A real live catburgler has been terrorizing the town of Ilkeston, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. Felix, an 18-month old black and white domestic shorthair is the real life Feline Felon who has been swiping clothing from households around the town. Felix always liked to retrieve things, according to his owner Shirley Hale, 72, who said Felix would bring her bits of paper, sweet wrappers and leaves out of the garden ever since he was kitten. But now he is bringing her more disturbing items. His haul is currently up to a scarf, two hats, several socks and a glove. Felix brought home three brand-new looking socks on Friday and showed up on Monday with the fourth. "It's incredible," said Hale. "I got up this morning (Tuesday) and it's in my kitchen on the door mat. I've got the two pairs now. It's weird, really. When I saw it I had to phone my daughter to tell someone. "As for Friday, how would he carry three socks at the same time? He must have gone back to the house three times!" The late night burglaries started last summer, when Felix brought home a soaking wet scarf. A heavy thick woolly pink New York Yankees hat seems to be his biggest item to date. "How he has dragged this hat back, and where from, goodness only knows. I've not a clue where he's getting them all from. "Would they come off washing lines at this time of the year? and how would he reach them?" Felix uses a cat flap to bring his loot back into Hales kitchen, so it's possible he's using a similar door to access a house somewhere. "Surely he's not wandering around looking for different cat flaps, so he must be getting them from the same place. "But I feel guilty that he's taking them. They belong to somebody and they'll be wondering where they are." Felix is fond of the furry or wooly, and it seems he's pulling his jobs during the early morning hours. Hale says usually spends the night sleeping at the bottom of her bed, but he's always gone when she wakes up. "I'm privileged really, aren't I? I'm quite proud of him. They say they bring you presents, so I think that's what it is. My friends are just amazed and they laugh. I mean, what can you say?" A news report in the local paper asked for anyone who might be missing such items to please give the Ilkeston Advertiser a call. Hale would like to return the items to their proper owners.
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