Remember this little guy? Last week, I asked you if you knew who he was, and readers Ryan, Calista, Victoria, Sydney, and Philippe all said that they’ve had the pleasure of meeting him.
His name is Hank the Greenbelt Cat, and, like most people, I met him on the Greenbelt near the Warm Springs Golf Course. I saw a sign in a yard that had his Instagram handle (@hankthegreenbeltcat), and about 100 feet down the path, he came out of a patch of weeds and walked right up to me.
I reached out to his owner via Instagram, who told me Hank’s story.
A few years ago, a runner in the foothills found herself being followed by a three or four-month-old Hank. She couldn’t find his owner, and he followed her home for two miles. Then her relatives, Hank’s current owners, took him in and eventually moved to a house along the Greenbelt. They were nervous about how he’d adapt. They didn’t need to be.
“We started getting daily calls that [people walking by] had found our cat or asking if he was lost, and it was so frequent that we gave him a collar and an Instagram account so people would know he has a home on the Greenbelt and is not lost — just friendly,” Hank’s owner said.
Hank's owners are big Boise State fans, and that's how he got his name 😬. After some deliberation, Hank's owners have decided not to change his name to Taylen. (Blake Hunter / City Cast Boise)
Now, Hank has a few hundred followers and even more friends, and his Instagram is full of people who have ran into him and posted about it.
“He seems to love life and friends on the Greenbelt,” Hank’s owner said. “He likes to hunt, climb trees, chase squirrels, and get everyone's attention that walks by.”
