We sure grow 'em stupid in South Carolina.....

Yep they’re not very bright . It’s why I put a cat shield on my Prius Prime . There’s less precious metal in it than a Gen1-3 cat but the thieves just see a Prius

 

A former landlord of mine hired a roofing crew that made their way onto the roof by taking a crowbar to a padlock hasp, then pushing open the roof access and climbing through.

The hasp they pried off hadn't been attached to the roof access.

 

I suspect stupid is not exclusive to South Carolina.

And thanks for confirming this...

I've always raised my eyebrows at people eager to claim that thieves are discriminating enough to know an aftermarket cat with no value when they see it.

On the bright side we don't have any confirmed thefts of cat thefts with cat shields...

Looks like swap it, sell it and spend some of the profit on a cat shield is best practice.

 

We have a large "cat" recycling warehouse with a big sign on I-35 in Central Texas. You can buy or sell. As long as they charge sales tax Austin does not care.

 

Well, at least they didn't get the OEM cat. So you're still ahead at this point.

Nevertheless, it still sucks though.

 

I still say a grease and glitter bomb blowing in their faces would at least make you feel better

my guess is meth heads would steal your muffler if you didn’t have a cat

 

Problem with booby traps is they tend to not discriminate between a dishonest thief and an honest mechanic. But throwing some fireworks under a car while someone is trying to saw a cat out would be a memorable experience for them...

 

they likely can't read 2 syllable words ... better just draw pictures.
if it's any consolation, down at the Chevy dealer just a couple hours ago - as a large commercial box truck pulled up, sounding like it was running headers. Should'a taken a picture. Big tubular exhaust, with a clear view of a 2 1/2 foot missing section of pipe - not too far in front of the muffler. This, in the low crime city of Irvine Cali.
.

 

You think thieves desperate enough to run a saw under a jacked up car in the middle of the night and hope they don't get caught are able to read what you write on that cat and take that message seriously? Maybe a Cat Shield would do a better job?

 

I like the tilt-switch idea!
Almost makes me wish I lived in a high crime area.
We don't even get porch pirates...

If you get a couple of nibbles on the bait-car, I'd be tempted to do something a little more kinetic, like maybe a fecal bomb or something with dye.

Good Luck!
I have many fond memories of the Palmetto State!
I lived in South Carolina's "Low Country" for a total of 8-9 years back when I was knocking holes in the ocean, and while some parts of Charleston were NEVER what you would call a low crime area, the thought that somebody would yank a car's cat.....twice....seems a little worse than I remember the 80's being down there......but then....I lived in Seattle during the 80's too....