Cats are not only fond of mice or birds: some of them love to steal objects as if they were thieving magpies. Underwear, gloves, mail, small objects: they like to pilfer, but it is very difficult to understand what motivates them. In any case, one thing is certain, say ethologists: their goal is not to give gifts – neither to the humans they meet, nor to other cats.
This year, a spate of clothing thefts in a Spanish town by two young cats and their mother has rekindled interest in the subject among specialists. This is the case for Auke-Florian Hiemstra, who works as a biologist at a museum in Leiden, the Netherlands: “I want to know why they do this. Documenting cases like this could lead to further research in the future.”
The animal expert then began collecting stories of kleptomaniac cats. In addition to the three Spanish cats, capable of stealing more than 100 objects a month (including a teddy bear and baby shoes), he recorded all the information available about Charlie, based in the English city of Bristol, who was nicknamed Britain’s most prolific burglar after bringing back a hell of a lot of loot to the home of Alice Bigge, the woman he lives with.
Diplodocus and swimsuit
Plastic toys, clothes pegs, a rubber duck, glasses and cutlery: this is what we find in Charlie’s stash, the best piece of which is probably a plastic diplodocus, placed on his human pet’s pillow while she was sleeping. Very bothered by her cat’s thefts and not knowing who to return the objects to, Alice Bigge found a solution: she placed them against an outside wall of her house so that their owners could retrieve them.
There are many examples, such as that of Californian Dusty and his 600 recorded thefts, including 11 in a single night. Among his trophies are a pair of Crocs, a baseball cap and a swimsuit. The Guardian also reports the case of Cleo, a Texan cat who managed to steal a computer mouse. These stories are certainly amusing, but they also provide food for thought for Auke-Florian Hiemstra and his compatriot Claudia Vinke, a specialist in behavioural biology at the University of Utrecht.
Without claiming to have solved the mystery of what drives cats to fly, the duo has in any case identified a certain number of common points between the profiles of these four-legged Arsène Lupins. This allowed them to come up with several hypotheses, some of which are perfectly expected and others less so. Unsurprisingly, flying could represent a way of attracting attention or showing that they want to play. It could also be seen as a way of prolonging their desire to hunt.
A more surprising idea has also been suggested: some cats may be motivated by the desire to remove objects whose smell they don’t like, whether it’s a pair of dirty socks or a fabric with a strong detergent smell. In addition, they are known to be particularly attracted to certain materials such as wool and plastic, which contain lanolin, also known as wool wax or wool grease. This component is particularly attractive to cats, which helps explain, for example, why they love playing with balls of wool so much.
Source: www.slate.fr
