The Cat Bandit

The Hot Dog

Mom set a hot dog on a shelf in the den and left it there. Almost immediately, the aroma began to drift through the house, spreading further and further with each passing moment.

Outside on the deck sat the cat bandit, wishing for a snack. The instant the scent of the hot dog reached him, he snapped to attention. What a smell! He sniffed at the air again and again, tracking its source.

The cat bandit dashed into the den and spotted the hot dog resting on the shelf above him. Determined, he leapt first onto a bench, then sprang up onto the television set, and finally launched himself in one powerful jump until he landed squarely on the shelf beside his prize. Moments later, he was devouring the hot dog in quick, satisfied bites—and just like that, the hot dog was gone.

The Chicken Nugget

Hank placed his dish in the sink, leaving behind a chicken nugget that was still warm. The smell of chicken rose up from the sink and drifted into the den, where the cat bandit lay napping.

Even asleep, the bandit's nose stayed alert, sniffing at the scent that had found its way to him. He shot upright, dashed toward the kitchen, and spotted the nugget waiting in the sink.

Rather than act right away, he paused to think through a strategy. He went to the closet and gathered a collection of boxes of different sizes. He arranged them carefully—one box, then a larger one beside it, then the largest of all positioned closest to the sink. With his plan in place, the cat bandit took off running, bounding from box to box like stepping stones until he reached the nugget. In a matter of moments, it had vanished.

The Snack Mix

Beth left a basket of snack mix sitting on a shelf. The cat bandit noticed it immediately and felt a powerful urge to get his paws on it. The problem was that the basket sat far out of reach. He sat and considered the situation before heading out to the deck.

There, he retrieved the grilling tongs Dad kept beside the gas grill and positioned them on the rug. Next, he gathered a pile of rocks and set them down nearby. Placing one rock on the upper arm of the tongs, he pressed down with his leg to hold the mechanism in place—then released it suddenly.

The rock shot forward with a swish and struck the shelf with a bang, but missed the basket entirely.

Undeterred, the bandit repeated the process—swish, bang; swish, bang; swish, bang—firing off rock after rock. Six attempts failed to hit the target. On the seventh try, however, the rock connected. The basket toppled from the shelf and landed on the rug, scattering snack mix everywhere. The bandit made quick work of the scattered pieces, and the snack mix was no more.

The Ham

Mom left a pink ham resting in a large black pan. The cat bandit, relaxing on a quilt nearby, caught an unmistakable whiff of it. Ham—but where? He set off immediately, following the scent until he located the ham. There was just one complication: it sat up high, well beyond his reach. He needed a way to bring it down.

The cat bandit hurried to the closet and grabbed a belt, then continued on to the shed, where he found a powerful magnet. He attached the magnet to one end of the belt securely. Then, gripping the other end, he swung the belt through the air.

The magnet struck the pan with a clang and stuck fast. Without hesitation, the bandit began pulling on the belt—tugging and yanking with all his strength—until at last the pan slid free and crashed to the ground. The ham didn't stand a chance after that.

The Fish

On another occasion, Mom hung a fish to dry from a length of string. While scratching an itch, the cat bandit caught the scent and darted immediately into the kitchen. There hung the fish, suspended just out of reach. He sat down to devise a plan.

He retrieved Mom's glasses and positioned them on a sunlit bench. As sunlight struck the two lenses, they glinted brightly. The bandit carefully adjusted the glasses' angle until one lens redirected a concentrated beam of sunlight directly onto the string holding the fish. Then he simply waited.

The focused sunlight heated the string steadily until the wax coating it began to melt. With a sudden rip, the string gave way, and the fish dropped to the ground. Once again, the bandit made short work of his prize.

The Milk

Beth once left a glass of milk out on the deck. The cat bandit spotted it right away, but it sat well beyond his reach, leaving him disappointed—until he noticed a clothesline stretching from the shed to the deck. Mom had hung wet socks, wet pants, and a wet jacket along the line to dry. The bandit's expression brightened with an idea.

He fetched Dad's belt and climbed to the top of the shed. From there, he swung the belt over the clothesline, gripped it tightly, and leapt off the roof.

He went zipping along the line at high speed, knocking the socks free with a series of pops, then the pants, and finally striking the jacket loose with a solid thwack. As he sailed past the milk, he kicked the glass with his leg, sending it crashing onto the deck. The bandit landed safely and immediately began lapping up the spilled milk—bringing the episode to its predictable conclusion.

The Chips

Mom once placed a large bag of chips on the topmost shelf in the kitchen, confident that it was finally out of the cat's reach. She was mistaken. Before long, the cat bandit was back at his scheming.

He collected a log, a plank, and a heavy rock, then set up a makeshift device: the rock balanced on a bench, the log positioned on the rug beside it, and the plank laid across the top of the log to form a seesaw.

The bandit took his position at one end of the plank, then pushed the rock off the bench. It fell and struck the opposite end with a loud smack—driving that end downward while launching the bandit's end (and the bandit himself) upward with tremendous force.

He soared through the air, executed a flip, and landed precisely on top of the shelf. With a swift slash, he tore open the bag, and the chips disappeared in a series of satisfying crunches.

The Catfish

Dad returned from a fishing trip with an impressive catfish, which he placed in a bucket and locked securely inside the shed. "There," he declared as the lock clicked shut. "This will keep the cat out for good."

But the tempting smell of fish carried on the wind regardless, and the cat bandit soon sensed that something worthwhile was hidden inside the shed. He investigated, only to find the door locked tight. Undiscouraged, he retrieved a belt, fastened one end to the lock, and pulled with all his might. The lock held firm, and the shed didn't budge.

Recognizing he needed more strength, the bandit enlisted a dog to help. Together, the two of them tugged on the belt—but still the shed remained standing.

So the bandit called in reinforcements once more, this time recruiting a pig. With the cat, the dog, and the pig all pulling together, their combined effort finally paid off: the shed began to tilt to one side.

With a final, thunderous crash, the shed collapsed completely. And with that, the catfish met the same fate as everything else the cat bandit had ever set his sights on.