Flip-flops, Crocs, running shoes, name a footwear—red foxes will steal them. A fox can amass a larger shoe collection than Imelda Marcos. Some experts believe it’s the smell that intrigues them. Unfortunately, foxes are fond of taking one shoe, not the full pair. Which is extra annoying.
This bird steals so much hair that its nickname is “the hair bird.” Chipping sparrows will rip fur from a sleeping dog or hair from a horse’s tail. They want the hair to line their nests. Not to keep in some kind of creepy collection like a serial killer.
Okay, maybe this isn’t stealing—the bee is making up for a physical limitation. “Nectar robbing” occurs when a species of short-tongued bee wants the nectar, but physically can’t get at it by going inside the flower to reach the corolla. Instead, the bee bites a hole at the base of the flower. It’s considered “robbing” because the bee isn’t giving the flower anything in exchange—it’s not pollinating the flower.
Magpies, ravens, crows, and jays are all well-known for their thieving ways. The question isn’t “What will they steal?” it’s “What won’t they steal?” In 2016, “Canuck the Crow” (Google him) made worldwide headlines when he absconded with the murder weapon—a knife—from a crime scene in Vancouver. He dropped it eventually. Oh, and he wasn’t charged with tampering with a crime scene. Pfft, for some reason.
These spiders are considered “kleptoparasitic.” They have the ability to spin their own webs, but they’d rather move into some other spider’s web, and then steal the prey that the spider traps. If that prey is largely small insects, the bigger spider might be okay with the situation—it wasn’t going to eat those bugs anyway—and let the freeloader stay.
These whales, found off both coasts of Canada, are famous for following fishing boats and snatching the catches from lines and nets. Which…props. That’s a pretty clever and efficient strategy. Work smarter, not harder, right?
These scavengers will happily eat the corpses—including the bones—of a moose or deer taken down, and hidden, by a larger predator (a wolf, a bear). Maybe wolverines don’t think that digging up and stealing a dead body is really stealing. But it is. Consult your legal representation, wolverines.
Everyone knows that certain critters are master thieves. Racoons will steal your unsecured garbage and pet food; squirrels make it their business to get into your birdfeeders on the daily; and gulls will snatch food right out of your hands. But what about these other seven klepto critters?
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