A retired Dundee chief inspector has found a new case he cannot crack in his own backyard.
Bill Hart, 90, is one of a number of residents of Dalyrmple Place to have been left dizzy following the discovery of hens’ eggs buried in their gardens.
Normally, the eggs are buried in loose soil but when he went into his back garden on Thursday morning he found part of his lawn had been dug up and an egg buried beside a clothes pole.
The first egg was spotted around Easter and they have become increasingly common over the summer.
While Bill and his neighbours originally thought the eggs may have been laid by a bird, the discovery of one with a factory stamp on the shell a few months ago scrambled that idea for good.
“Over the last few months we have found two or three fresh eggs buried in the soil,” he said yesterday.
“When I went out this morning to the back garden, I saw a hole had been dug by one of the clothes poles.”
Mr Hart said there have been eggs discovered buried in gardens around Menzieshill.
“My friend who lives a few streets away has had found them, too,” he said as the search for a plausible eggs-planation continued.
While some of the eggs are intact, others have been broken and their contents missing, presumably devoured.
Mr Hart and his neighbours believe the most likely culprits are urban foxes. Foxes are renowned for burying food in the ground so it remains cool and can be eaten at a later date.
However, the nearest grocery store, on Glamis Road, does not keep eggs outside and there are no hen houses in the vicinity.
“Somebody must be putting out eggs,” Mr Hart said. “But the shop says it doesn’t gets eggs delivered so has none round the back at all.”