Rodential dementia

Out on a hunting and gathering walk, I passed the trashy little front garden of a strange shop that has purported for years to sell commemorative embroidered patches and such other oddments.  I saw a grayish brown, furry shape settled in front of a Coke bottle lying on its side, and figured it was a large dead rat.   It leaped up suddenly, drawing its mouth away from the bottle, and I realized it was a squirrel, sucking pop out of the bottle; yet another sign of impending doom...