The early squirrel gets the tomato.

While I was on my way to the garden to pick tomatoes this morning, an early bird–I mean squirrel–was making a delicious tomato breakfast from one of my Celebrity tomatoes.

I saw this tomato yesterday when it was just turning ripe red, but I decided to give it one more day.

Can squirrels read minds?

This tomato was obviously the low-hanging fruit for the little guy. I can picture him standing on his hind legs, holding onto both sides of this delicacy and chewing away like crazy. He neatly sheared off one complete side of the fruit of my labor.

But it’s okay. I’m not mad. Squirrels are just part of the fun in my backyard habitat.

I actually admire the critter for having such good taste. Celebrity (Lycopersicon esculentum ‘Celebrity’ Hybrid) is an All-America Selections winning tomato from 1984 and it continues to be a reliable performer in my garden year after year. Its disease resistance is one of its most attractive features.