None of my current crew drown their toys or leave them in my shoes, and most of the cats I've lived with didn't do that either. But way back in the old days before the cat door was permanently closed, the 'gifts' and offerings of 'certain food items' were frequent and plentiful. Problem was, about half the time those 'food items' weren't dead.... not even close. Mice, small birds, lizards, small snakes, various flavors of bugs, all found themselves in our house and not any happier about it than we were. I never decided what was worse... cleaning up a half consumed critter, or catching and removing the lucky survivors.
I remember wondering if they weren't bringing in live prey so we humans could provide some entertainment. I'm sure it was quite amusing seeing Dad climbing a ladder to get a screeching bird out of the ceiling light, or both humans down on the floor trying to get a tiny lizard out from under the fridge. And no doubt Mom screaming at the small garter snake in the dish rack by the sink had them ROFL.
And yes, we always praised them for their gifts... as good cat-guardians should do.