rustler

rustle +‎ -er

rustler (plural rustlers)

1. One who rustles; a cattle (or other livestock) thief.
   • 2017 September 23, “From north Wales to Norfolk, distraught beekeepers ask: who’s stealing our hives?”, in The Observer‎:

     Two years have now passed since Hayward’s farm in north Wales was raided, leading to the loss of tens of thousands of bees. But the rustlers have continued to be active. Most recently they have targeted the property of one of her Anglesey neighbours, where around 40,000 bees were taken last month.

2. A bovine animal that can care for itself in any circumstances.
3. (US, slang, Western US, dated) An alert, energetic, driving person.
4. That which makes a rustling noise.
   • Thomas J. Murn, Outside View: nature columns from the Evansville Review

     Like this weekend, with moderate temperatures, the sky a bowl of blue, and the wind not a cold curse or a hot furnace, but a bit of a leaf-rustler, a cooling refreshment.

• (livestock thief): see Thesaurus:rustler

• (livestock thief): horse thief, sheepstealer, napper (obsolete)

• turrels