A clue in the egg mystery?

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A few days ago I wrote about the mystery of the disappearing eggs http://www.mylot.com/post/3044810/they-re-not-doing-themselves-any-favours Basically if I let the chickens out relatively early, then I get fewer eggs than I expect. In the past the chickens have sometimes laid eggs under a bush; usually I find them or on one occasion some magpies found the hiding place and had a feast, but this time I can’t find any hidden anywhere. @LadyDuck suggested that some animal might be stealing them and carrying them off. Well a few days ago we found a clue – as we were clearing accumulated dead leaves from around the house, we found an egg hidden among them. This is in a place that the chickens have not had access to. Then a couple of days later I found another, this time under a bush. Both the eggs looked stained, as if they had been there for a while, and when I cracked them they were obviously not fresh, although they weren’t rotten either. So I guess they must have been there a week or two – and that would correspond with the missing ones. So what could be hiding them? It does look as though some animal has managed to carry them away, and has then either stashed them for eating later, or has failed to get into them. What could it be? We have loads of grey squirrels about – do they eat eggs? I know hedgehogs like eggs, but I haven't seen any about - would one be able to carry an egg? What do you think? All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2017.