Dingle the cat visits pub and pensioners
‘‘I just wonder if at the pensioner flats they leave food out.’’
Mike Merrick
A tracking device has revealed the secret life of Dingle the cat – and it includes a trip to the pub.
New Plymouth district councillor Mike Merrick had his norwegian forest cat fitted with the GPS device as part of a project run by Wild For Taranaki, which followed Dingle’s movements for one week.
Merrick, who lives on Doone St in Lynmouth, New Plymouth, said he expected Dingle to spend a lot of time in nearby Lynmouth Park – but he was wrong.
‘‘He showed no interest in the park during the day,’’ Merrick said. ‘‘I thought he would spend a lot of time there, so I was surprised about that.
‘‘He hangs around by the pensioner flats and at one point he takes a bit of an interest in The Treehouse [restaurant and bar] – not sure what that’s all about. I just wonder if at the pensioner flats they leave food out.’’
Data collected by the tracking device was entered into a computer programme, which graphed Dingle’s movements during the day and night, Merrick said.
The graph showed Dingle crossed Devon St West about nine times in the seven days, which was a worry, he said.
‘‘It would be one of the busiest roads in New Plymouth. And the thing is just a bit further down he’s tried to cross about five times, but the tracking device has picked up five cars and I think that has deterred him.’’
Dingle, who was named after a little fishing village in Ireland, was hit by a car when he was young and now had pretty good road sense, Merrick said.
‘‘There’s something that interests him on other side of Devon St, he could be hunting or he could have a feline friend or sometimes people leave food out for their cat and that can attract other cats. Or he could just be going for a wander.’’
Merrick showed his teenaged neighbours the graphs and they were fascinated, trying to figure out why Dingle went here or there, he said.
Dingle’s night time adventures are totally different to where he went during the day, and include one really long walk, Merrick said.
Dingle doesn’t always spend the night outside though.
‘‘It depends whether he turns up at the door. When he was a fairly young kitten I’d wait up and let him in, but then I’m up til midnight, so I thought stuff this. He wasn’t here last night, so I went to bed, but I got up at 1.30am to have a drink and he was there, so I let him in. It’s really up to him.’’
Merrick was quite keen to repeat the exercise in 12 months as it was free and quite straightforward, he said.
‘‘Even though I was too scared to put the harness on because I thought he’d take to me. The vet nurse put it on in five seconds and didn’t charge me – real kind. I took it off no problems.’’
About 50 people took part in the programme that aims to reveal the secret lives of pet cats.