Following the controversial subject matter of my last podcast, I feel the need to lighten things up.Enter Dingle, our killing cat.Remember Toonces the Driving Cat from Saturday Night Live? Well, let me tell you–he’s looking pretty darn good right now, even with the poor driving record and high insurance premiums.It all started six years ago, when we invited Dingle (don’t ask how he got his name) to live outside. You see, he thought the world was his litter box. The vet gave him a clean bill of health; so we, in turn, gave him a bigger world to do his thing. Honestly, I didn’t think he would survive a year. We live in a fairly rural area–not so backwoods we’re still on dial-up, but somewhat isolated all the same. The back of our property leads to a mile-long cornfield, and the road next to us is fairly busy with little red trucks, thanks to the Staples Regional Distribution Center a few miles away. Suffice it to say (animal rights folks, please turn your heads now), we thought he’d end up lost or flat on the road.We were wrong.As it turns out, Dingle has special skills that would put Toonces to shame. Despite his lack of front claws, he holds his own against stray cats and raccoons and opossum. He avoids the busy road at all costs, but is happy to roam the big field in search of dietary supplements. And typical of his breed, Dingle likes to share his catch–as if he’s providing for us. So nearly everyday, he leaves the left-overs on the back porch.Well, mice meals are fattening, and over the years Dingle has grown to the size of a small dog. This presents a problem: the field mouse is no longer filling. Plus, I don’t think it’s enough of a challenge.So he graduated to chipmunks.Now keep in mind, my kids are Disney nuts. In their eyes, Chip and Dale are right up there in importance with the President of the United States. So the transition to chipmunks, especially when they began showing up in pairs, did not sit well with them.And so, over the past month, our porch has come to resemble a chipmunk battle field–a clear indication chipmunk tastes better than mouse or a sign the mice have packed up and moved on (it took them long enough).But it doesn’t stop there.Two days ago, Dingle brought us a squirrel! I’m not kidding. A squirrel.And yesterday? It was a large bird–like he’s running down the list of wildlife living in our neck of the woods.I’m not sure what we’ll find out there today, but just to be safe, we’re keeping the kids inside!

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