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A cat - owner unknown - has been busy killing the baby birds this year. I even encountered the cat one night climbing up a Wisteria vine to get to the slots between the rafters of the roof of our porch - a favorite place for birds to nest. This is a cat determined to take prey.
I've had to watch and listen to various mating pairs lamenting for days for their dead or missing babies. It is quite a sad thing to sit on your porch and hear the moms/dads trilling over and over for days - waiting for a reply.
My instincts are rather dark. "What's fair for the birds is fair for the cat", but I've been restraining that impulse. However, this cat just struck again, pulling down a nest and leaving 4 babies dead. I've had quite enough. I'm feeling vengeful.
I've never known trapping cages to work with a consistent effect. This cat strikes me as no fool.
We have a dog. This cat comes often late a night when our dog is inside.
Short of retaliation or stinking up my yard how do I convince a cat to stay away?
And yes, I've got a few soft spots . . Don't mess with my babies!
But whatever - make sure the little kitty is safe :)
There are also sprays you can get from garden centres, and probably from Innovations-style catalogues.
Or you could put a sign up telling it to keep away ;-)
Don't be too mean though - it's only doing what it's supposed to do, I suppose.
Don't be too mean though - it's only doing what it's supposed to do, I suppose.
Yeah I agree, while I'm sure you're tempted to get that old air rifle down from the attic, bear in mind it's only doing what nature always intended it to instinctively do.
I've heard good reports on the ultra-sonic devices.
TJ
you could plant some cat nip--theoretically the cat would get too high to accomplish birdicide.
Another idea is to plant some cat nip away from the nests so the cats would stay over there.
We bought some cat nip-infused chocolate for our cat. It spent the whole time playing with them, and never eating them.
Ah! You could plant the cat nip a long way away, and then leave a 'cookie trail' of cat nip-infused chocolate.
What about a dog house?
Lion Dung supposed to work well
Hmmmm. that could be as problematic ;)
Macguru - is there a Lion khasi for this sort of thing?
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Webwork explaining to FBI, psychiatrists, lawyers and judge, he just had to kill catwomen ::: Priceless!
>>Macguru - is there a Lion khasi for this sort of thing?
I heard of dwarf goats...
SaveFluffyTheBabyBirdKillerCatFromWebwork.com
Vote for: 1) The birdies; 2) The precious kitty
PayPal gladly accepted in lieu of lion's dung?
There's got to be a remedy that doesn't involve me having to pay for someone else's cat having the joy of coming on my property and killing my bird friends.
What is it that cats just really don't like that won't stink up the place or annoy the neighbors AND that I won't have to pony up $50+ for?
Let's not forget this is not a cat vs dog issue. What do you bird lovers advise? There are innocent birds involved here. What did a bird ever do to hurt any of us . . . besides pooping in massive numbers and quantity on the cars parked anywhere near the birdfeeders . . .
Ummmmm . . . hmmmmm . . . nah, they sing for their food. Gotta love 'em.
Webwork,
There is probably a legion of "precious kitties" around, all innocent as baby bird killers. Those hunting for birds (and else) at night are probably stray cats with no owners. They just follow their instincts, and will keep on doing so for centuries (given that mens wisen up not to kill the planet in the mean time). Problem is, mens are creating artificial, but ideal breeding microclimates for both birds and cats in the burbs...
[edited by: lawman at 8:53 pm (utc) on July 6, 2005]
Mac, if I seriously entertained catthenasia, there'd be no cat to talk about, so no, I'm not going to do the cat in.
I understand it's their nature. I'm more p.o.ed at the cat's owner for putting me through this. I know, from friends, that many cats that hunt do their owner's the favor of bringing their kill home and dropping it somewhere in plain sight. If that's the case here then this cat's owner must be witness to a large pile of dead carcasses - and the owner is not doing much about it since the darned feline keeps coming back for more.
[edited by: Webwork at 8:23 pm (utc) on July 6, 2005]
I'm a bird lover. Especially roast chicken.
Here's a serious hint: buy a sack of cheap cat food and a plastic bowl ;)
You got 4 choices to achieve the goal :
Get serious cat repellent hardware ;
Get a job at the Zoo to get cheap Lion dung ;
Grow catnip to have hordes of half baked stray cats drooling around ;
Shoot a cat, get arrested, deal with it, and buy tons of personal lubricants.
[edited by: Macguru at 8:28 pm (utc) on July 6, 2005]
Oh crikie! Cat extortion? Payola?
"Yo! Bird lover! Ya, you! You want your little birdies to live? Then pay up or me and Moe and Bubba will be back to pay your little feathered friends a visit."
Here's the rub: The device doesn't distinguish between dogs and cats, so whilst it was busy scaring off the cats it would be doing the same to our chocolate Lab. Next thing I know our Lab will be afraid to go near the front of the house. Not good. Need to her to have full range and run of the property to keep the burglars at bay.
Cats hate sticky stuff on their paws?
Cats don't like anything that "smells them up"? How do I place something to "stink up the cat"?
Unbelievable how little there is that 1) works on cats and, 2) doesn't have "side effects". Might mean that cats would do well in battle? Send all the local cats to the <war zone du jour>?
Think I may have to fall back on the local pet control agency. Probably catch the wrong cat IF the trap ever works.
Next year I think I'll put up some 2x2 wire fencing near the porch eves - large enough for birds to come and go but not large enough for cats to easily get in and out.
[edited by: lawman at 9:02 pm (utc) on July 6, 2005]
"Your #%!# Condors keeping eating our cats!"
"Well, it's their nature, cats are food to Condors . . . "
Nah.
As noted, the cat's just doing what cats do. And this one is to be admired for doing it well.
You don't shoot spammers do you, when they do their job well? ;-)
Nope the device cannot do this.
I dont know how much dad payed for his gizmos, but his toys are connected the sector. He can switch them them all on or off at will.
Grow catnip to have hordes of half baked stray cats drooling around
That just sounds like a reasonable solution to me. And fun to watch.
What about soaking the birds in tabasco sauce?
In a city situation, I reckon the easiest thing is to trap it. Some counties will be happy to provide the trap, set it up, take it away - the whole nine yards.
A few years back I wrestled a baby bird loose from the jaws of a 6+ foot long black snake that slithered up the same wisteria to get to a bird's nest. I heard the mom and dad birds squalking up a storm whilst I sat in my office next to the porch, so naturally I had to investigate. To this day I don't know what compelled me to grab that damned snake, except for some sympathetic response to the cries of momma and poppa bird.
What is it with creatures picking on baby birds? What did they ever do to hurt anyone?
What is it with creatures picking on baby birds? What did they ever do to hurt anyone?
If I were you I would definitely build a little cat stopping barrier of some sort. OR you could do what my mom does to keep the squirrels off of her bird feeder... grease the pole! If that's an option it's LOTS of fun to watch as the critters loose their footing and fall down!
Or something like this [critter-repellent.com...] - it says in the FAQ that it won't keep dogs away.
