Going to extremes to trap maligned magpies

A LARGE and evil-looking tom cat, probably of no fixed abode, has had the house under constant observation.

He waits with feline patience until everybody, in particular the dog, is safely indoors and then he steals on to the patio and takes up his position on a rock beside the pond.

A fish has been disappearing every couple of days. All the shubunkins are gone, and I was rather fond of them. The only survivor is a goldfish that I think is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.