The
Bus-Riding Mystery Cat
Wolverhampton, England
Bus drivers have nicknamed a white cat Macavity after it has started
using the No 331 several mornings a week.
The feline, which has a purple collar, gets onto the busy Walsall to
Wolverhampton bus at the same stop most mornings - he then jumps off
at the next stop 400m down the road, near a fish and chip shop.
The cat, nicknamed Macavity, has one blue eye and one green eye.
The cat was nicknamed Macavity after the mystery cat in T.S Elliot's
poem. He gets on the bus in front of a row of 1950s semi-detached houses
and jumps off at a row of shops down the road which include a fish and
chip shop.
Driver Bill Khunkhun, 49, who first saw the cat jumping from the bus
in January, said: "It is really odd, the first time I saw the cat
jumping off the bus with a group of passengers. I hadn't seen it get
on which was a bit confusing.
"The next day I pulled up on Churchill Road to let a couple of passengers
on. As soon as I opened the doors the cat ran towards the bus, jumped
on and ran under one of the seats, I don't think any of the passengers
noticed.
"Because I had seen it jump off the day before I carried on driving
and sure enough when I stopped just down the road he jumped off - I don't
know why he would catch the bus but he seems to like it. I told some
of the other drivers on this route and they have seen him too."
Since January, when the cat first caught the bus he has done it two or
three times a week and always gets on and off at the same stops.
Passenger, Paul Brennan, 19, who catches the 331 to work, said: "I
first noticed the cat a few weeks ago. At first I thought it had been
accompanied by its owner but after the first stop it became quite clear
he was on his own.
"He sat at the front of the bus, waited patiently for the next stop
and then got off. It was was quite strange at first but now it just seems
normal. I suppose he is the perfect passenger really - he sits quietly,
minds his own business and then gets off."
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