Cat burglar strikes Blenheim
GERMARI HERSELMAN
Last updated 07:31 08/11/2013



Residents in one Blenheim suburb have unknowingly been the victims of an elusive and efficient four-legged burglar.

Proof of the burglaries was found displayed on a portable washstand on the front lawn of a house in Redwoodtown.

Graham Cottrell noticed the goods on display and thought it was a garage sale. On reading the hand-written sign he realised it wasn't.



"I looked at the sign and thought it was a prank," he said.

The sign read ‘Our cat Loki steals things, sorry! Please take yours'.



"I couldn't believe a cat could be responsible for [taking] everything I saw.

"It must be a hell of a big cat," Cottrell said. The stand was filled with shoes, gloves and several items of clothing.

He returned to his son's house about 100 metres away and showed the pictures he had taken to his daughter-in-law, Charlotte Cottrell.

Cottrell spotted a red shoe in the photo and said "that looks strangely like my shoe".

She went to their front door to check and her one shoe was gone.

Cottrell went back to the stand of clothing to compare and sure enough, it was her shoe.

"You can see the small tooth marks on the heal of the shoe where he carried it.

"I've never heard of a cat doing this," he said.

Cottrell was fascinated that a cat could carry such big items so far.

''There are pairs of shoes and an adult T-shirt, it couldn't be easy for him to pick it up, let alone carry it around the block,'' he said.

The cat's owner, Mike Gifford, said he felt terrible that his cat was stealing from the neighbours.

"We have more clothes, gloves and shoes inside that we would love to get back to the right neighbours," he said.

He said that Loki is a very loving cat and about a year old and started his thieving about six months ago.

"My children and I feel really bad, but there is really nothing we can do about it except try and return what he takes," Gifford said.

...more at link
http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/9377876 ... -Blenheim/

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

What a naughty cat!

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Not naughty



The cat is obviously bringing back presents for it's humans.... mine do that only it is usually a dead rat.

We had a cat that would bring in large twigs for some reason.. and one who would pull large chunks of moss off the roof and bring them in. One brought in what seemed to be toy items from a bird cage... which was a worry if he was menacing somebody's prized pet bird.. and unbelievably he even brought us a photo... which I assume was the very bird in question!

I have told this story before... even I find it hard to believe... so I always have to go find the photo and prove to myself that it is a true story



I DO NOT think the cat took the photo himself... that is silly... it's printed on proper photographic paper and the the shops were shut at night so where could he have got it printed? I think he was getting into some place where they had the birdie in a cage as well as photos lying around

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

I wish my cat would bring those kinds of gifts instead of the numerous dead shrews I have to wake up to.

Dead things is the norm.... recently I noticed a "smell" in our bedroom.... but I was going to bed long after my wife had gone to sleep, and I did not want to disturb her, so I just ignored it... but she woke up later and discovered a dead rat under the bed

It was intact... but must have been there a few days.

Dead things is the norm... but not that often. It is actually worse when they bring in LIVE things... and then lose them while playing... we have had mice and rats let lose then big rat hunts chasing them between hiding places under pieces of furniture

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

My cat has recently discovered flying squirrels, which are quick going up a tree, but slow as a snail on the ground. I have a pet door, so mine can come in & out as they please. One morning I awoke to innards & a small tail on my floor. He always leaves his gifts in the same place. I nearly puked.

He then brought in a live one, which we were able to capture & release in a tree. He likes to catch them, then bring them to the others to play with (torture). I wish I could make him stop. I love my kitties, but hate their hunting & killing of things. I once cut him back on treats because he was getting so fat, but he only doubled up on the *gifts* until & started shelling out the treats again!

My big boy, Shadow, brought me home a ham...wrapped in foil and warm. Cats are amateurs.

on that bird picture. To the right there looks to be teeth marks. Maybe he stole the picture instead???

The photo itself has small marks that COULD be teeth marks at the bottom... but it's very slight.. undamaged really. I still find it hard to believe that a cat would pick up and carry a photo?

Did you eat the ham? or try and find the owner... and then eat it

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

We checked around the neighborhood, the guy that was across from us was housebound and we thought someone had dropped of a care package for him but no one was missing a 10lb ham.

Hell, yes we ate it! We made a HUGE bean pot with it. Must have had 10 big containers in the freezer. The area with the teeth marks we cut off so Shadow got ham treats for three days...

Gotta love a happy dog! He tried for ducks all the time but when he got too close we would yell at him to distract him long enough for ducks to get airborne.

He was also a fan or chasing kitties up trees. He wouldn't hurt them. He lived with one. He and Misty got in one dispute so I yanked him outside and gave him the whys and wherefores of life. But when Misty got attacked by next door neighbors cat, I opened the gate, said get the kitty and he ran over and ended that one with his big barks. Honestly, I thought he was quite proud of himself for saving little Misty.

Gotta love a happy kitty, too!

Today involved 2 dead shrews. Later, as he laid in my lap, he just kissed and kissed my hand. Then lifted his big head to my face and licked me right on the lips. Barf, puke.

Ha ..... it does NOT pay to think about where a cat has been and what else he has had in his mouth before smooching and kissing you.


ANOTHER tale of a past cat.... lovely tabby cat.... called "Tweetie Pie"?? (Named by previous human's Grand daughters)

A neighbor (great old character flew a sea plane for Royals around WWII time) died and we took on two of his cats (our first family cats)... one was already friendly with my kids... the other was pretty much wild and feral. It took patience, but Tweety Pie was a real smoochie sweetie (especially with me) once he trusted us and settled in. He was still "wild" and a hunter... but he would sleep on our bed... mostly on my pillow smooching up to my face. He would come and go in the night... out doing "cat things". One night Tweetie Pie woke me up when he came in and did his usual face smooching.... so I got up for a pee (possibly TMI... it was a moonlight night, I try NOT to switch light on and destroy night adapted vision... so sat on the toilet rather than stand (as guys do)... as I sat I could just make out "something" in the hall.... small and moving... I assumed perhaps a rat... not quite dead.... that would have been shocking enough... but when I turned lights on to inspect.. it was a LUMP of rabbit ... fur and flesh... rotten... and the reason it had been moving was because of a mass of maggots on it. The maggots were spread around and I can only assume that Tweetie Pie had them and the rotting flesh in his mouth just before coming to "give me a kiss"
I guess there were maggots crawling on him too... and he had been on my pillow!

I think THAT was the time we stopped letting cats come and go at night in our bedroom.... we shut the door... they do still have the rest of the house though.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

TMI!!! This is the last time I read this thread on my lunch hour...

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