a cat unless the payday was enormous.
That left a thief of the night, a trash panda, a bandito—a raccoon! They would have no problem taking on jobs where they get a reward. Too bad we don’t know what that compensation was. It was clear to Ollie and Gus that at least one raccoon was hired to disable the security cameras. When it comes to our local pack of bandits, El Diablo is the loner. He’s the one who doesn’t get along well with the others. He probably needs some love and therapy. However, we think he totally took the job to disable the cameras.
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Case Findings:
The feathers at the crime scene definitely belonged to a dark-eyed junco. The condition of the feathers indicated a violent attack. The body was not found—presumably eaten by a predator. If it wasn’t Lokai, the black and white cat, the murderer is either another domestic cat or a large bird. The murderer had help in this crime. El Diablo was hired to disable the security cameras. This case did not present any signs of magical activity.
Case Status: Closed
