Just pussycats when they’ve had a few

Janis Cuevas of South Pasadena wonders if some local thieves got more than they bargained for. A crime report from local police mentioned that two “stoned” lions were taken from a residence.

And, noted Cuevas: “You never know what a stoned lion will do.”

--

Disorder in the court? Instruction No. 2 on a grand jury application intrigued Barbara Ogawa of Monterey (see accompanying). “Gives new meaning to ‘Justice is blind,’ ” she commented.

--

Mystery dish o’ the day: While in a restaurant in Pakistan, Dick Seibel of Glendale noticed an unusual menu item (see accompanying). “I guessed it referred to the classic Waldorf salad made with apples, walnuts, celery, etc,” he said. “But what I received was plain coleslaw.”

--

Back to getting stoned: Near the 405 Freeway, Mike Owen of Manhattan Beach spotted what seemed to be a giant cask of especially potent spirits (see photo).

--

I beg your pardon! Libby Lent of Pasadena observed that a local newspaper had renamed one of the city’s most stately landmarks (see accompanying). I don’t think the new name will catch on.

--

Wild things: I’ve heard from readers who were happy to hear that some feral cats have been set free from L.A. animal shelters to chase rodents in infested police stations. “It sounds like the ultimate work-release program,” remarked Eileen Gilbert of Mar Vista.

Not that the animals will show any gratitude.

In my lifetime, I’ve given room and board to four feral cats and each loved one thing: food. That was about it.

Bam (the name of our latest) hates it when I hold him and is indifferent to my petting him. He views my hands and arms as cat toys -- at any given time I usually have a bite healing (two at present).

If I don’t serve him a meal fast enough, he’ll take a swipe at my legs as I walk by. I don’t wear shorts around him.

Bam does have a passion for my wife, though. Any chance he gets he’ll jump in her lap. She’s the only person he wants to be near. He loves to put his face next to hers.

It’s odd -- almost as though he knows she is allergic to cats.

--

miscelLAny: In honor of Halloween, the website www.cracked.com has compiled “The 5 Creepiest Urban Legends (That Happen to Be True),” and my friend Jeff Bliss notes that Long Beach cracked the list.

About 30 years ago, it was discovered that a dummy in the funhouse at the Nu-Pike amusement park there was not a prop but the mummy of a frontier outlaw named Elmer McCurdy. The truth came out after his arm fell off while he was being moved during the filming of TV’s “Six Million Dollar Man.”

Poor Elmer was not new to showbiz. After he was killed in a 1911 shootout with authorities, he became the star attraction in a series of traveling carnivals. Somewhere along the way, people forgot that he was a real person. He’s now buried in Oklahoma -- for good, one hopes.

--

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com