A Bound Brook neighborhood has been plagued by mysterious occurrences for the better part of a year.
The neighbors – homebound by the coronavirus pandemic – started to share stories and realized that they were not alone. Someone has been leaving pickles strewn about their properties for several months, and no one knows who is responsible.
Kristin Duska points to several spots in her yard where she found the pickled treats.
“This is one of the spots that one of the pickle chips was found last week. We had a couple of pickles over here,” she says.
It was a similar experience for Jill Suposs.
“I’ve seen large pickles smushed in the street. I’ve had pickles in my yard. [My neighbor’s] had a few pickles. Everybody. Everybody gets pickled. It’s crazy,” she says.
There have been dill spears tossed in the driveways. Whole crisp gherkins found on front steps. Bread and butter pickle slices lying like cucumber roadkill on the sidewalk.
“I actually thought that these were part of my Kentucky Coffee tree, which seems to drop everything,” says Lynn Johnson. “This was new. I didn’t realize it dropped the green things. Then I shared my story with my neighbors and they mentioned that our neighborhood was getting pickled. I couldn’t believe it.”
The pickle bandit seems to strike at random, targeting several houses at a time.
There are many theories about who is doing it. Maybe it is someone who orders lunch at a local deli who doesn’t like pickles, or maybe something more sinister. Every passing car sparks the question – is that the pickler?
Whoever is doing the pickling – it remains one of New Jersey’s strangest mysteries.