From our weekly issue dated June 4, 2008

It’s been “reigning” cats and dogs around our house. Also raccoons, and an occasional opossum.

Actually we have only one dog, the ancient Bingo, but we’re bounded (hounded?) on three sides by neighbors with dogs. And as dogs do (do, not doo) while they’re on duty, they bark. Can’t complain, they’re just doing what’s in their genes.

We have to steel ourselves whenever the irascible Maui, who’s 10-plus, and her son, Bubba Bigfoot, take turns staring at us and the inside cats through the French doors. We know that they want to come inside, but it cannot be. That’s because they make deposits (not the banking kind), and we just can’t do (doo) that. Too messy.

It’s tough to not let them in because they were our indoor cats Way Back When. Jan rescued Maui during the Biscuit Fire of 2002, and she (Maui, not Jan) gave birth not too long after. Bubba, who now weighs 1 stone, 2 pounds, was the first out, and we kept him. For a while we had Maui and Bubba inside, as well as Jellirabbit and Deckster. The totally unique Charlie Chaplin Kaplan had gone to live with our granddaughters in San Diego County. He kept escaping and running across our busy street, so we were highly concerned that he’d get squashed. He’s real happy in Carlsbad; doing well.

Back in Cave Junction, having four kitties inside didn’t work out. So M-ow (as we nicknamed her) and her son had to go to the garage. They go in and out all day; then they come in for the evening. As for Deckster (who lived under our front deck for quite a while before we brought him in), we found a home for him because he actually preferred being outside.

Jellirabbit, our tuxedo feline, and his faithful companion, totally black Flint “Flinty” Eastwood with the yellow eyes, get along quite well. Mostly. They enjoy staring back at the outdoor cats, and sometimes they paw at one another through the glass doors. Only thing, the outdoor cats don’t think it’s funny; while Jelli and Flinty seem to think it’s a game.

Old Bingo is doing OK, but we had to fix him a place on the front deck because he was making messes inside. Not on purpose; he’s just kinda’ losing it.

We’ve had to be real careful with a family of raccoons that decided the outside cat food was for them. In fact, one of them went into the garage: ate all the cat food in a bowl there; gnawed at a plastic container full of feline food; and ripped open a package of chocolate-covered graham crackers and ate them all up. So we’re bringing in the cats earlier.

As for the cute little opossum that was eating the outdoor cat food, we haven’t seen him for awhile. Maybe he’s playing opossum. Or he’s upset because he never got to eat chocolate-covered graham crackers.