The last post I wrote was by necessity fairly somber - so it's time to redress the balance with some fluff. Literally, as it turns out, as I saw this brilliant cat story on the BBC website yesterday...
'A cat is baffling his owner by wandering off at night before expecting to be collected by car every morning at exactly the same time and place. Sgt Podge, a Norwegian Forest Cat, disappears from his owner's home in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, every night. The next morning, the 12-year-old cat can always be found in exactly the same place, on a pavement about one and a half miles (2.4km) away. His owner, Liz Bullard, takes her son to school before collecting Sgt Podge. She also makes the trip at weekends and during school holidays - when her son is having a lie in. Back at home, Sgt Podge has breakfast before going to sleep by a warm radiator.'
Wonderful stuff. Firstly - that's probably the best name for a cat I've ever heard. I remember Bill Bryson once writing that you should never name an animal something you'd be too ashamed to yell from your back door - but obviously that isn't going to be a problem with this wandering moggie. Secondly - I hope he gets some exercise after his well-earned breakfast snoozing, because if he keeps on getting ferried around between meals he'll have to be promoted to Captain Podge. Thirdly - Norwegian Forest Cat? According to the Cat Fancier's Association breed profile database, they 'explored the world with the Vikings, protecting their grain stores on land and sea' (I won't tell you how long I thought about that before I realised they meant protecting the grain from mice).
Anyhow, Podge saunters off every evening to do his feline business, apparently crossing a nearby golf course. Then the following morning between 8:00am and 8:15am he presents himself at the same point on a distant street and patiently waits for his taxi service to arrive. What he does in the intervening hours isn't known - maybe he got nightshift work at a nearby grain warehouse, or something. Mrs Bullard only has to open her car door and he appears and leaps in, which would become unfortunate should somebody else park there around the same time and get out to stretch their legs. She also says that if it's raining he'll be hanging about under a nearby bush - surely what Podge needs is an old glass coffee table left outside which he could use as a cat-sized bus shelter.
There is a sensible reason for this - as there always is. Apparently a woman who lives near that spot used to feed Sgt Podge, so he became conditioned to going there. The first day he didn't come back, Mrs Bullard rang her neighbours to see if anyone had seen him, then drove about before finding him on the side of the road in that location. The crafty feline has now tuned in to the fact that he can wander over for some food and then if he waits, can get a lift home in the morning. Only in Britain would his owner silently agree to these demands - and only in Britain would a story about a punctual cat become the most emailed article on the BBC website. Sgt Podge, I salute you! (I only hope you chip in for the petrol now and again...)
Cat's daily routine baffles owner [BBC]
