Jingles & Woodland Creatures

Dawson names everything 'Jingles.' Everything. If he gets the opportunity to name something, we always know what he will say. (My Dad's girlfriend Ann has a cat named Jingles, so that is where Dawson got the name from.) So far, we have had two Christmas trees named 'Jingles the tree', several bugs named 'Jingles the bug', and a very friendly backyard squirrell (in Texas) named...you guessed it, 'Jingles the squirell.' On that note, let me introduce to you...'Jingles the Chipmunk.' This is the best photo I have taken of him so far, because he is a fast little booger!



Either it is just a coincidence, or our family attracts small woodland creatures. Ever since we moved in, this chipmunk has been doing a lot of mischeif around our house, particularly by the garage. We used to keep our big outdoor trash outside of the garage, until this little guy rummaged through it a few times, knocked it over & spread garbage all over all driveway. After the second time he did it, we moved the trash can inside. The funny thing is that he LOVES our garage! Every time we open the door, he tries to sprint inside. One night, he even managed to get to sleep inside the garage because we did not know he was there...during the night he ate Dawson's foam Astros ball, well, more like chewed it to peices. Uh oh...it was Dawson's new ball & he was hysterical about it. So, Granna mailed him a new one...thanks Granna! But, here are a few more crazy things the chipmunk has done:

One day, I thought someone was outside our door because I heard some noise. I look outside, and see the trash all spread out over the drive again. So, I was just hearing the chipmunk. I open the door to go clean up the mess, and the Chipmunk flies out of the trash can & tries to sprint into the garage...and rams into my shin instead! He still managed to get in & I had to chase him out.

This last Sunday, he sprinted into the garage, right past Derek & stole a french fry before running back out. Then, Dawson acidentally left the door to the house open when he came inside. Derek went to tell him that he needed to make sure to close the door because bugs would get in. Dawson said "Yeah, or the chipmunk will come inside again, just like he did a minute ago." Derek didn't know if he was kidding so he questioned him some more. Dawson very nonchalantly answered "Yeah, the chipmunk came inside & went under the table over there." Sure enough, Derek walked over to the end table, gave it a little kick...and 'Jingles the chipmunk' went running back into the garage!

We see him every couple of days running around our property & on our porch. I will keep you posted on the Jingle saga in the coming months. I am sure that when the weather turns colder, we will really have a persistent chipmunk trying to get into our heated garage.