Feral cat noise, the sequel

[Nords]

I should retitle this thread to "Feral cat noise: the never-ending saga".

It's been mostly quiet since August. We never caught any more critters, and we put the trap away after Labor Day. We've had sporadic sightings of the cats around the neighborhood, particularly Boots & Cujo. We continue to have cat droppings on our lanai and our sidewalk. The landlady's sister-in-law continues to visit the rental property to restock the outdoor cat food dishes on its front porch, despite even their tenant's wishes to be left alone. Several of our neighbors are complaining now, and the other day I saw a rat hanging around their driveway. But the sister-in-law remains obdurate, convinced that the cat welfare is more important than a bunch of neighborhood whiners.

A neighbor gave us the second-hand followup on our last cat-trapping episode. Boots and Cujo both had chips, and they were for the landlord. The Hawaii Humane Society called the chip's phone number (disconnected) and sent snail mail to its address. The snail mail ended up being forwarded from what was now rental property to their new home in the Bay Area, where the landlord called her sister-in-law (one town over from us) to go parole the felines. They (I'm talking about the felines here) spent 10 days in custody before being released on their own recognizance near the scene of their original crimes.

In other words, the courts let us down.

Last month we had another mating flareup between a feral male (who's apparently way too smart to take the trap bait) and one of the females. (Now I'm talking about the cats, not the landlords or tenants.) The caterwauling (literally) woke me up at 1:30 AM. I sneaked down to the driveway and practically had my hands on the male before he noticed me, and it was fun to watch his evasive reaction. But we hauled our trap back out of the attic and set it up on the sidewalk.

After this noisy flareup, once again we baited the trap with stinky cat food and stinky tuna... and we waited. I'm pretty sure the rat was overwhelmed with choices, but the next two weeks were supremely boring repetitions of checking the trap 3x/daily. (Apparently the rat is too light to trigger the cat trap's pivoting floor panel, but I'll bait a separate live rat trap for that guy.) After a while we ran out of ideas and kept up the routine, but at least it was quiet at night.

Then a few days ago we came home from surfing and sonofagun, the trap was triggered. I pulled the sheet off the top-- well, hello Boots! Apparently the last trapping session was of negligible long-term training value.

Instead of driving the cat back to the lenient feline juvie court, we drove it six miles to a secure undisclosed [-]location[/-] neighborhood by a farm. We opened the cage door and the Boots headed straight for the barn. I hope it's happy. I mean the cat, not the barn.

Less than 48 hours later spouse looked out our livingroom window onto the front lanai and saw what looked like Boots curled up on our slider sofa. Upon further examination it turned out to be a slightly fatter but close approximation of Boots, probably a sibling. (Still no sign of Cujo.) Boots2 scampered out of our yard onto the adjacent sewage pumphouse property and hid in the field behind it.

So yesterday we baited the trap with catnip. We'll see how that works out.

I'm sure the rat is unhappy about the trap menu, but our guava tree is probably supporting a whole family of those critters.

 

[W2R]

I should retitle this thread to "Feral cat noise: the never-ending saga".

You DO realize that a certain, probably hefty percentage of us who are avidly reading this saga are thinking, "Thank Heaven I am not dealing with that! My life may not be perfect, but at least there are no feral cats yowling around my house!"

I have neither seen nor heard a cat in my neighborhood since about a month ago, late at night, when one jumped from the fence towards my roof and missed, hitting my side door very, very hard. To me he sounded like a thug trying to break my door down. Scared me to death, and him too.. He looked kind of dazed and then regained his cool and wandered off into the night. He is not feral, though, and I know who his owners are.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Why don't you give the trapped cats a tour of the bottom of the lagoon?

How about bringing a coyote onto the property? Oh, yeah--maybe there ain't any in HI.

 

[brewer12345]

How about bringing a coyote onto the property? Oh, yeah--maybe there ain't any in HI.

I am sure many of us could send him some.

I think that by this point I would be on backyard safari with a flashlight and .22. I like animals, but there are limits. And having watched the evolution of a feral cat colony aided and abetted by unrepentant feeders, it will never end simply with trapping and spay/neuter.

 

[Nords]

Why don't you give the trapped cats a tour of the bottom of the lagoon?

I think that by this point I would be on backyard safari with a flashlight and .22. I like animals, but there are limits. And having watched the evolution of a feral cat colony aided and abetted by unrepentant feeders, it will never end simply with trapping and spay/neuter.

We're capable of executing (so to speak) both of those options, and we've discussed them, but their risks of unintended consequences are judged to be worse than the putative rewards. I'm fine with a firearm (or even a bow) once I've regained my proficiency, but I'd have a heck of a challenge getting a clear sight line and making sure that the ammunition stayed in the target.

In our neighborhood I'd need a silencer, too... I still mean for the cats, not the landlord.

We'll win these battles one at a time, and eventually the cat-feeding landlord will realize that all their beneficiaries have [-]been driven to[/-] left for greener pastures. Literally.

How about bringing a coyote onto the property? Oh, yeah--maybe there ain't any in HI.

Mongoose!

 

[Andre1969]

Feral cats can be a real pain. Back in 2010, we had to get rid of three separate litters of kittens, all within a few weeks. The first was a black cat with four kittens that I saw in my Grandmother's back yard, across the street from me. The mother took off running, but the kittens were so small they could barely move. Their eyes were still blue, and they were wobbly. I was able to get all four of them in a box, and take them to the SPCA, which found homes for all four of them.

Then, there was a mother car with four kittens roaming around at my next door neighbor's. The mother cat was nice, and could be picked up, but the kittens were pretty wild. Unfortunately, that batch all went to animal control, courtesy of a trap they provided. Shame that the mother cat was taken, as she was very friendly, but there are just simply too many cats and not enough homes. Oh, they also caught the black mother cat.

The next cat dropped her load of five kittens in the shed behind my house. This one, fortunately, we were able to find homes for all of them, plus the mother.

Unfortunately, I've seen at least four different cats running around again. I just hope we don't end up going through that kitten fiasco again!

Oh, and a few months ago, my roommate went to get into the truck to drive it to work. I had left the back window open a few inches, and a kitten had gotten in! He set it outside, but it went and hopped up into the bed, and back through the window before he had a chance to slide it shut! So, he took it out again, took it back behind the garage, and let it go.

I gotta learn to keep that back window shut. One day, a snake had gotten in, and he didn't realize it until he was about a mile or two down the road!

 

[Meadbh]

Snakes in a [-]plane[/-] truck? Ew!

 

[Purron]

Instead of driving the cat back to the lenient feline juvie court, we drove it six miles to a secure undisclosed [-]location[/-] neighborhood by a farm. We opened the cage door and the Boots headed straight for the barn. I hope it's happy. I mean the cat, not the barn.

I respectfully disagree with this Nords. People have dropped cats off in our area in the past since it's a rural enclave in a very urban area. Not appreciated by DH and I or the dropped off cats I suspect.

 

[brewer12345]

I respectfully disagree with this Nords. People have dropped cats off in our area in the past since it's a rural enclave in a very urban area. Not appreciated by DH and I or the dropped off cats I suspect.

So what is the way to manage the problem? Moving them elsewhere transfers the problem to someone else and may not work, trap and spay/neuter does not work, there are no local predators to control the population, and exterminationis frowned on.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I know that Purron is a true animal advocate, and she, like me, shares Nords' frustration along with a sadness for the human landlord-caused problem that Nords is experiencing.

I'll tell you what I would do in the situation, but it isn't easy to do: I'd take adult, unadoptable animals to my vet for humane euthanasia. I don't advocate any kind of cruelty (and Ed, I know you didn't mean that quite the way it sounded) or feeding one animal to another, but that is honestly what I've done with animals I've found dumped in our rural area that I've been unable to rehome reasonably.

It is a hard thing to do, though, and you have to carry the problem around with you, but to me, it is the best of a lot of hard choices. Far better for an animal to have a good end, peacefully provided, than the alternatives.

As in most things, YMMV.

 

[brewer12345]

Probably makes the most sense, Sarah. A shame the feeders don't understand or don't care what they are doing to the animals.

I am glad the local coyotes and foxes take care of this problem for me. About the only thing the coyotes are good for.

 

[Purron]

So what is the way to manage the problem? Moving them elsewhere transfers the problem to someone else and may not work, trap and spay/neuter does not work, there are no local predators to control the population, and exterminationis frowned on.

Brew,

I think I've made my position on this issue pretty clear in the past. This is near and dear to my heart so think it's best for me not to discuss it here any more. Just not the right place plus the topic has nothing to do with early retirement. I'll just leave it there.

 

[REWahoo]

A wise decision Purron.

Remember the forum has an "Ignore Thread" feature. Might come in handy here.

 

[brewer12345]

Brew,

I think I've made my position on this issue pretty clear in the past. This is near and dear to my heart so think it's best for me not to discuss it here any more. Just not the right place plus the topic has nothing to do with early retirement. I'll just leave it there.

Well, I was not trying to offend you or anyone else. And as yu know, we NEVER talk about anything unrelated to ER...

I really was genuinely wondering what could be done. With active feeders in the area, spay/neuter seems to be tough because there is a seemingly endless supply of new, intact ferals showing up for free grub. Unfortunate for the neghbors and the cats.

 

[Original Wally]

I know that Purron is a true animal advocate, and she, like me, shares Nords' frustration along with a sadness for the human landlord-caused problem that Nords is experiencing.

I'll tell you what I would do in the situation, but it isn't easy to do: I'd take adult, unadoptable animals to my vet for humane euthanasia. I don't advocate any kind of cruelty (and Ed, I know you didn't mean that quite the way it sounded) or feeding one animal to another, but that is honestly what I've done with animals I've found dumped in our rural area that I've been unable to rehome reasonably.

It is a hard thing to do, though, and you have to carry the problem around with you, but to me, it is the best of a lot of hard choices. Far better for an animal to have a good end, peacefully provided, than the alternatives.

As in most things, YMMV.

I agree with Sara - put them down.

 

[Nords]

I respectfully disagree with this Nords. People have dropped cats off in our area in the past since it's a rural enclave in a very urban area. Not appreciated by DH and I or the dropped off cats I suspect.

Hey, you've read the length of this thread (both temporal and the number of posts) and the other steps that we've tried.

If you have a better suggestion, I'm listening.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

If you have a better suggestion, I'm listening.

Feed the feral cats. Then maybe they'll go to another neighbor's place to caterwaul. Or feed them better food so they leave their original home's food to the rats until they stop putting food out.

(No I'm not serious.)

A coworker lives by a neighborhood park, and apparently it's a prime location for pet abandon-ers. Several times he's seen people dump cats or dogs and drive off quickly. The dogs try to chase their (ex-) owner's car. A coyote sometimes finds the abandoned cats before people do.

I think my cat may have been abandoned at a park. My mom and nephews picked her up, and of course the nephews wanted to keep her. The cat didn't get along with everyone and was a bit hyper and aggressive with some of the other people and animals, so eventually she was passed to mom. When I told mom I was considering getting a litterbox-trained adult cat from the shelter she jumped at the opportunity to pass Jinx on to me. Our best estimate is that she is 12-14 months old now. I chipped her in case she gets out and lost. She plays very fiercely so I have to encourage her not to play-bite, play-bat me or play-stalk me or surely she will overdo it in the (near) future. I'm also teaching her she can be grumpy, but anywhere in the house except on or by me.

I think my neighbor feeds stray/feral cats. I have a lot of cat traffic through my yard, but they are mostly quiet. But at a neighborhood meeting I learned a number of the neighbors trap, neuter and return stray cats (well, they take them to a professional...), so everybody should be unloaded.

But your neighbors take the cake. Leaving chipped pets behind and then having a relative go feed them. That's wrong on so many levels.

 

[kyounge1956]

Hey, you've read the length of this thread (both temporal and the number of posts) and the other steps that we've tried.

If you have a better suggestion, I'm listening.

If I find myself in a similar situation, and assuming I had no interest in maintaining friendly relations with those particular neighbors, I think I would be inclined to pursue sterner measures against the cat feeders and/or owners of that property.

I think it likely that they are committing some variety of zoning infraction, or "creating a nuisance" ordinance. I would attempt to bring the building inspectors or health inspectors down around their ears for creating a condition attractive to vermin (the rats) or something along those lines. The fines for such violations can be hefty, so that might get them to stop the feeding, or they may just get mad and move out. Either way, once the food source is eliminated, I would think trap/neuter/release would deal with any residual cat population.

And another thought--I would buy some wolf or coyote pee (available online) and sprinkle it around my property to repel the noisy cats.

 

[Andre1969]

dumb question, but why doesn't "fix and release" work? If the cats are fixed, at least they can't reproduce, so the problem won't get worse. Obviously, the best scenario is no feral cats at all, but I'd still take a few feral cats to cat colonies that grow and get out of hand.

Around these parts, I don't think the cats have any natural predators, once they're full-grown, at least. We have foxes, raccoons, and opossums. I know a raccoon will kill a kitten, and I guess a fox would, too. Dunno about a 'possum, though.

And, I hate to say it, but my neighbor does put food out for the feral cats. I told her she should stop, but she says that when she feeds the cats, they're less likely to mess with the birds.

And, I'll admit, that I do throw old food out in the woods behind my house, probably about 150 feet away. I figure it gives the local critters something to pick at, but if it's old chicken bones and such, I might be inadvertently feeding the feral cats, too?

 

[timeasterday]

... trap and spay/neuter does not work...

How does this not work? Are you referring to more cats coming into the population from other areas? If you have trapped all the cats in an area and had them fixed, there is no population problem and no more noise. This worked in our neighborhood with us trapping all but one cat and paying to have them fixed.

 

[brewer12345]

How does this not work? Are you referring to more cats coming into the population from other areas? If you have trapped all the cats in an area and had them fixed, there is no population problem and no more noise. This worked in our neighborhood with us trapping all but one cat and paying to have them fixed.

I've been watching a situation where an enthusiastic feeder is also doing trap and spay. The feral cat population has only expanded over the years. There is enough of a draw that new cats keep coming in all the time and the trap and spay does not keep up with the influx.

 

[Nords]

dumb question, but why doesn't "fix and release" work? If the cats are fixed, at least they can't reproduce, so the problem won't get worse. Obviously, the best scenario is no feral cats at all, but I'd still take a few feral cats to cat colonies that grow and get out of hand.

The cats that we've caught have all been fixed and released. The problem is with the cats that we have not yet caught. Once we catch them all (and after they're fixed) then we can relax in the knowledge that they won't be yowling at each other.

As Brewer points out, I'm not sure how to determine when we've reached the level of "all the cats".

And, I hate to say it, but my neighbor does put food out for the feral cats. I told her she should stop, but she says that when she feeds the cats, they're less likely to mess with the birds.
And, I'll admit, that I do throw old food out in the woods behind my house, probably about 150 feet away. I figure it gives the local critters something to pick at, but if it's old chicken bones and such, I might be inadvertently feeding the feral cats, too?

If the landlord's manager was a neighbor on our street then I suspect that [-]property vandalism[/-] friendly coercion or an educational visit from the Humane Society would have stopped the feeding long ago.

Unfortunately the feeder lives eight miles away in a neighboring town. Even when the cat food in the dishes was disappearing five times per day, and the cat beds were simply disappearing (or so I've heard), this person would still travel to the house several times per day to restock.

 

[timeasterday]

As Brewer points out, I'm not sure how to determine when we've reached the level of "all the cats".

I guess our population is small enough that we end up getting to know them all. We have made up names for them all.

 

[Redbugdave]

Just thinking out loud...I can't help thinking that there must be some sort of drug/hormone that could be put into the food that would stop ovulation or make the males impotent. That would be another solution. I wonder if it has been researched?

On the other side of the coin...hormones would be temporary or only as long as you feed. But, if you have people nearby that like to feed the cats, it would be a solution and a winner. That along with the ones caught and surgery done would pretty much keep the population down. And Nord's rats might slow down from the hormones, too.

One last solution...Nord's have you tried Ambien?