Meet the cat that owns a town

HAVE you met Bob, Agnes Water's community cat?

FRIENDLY FACE: Bob, the Agnes Water community cat, having a stickybeak at the wares on sale at Kachina Moon. Picture: Facebook

HAVE you met Bob, Agnes Water's community cat?

The friendly feline is one of the most popular and most recognisable locals in the beachside township.

Bob doesn't have an owner.

He spends his days hanging out at local businesses, including the bank, swimwear shop, and tackle shop, said to be his favourite haunt.

No one knows his age. Robyn Kirkpatrick has lived in Agnes for more than 13 years and said Bob was there when she arrived.

"Everyone looks after him," she said.

"He is beautiful."

Kim Paterson knows exactly how well-fed Bob is, given he turned his nose up at the food she offered him.

"He would come to sit with us at night shift at Foodworks," she said.

"I'd try to give him tuna (but) he'd never eat."

Bob the cat

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Perhaps Bob, so named because of his bob tail, gets his fill of fish at the tackle shop, where he spends most of his time.

But Lee O'Regan says Bob likes steak and "gets it when he visits the tattoo shop".

"He likes milk and chicken," added Shelly-ann Mcshane.

Shiree Frost said the ginger tom "keeps me company at the bank from time to time" while the team at Off The Hook Fish & Chips, obviously not acquainted with Bob, recently posted a photo of him at the shop on Facebook, asking if he was a missing pet.

As Melinda Agostini said, "he just cruises around the businesses in the area", with apparently a particular fondness for those at Endeavour Plaza.

Tanya Puglisi said she saw Bob asleep in a clothes-dryer at the local laundromat during one winter. "Smart cat."

He was also a regular at Agnes's swimwear shop Beach Buddy's, which recently closed down when owner Debbie Budd retired.

She said he used to sleep the day away among her fabric bolts after breakfast and would take her chair when she left it.

Bob's day often starts earlier than brekkie though.

"He visits me at 4am when we are opening the servo," Di Lee Suckelis said.

Susannah Plumridge says Bob is a committed community cat.

"There have been attempts over the years to give him a home but he won't have it and returns to hang out with all his chosen people," she said.

Dave Clayden offered this suggestion as to why the much-loved moggy is not one for domesticated life: "I suspect Bob actually owns the entire town."