At the time, it didn't seem to be that odd to be sharing our home with a wild cardinal and his family.

Now, 2 years later, it does. It was a very unique experience.

Knock on wood, he fortunately always went outside to poop!!!
Until their chick was able to go out on his own, we left the door open for this fellow & his mate.
After that, we were very careful to keep the door to the house closed to keep them from settling in again.

Even so, this fellow would later occasionally come back for a visit when he found the Solar Room door open for our dogs to go outside.

He was quick. Once I had him in my living room. Uninvited, of course. Fortunately, nothing bad happened.
Long story. But from my experiences with this cardinal, I discovered that some birds are smarter than people give them credit.