http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/feral-cat-noise-55959.html (the original thread)
Let me start this thread by pointing out that the previous thread was closed by moderators for poster misbehavior. I'm trying to solve a problem here and some of you can help, while you thread-jeopardizing posters can keep your [moderator edit] comments to yourselves.
We're still awakened several nights a week, several times a night, by yowling cats. Spouse is starting to mutter darkly about the cat trap option again. I'm [-]wishing[/-] hoping that the situation will get better on its own as described below.
Since that last thread, we've made a lot of progress on our lot. We've trapped & relocated two rodents that were living in our attic, so we no longer see cats sitting on our roof. We've cleaned out a storage area in our back yard that had turned into (literally) a rat's nest, so the cats have no reason to hang out under there anymore. We've even let the bougainvillea grow up on top of our lava rock perimeter walls, eliminating a four-lane cat highway. Of course now the felines use the sidewalks, but they don't hang around fighting about right of way like they used to on the walls. They're mostly in the street and in the yard.
We have a squirt bottle of cat repellent. I've finally persuaded my spouse that you're supposed to apply it on the sidewalks & outdoor furniture (not lay in wait for the cat like a pepper sprayer) and as far as we can tell it's keeping the felines off the furniture. Whenever I hear a cat in the shrubbery I quietly activate our sprinklers, and that training program seems to be effective. But yesterday a cat had the unmitigated gall to walk up our driveway onto our front lanai, yowling its head off during broad daylight. I walked to the front door to utter a short commentary, and the cat ran away, but apparently it's not totally discouraged by the smell of cayenne.
We've de-rodented and cat-deterred as much as our property allows-- but we still live on a cul-de-sac, next to a sewage pumping station, backing onto a gulch full of agricultural activity. There's plenty of land around our property to support a rat population. And when our guava trees are fruiting, the rats come a-runnin'.
The good news is that our cat-lovin' neighbors up the street (who've been feeding a half-dozen feral kitties) are moving out. They're taking a couple of their housecats with them (to the Mainland) and the rest of the outdoor cats are going to have to fend for themselves. (Nobody else on our street will feed them.) When these neighbors are gone (next week!) I'm hoping that the rest of the cat herd will dissipate to more, shall we say, "fertile" territory. My fear is that the tenants will be encouraged to feed the cats, but these homeowners might have an extended vacancy before they get their tenants. Hopefully the cats will move on before the tenants move in.
Is that wishful thinking? When the cat-feeders stop, do the feral critters really move somewhere else? Keep in mind that I'm planning to use this as a domestic-harmony proposal-- so I need to get it right the [-]first[/-] second time, while I still have a shred of credibility.
I've already suggested earplugs... hence my concern for my remaining shred of credibility.
Is there any other way to keep the critters out of aural range?
If we decide to escalate to offensive tactics again, what's the best cat trap for this situation? Instead of borrowing from the Humane Society, I've been informed that the unilateral decision has been made to buy our own. From our wakeup patterns the trap would probably trip around 11 PM, and then we'd wait until the next morning to visit the vet for a chip read. I want a trap that will catch a cat, of course, but one that will also store it for 8-10 hours until we're ready to release it. The cage would have a bowl of water and some yummy tuna in it, and hopefully it'd have a porous bottom to allow the exit of pee & poop.
If we caught a collared or chipped cat then I'd go back to the owner's house (with the cat, of course) for a little chat about letting their cat roam. Hopefully that would be the end of the problem. If the cat's not chipped or tagged, though, we'd have a choice of either dropping it off at the Humane Society (an hour's drive downtown) or releasing it a few blocks from our house. Any other ideas for dealing with a cat with no ID?
Let me start this thread by pointing out that the previous thread was closed by moderators for poster misbehavior. I'm trying to solve a problem here and some of you can help, while you thread-jeopardizing posters can keep your [moderator edit] comments to yourselves.
We're still awakened several nights a week, several times a night, by yowling cats. Spouse is starting to mutter darkly about the cat trap option again. I'm [-]wishing[/-] hoping that the situation will get better on its own as described below.
Since that last thread, we've made a lot of progress on our lot. We've trapped & relocated two rodents that were living in our attic, so we no longer see cats sitting on our roof. We've cleaned out a storage area in our back yard that had turned into (literally) a rat's nest, so the cats have no reason to hang out under there anymore. We've even let the bougainvillea grow up on top of our lava rock perimeter walls, eliminating a four-lane cat highway. Of course now the felines use the sidewalks, but they don't hang around fighting about right of way like they used to on the walls. They're mostly in the street and in the yard.
We have a squirt bottle of cat repellent. I've finally persuaded my spouse that you're supposed to apply it on the sidewalks & outdoor furniture (not lay in wait for the cat like a pepper sprayer) and as far as we can tell it's keeping the felines off the furniture. Whenever I hear a cat in the shrubbery I quietly activate our sprinklers, and that training program seems to be effective. But yesterday a cat had the unmitigated gall to walk up our driveway onto our front lanai, yowling its head off during broad daylight. I walked to the front door to utter a short commentary, and the cat ran away, but apparently it's not totally discouraged by the smell of cayenne.
We've de-rodented and cat-deterred as much as our property allows-- but we still live on a cul-de-sac, next to a sewage pumping station, backing onto a gulch full of agricultural activity. There's plenty of land around our property to support a rat population. And when our guava trees are fruiting, the rats come a-runnin'.
The good news is that our cat-lovin' neighbors up the street (who've been feeding a half-dozen feral kitties) are moving out. They're taking a couple of their housecats with them (to the Mainland) and the rest of the outdoor cats are going to have to fend for themselves. (Nobody else on our street will feed them.) When these neighbors are gone (next week!) I'm hoping that the rest of the cat herd will dissipate to more, shall we say, "fertile" territory. My fear is that the tenants will be encouraged to feed the cats, but these homeowners might have an extended vacancy before they get their tenants. Hopefully the cats will move on before the tenants move in.
Is that wishful thinking? When the cat-feeders stop, do the feral critters really move somewhere else? Keep in mind that I'm planning to use this as a domestic-harmony proposal-- so I need to get it right the [-]first[/-] second time, while I still have a shred of credibility.
I've already suggested earplugs... hence my concern for my remaining shred of credibility.
Is there any other way to keep the critters out of aural range?
If we decide to escalate to offensive tactics again, what's the best cat trap for this situation? Instead of borrowing from the Humane Society, I've been informed that the unilateral decision has been made to buy our own. From our wakeup patterns the trap would probably trip around 11 PM, and then we'd wait until the next morning to visit the vet for a chip read. I want a trap that will catch a cat, of course, but one that will also store it for 8-10 hours until we're ready to release it. The cage would have a bowl of water and some yummy tuna in it, and hopefully it'd have a porous bottom to allow the exit of pee & poop.
If we caught a collared or chipped cat then I'd go back to the owner's house (with the cat, of course) for a little chat about letting their cat roam. Hopefully that would be the end of the problem. If the cat's not chipped or tagged, though, we'd have a choice of either dropping it off at the Humane Society (an hour's drive downtown) or releasing it a few blocks from our house. Any other ideas for dealing with a cat with no ID?
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