This is (was) an egg produced by one of our guinea hens, but now it is no more.  I found this egg, in the condition that you see it, in the middle of the gravel lane that leads into the paddock facilities.  This egg came to it’s rather abrupt demise perhaps twenty yards away from the closest spot that I would imagine a right-minded guinea hen would lay it.

How do you suppose that the egg managed to end up in this location, in the condition that you see it?  I did not put the egg there.  I’m pretty sure that Retta did not place the egg there, although I cannot absolutely rule out the possibility, as she isn’t home right now for me to ask her.  We can be certain that neither of my dogs were the guilty culprit, because they would not have left any evidence behind.  I’ve seen their handiwork, and believe me, this isn’t their modus operandi.

The guineas never meander along this barren gravel drive, as there is a nice lawn along either side of it, rife with insects and other treats, which the guineas much prefer.  So even if you were to imagine a guinea hen ambling along and having a sudden, overwhelming urge to drop an egg, it would have most likely been on the grass, not on the gravel.

It seems logical (to me, at least) that we can rule out critters such as possum, raccoon, fox, coyotes and the like, for the same reason that I am ruling out my dogs.  All of these scavengers would most likely have eaten the spilled contents of the egg when it broke.  An even more likely scenario would have them down the egg, shell and all, immediately upon finding the “incredible edible” egg.  That is what I have seen our Pyre Gracie do on occasion.

An interesting observation is that the shell is entirely intact, with the exception of the small hole that you can see in the photograph.  It almost looks as if the hole had been pecked at in order to open it.  If so, then this would suggest a bird of some type.  Perhaps some bird found the egg, picked it up in his talons and flew off with it, ultimately ending up in this spot where I found it.  I suppose it is possible, as I once had half of a pork tenderloin stolen off of my BBQ grill on board the boat I once lived on, by a clumsy seagull who ended up dropping it into the water (I wonder, do crabs like pork?).

However this egg managed to end up broken and spilled on the gravel roadway, it sure seems to be a waste.  We could have eaten this guinea egg, or offered it to our dogs with their evening meal.  I suspect that our cats would have even enjoyed it, although I haven’t ever seen them eating eggs.  Speaking of cats, I have some that need to be fed, so I’m off…..