Evolution in my own backyard

A couple days ago I witnessed a truly strange sight: a squirrel munching away in my garden. In and of itself this isn't that strange; however, what was strange was what the squirrel was eating.

The furry little bastard was eating either a habanero or a scotch bonnet pepper. I couldn't tell which one as I was too far away, but either one will - without any shadow of a doubt - light your fire. If you don't believe me about the heat in these peppers, go here.

The first year we had this garden, we would lose one pepper. One, from the entire garden - and nothing else would be touched for the entire year. Now, it appears that - just like the Borg (yes, my inner geek is coming out) - the squirrels around the house are adapting.

If this trend continues, I fully expect to see squirrels toting little bottles of Dave's Insanity Sauce; adding it to their food. Maybe they'll learn how to extract the capsaicin from these peppers, and use it to ransom popcorn from old people in the park. Mexican restaurants could see their dumpsters being picked clean.

In all fairness, I didn't see what happened when this particular squirrel scampered off, still carrying half of the pepper. Maybe he went to share and/or inflict it on his buddies. Perhaps he sat in a tree, whimpering quietly while his taste buds recreated The Towering Inferno on his tongue. We may never know.