I am on bended knee begging forgiveness. I have sullied the reputation of ground squirrels with my allegations of peach pilfering. Turns out the raccoons are the culprits. Yesterday I moved one of my outdoor cameras to the tree. There, for all to see, was a mother racoon and four kits, happily feasting on my peaches. This camera has a microphone. I spoke with them. They ran off without answering. Figures. They were probably embarrassed.

Now, I just have to find a way to make it up to the squirrels. I always wondered how, with four outdoor cats, squirrels got anywhere near the peach tree. But having truly been victimized by them in the past, I saw them with my own eyes, I just assumed (there’s that word), that the past was the present. I should have moved that camera weeks ago. I might have saved myself a ton of peaches, but there’s always next year and I can still get a dog.

I suppose there’s a lesson in there somewhere about jumping to conclusions but its an easy thing to do especially when the conclusion seems to make sense based on previous experience. I mean, who really has the time or the desire to reconfigure their worldview when it is so easy to say, squirrels. But I consider myself an adult learner, so I’ll just file this away and try to be more circumspect next year when the peaches arrive and the wildlife shows up.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale