Having recently returned from Seattle, where thieves stole my son's entire U-Haul truck full of belongings, robbery has been very much on my mind. My first thought upon learning of the theft was that animals would never do such a thing. Actually, animals absolutely would.
For most animals, robbery is opportunistic and not an everyday occurrence. After all, an animal caught stealing may themselves become dinner. Some accept the risk and cash in on the behavior. Coyotes frequently steal prey; as much as 30% of a coyote's food is stolen from other apex predators.
One of the most notorious bandits, the raccoon, has been known to raid farm crops and steal chickens from their coops. On more than one occasion I've come out in the morning to find trash from my secured cans strewn about. Forget about leaving food out for the birds or your feral cats. It's not beyond a raccoon's resourcefulness to steal the entire bird feeder.
Kleptoparasitism—a theft in which one animal deliberately takes food from another—is the most common type of thievery in the animal kingdom. A few animals will distract another to steal its food. Crows are very clever at this, working in pairs. One crow will pull an animal's tail while the other attacks from the front and steals food right out of its mouth.
Many insects are infamous kleptoparasites. Cuckoo bees, like cuckoo birds, don't build nests. Instead, the female cuckoo bee lays her eggs in another insect's nest. When they emerge, the cuckoo bee's larvae eat the provisions meant for the host offspring and finish their meal by eating the host larvae.
Some spiders steal prey captured by other spiders. The dewdrop spider waits at another spider's web until it feels the telltale vibrations of a catch. Its long legs allow it to sneak up and steal the other spider's dinner without detection.
Animals like ravens and scrub jays hide their caching behavior until no one else is around to watch. Squirrels love to put on shows of fake burying sites to fool other thieves. Despite their seeming cunning, squirrels lose at least a quarter of their buried food to robbers, many of whom are their fellow squirrels.
I was treated to an eye-witness case of animal larceny at a party the other night. The host's dog was not in attendance that evening and a guest dog seized the opportunity to sneak into the host's dog's bed and steal her squeaky toy. From the way he skedaddled outside with his prize, it was clear he knew he was doing wrong. Some temptations are too great for even a good dog to resist.
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