Cat Problem..

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I have a cat problem, next door is the cat breeder everyone loves to hate. I don't have a beef with their choice of pets or what they do with them. However, I have right at 8 acres and some pretty big plans. Right now I am ready to add fish to my ponds, I want chickens soon. Then there is the wildlife I have quite a few rabbits and several game species of birds a plenty, one being Quail which has become rare in these parts. I feed the wildlife and love that they are here. Here is the problem, these cats hunt my property. I already have 600ft of chain link I guess 40" or so tall seperating the property. Any ideas on detering the predator cats from coming over here. I see them being a big problem with the fish in my ponds. They eat my beagles dogfood at will! Any ideas?

[MidWestMat]

I have the same problem. I have 26 acres and the neighbor on one side has cats. They are certainly not spayed and at least half feral. So I have / had a large problem with recurring feral cats. If allowed to propagate unchecked, they decimate the local quail rabbit and squirrel populatons and I am sure other non game species as well. Not to mention getting a couple of the free range chickens, terrorizing my own cats.

I tried shooting them, but ferals are largely nocturnal so only got a few that way. So this year I finally broke down and bought a live trap, have captured and sent to THE FARM 7 cats in 2 months. That should bring me a resurgence in small game populatoins as well as reducing hazards for my stock.

Near as I can reckon, once their excess pets go feral and overflow onto my property where they begin to adversely affect the local ecology, they become threats not pets and must be dealt with accordingly.

[LowKey]

I don't see them being a big problem with your fish ponds, unless they happen to like swimming in water (some do).
I'd be more worried about your quail and other small birds or baby rabbits.
Ask Winnie, but I bet free ranging adult chickens would take a cat apart, given the chance. Ours were pretty tough on my dad's little dauchsund.

As for keeping them out? Eight acres? They can jump a 40" fence if they want to. That's too much property to keep spraying with PetAway (and you have a beagle you don't want to drive insane). Coyotes eat cats... a bigger dog or two?

I like cats. A lot. But the feral population needs to be controlled, whether the bleeding hearts understand that or not.

[OhioGrizzLapp]

Cat skins make excellent home made banjo skins.............just sayin !!!!!!!!

[JPGreco]

Yeah, you need something that will fight the cats, but not take the game they were killing either. Maybe some larger game birds that are tougher? Roosters? Turkeys? Not sure how mean they are. However, their young are still a potential food source for the cats.

Cats can climb trees to get over fences, so you would need to set your fence inside your land a good distance and remove all the trees outside the fence so they can't climb and jump over. Not sure if cats can climb chain link fences or not but they can definitely jump the fence though, so you need to go higher (at least 6'). I would also add another foot or two at the top angled out towards the outer perimeter so they cannot climb it. Kittens might be able to slip through the links though, so you need chicken wire at least halfway up. However, all these precautions to keep out cats will limit wildlife movement as well. You would also need to get all of the cats off your property once you secure your perimeter. And thats still not 100% fail proof.

If you get a couple of more dogs and make it so they can't dig under the fence, and just let them run free, that might help. I mean, feral cats are definitely a problem. Though racoons would pose a greater danger to a fish pond (they can destroy koi ponds)

[LowKey]

Borrow SD's attack geese!

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Doesn't sound like there is a simple solution. Not one that is right in my mind anyway. What about the underground fences for dogs ..do they work on cats?

[LowKey]

The underground fences are taught to work. By putting a shock collar on the dog until he is afraid to cross the boundary line. The collar beeps in proximity to the fence but will give a mild shock if the boundary is crossed.
Won't work on cats without collars. Not sure it would work on cats with collars.

[oldsoldier]

Doesn't sound like there is a simple solution. Not one that is right in my mind anyway. What about the underground fences for dogs ..do they work on cats?

CS as far as I know those "underground" and "invisible fences are basically a radio beam that works in tandem with a collar you put on your pet and when they gey to close to the perimeter they get "zapped'. I can't remember which ones at the moment but I'll check and see but we have a friend who bordered their land with some kind of plant that cats hate and will stay away from. Supposidly Wildlife is not effected by the plants so you won't have to worry about that. Otherwise maybe a strand or two of electric fence around your place may work?

[randyt]

snare practise ???????????

[crashdive123]

Secure the food items so they cannot get into them. Live traps are effective in catching feral cats as well.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Thanks guys, ruled out the underground fence...Thinking maybe electric along the top of it will work. So if I live trap them...then what? The neighbor won't miss them there has been 4 or 5 dead in the road recently..it is a real problem. One reason I moved out here was I didn't want codes enforcement or anyone telling me what I can and can't do here so I respect that but not on my place!

[crashdive123]

If the neighbors won't control them, and the go feral -- how far is it to work? Let them go at least 10 miles from home. Or - you could be like Davey Crocket and make a hat.

[LowKey]

Oh, yeah. Raccoons are bad with shallow fish ponds. Give them some depth and give the fish some structure to hide in that a raccoon can't reach into.

[MidWestMat]

THE FARM

a mythical place where dead animals go where the game is plentiful and the weather is great. After I trap them I shoot them in the head, slide them into a Wal Mart bag and drop them in the trash. To catch them and release them is just giving someone else my problem, and that sure isnt right in my book. Better to make the 'hard choice' and solve the problem.

In my humble opinion of course.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

I posted the ponds on an earlier thread, they are not really shallow. I have seen a cat stress fish just trying to get at them. Lost my favorite fish of all time that way. It was a beautiful Oscar about 2lbs I raised from a walmart purchase. I was mad to say the least. I can haul them off I guess but I swear it is a breeding factory!

[r0ckhamm3r]

I had the same problem for a while. If you let it go, the problem will get much worse. Feral cats breed quickly. Live traps and a bolt action .22 with subsonic rounds were my answer. I still see one every once in a while, but not nearly as bad as it was.

On a side note, add the carcasses to the compost pile.

[Trabitha]

We have laws in this state that protect land owners against that type of irresponsible behavior. The last place I was at was easy...just needed to call animal control and they were forced to have them all fixed or catch them and sign them over to the pound.
This place isn't as easy, as we don't have an animal control officer. Instead we have a zoning officer that doesn't care much.
I planted cat mint ALL OVER around the far outside of my property. They LOVE it and it seems to keep them away from the interior during the growing season. My biggest issue was their digging in my gardens and using it as their own personal bathroom. GROSS!!!
I also invested in some coyote pee and spread that around. Sadly...that washes away with rain, so it adds up in cost.

They are find to have around to a degree...when you have farm animals, as they keep the rodent population at bay and save you food storage. However when the population gets TOO high, they become more of a problem than the rodents.
I would start with your local zoning office and/or animal control and see if you can get yourself an ally. She may be breaking all kinds of local laws that someone else is being paid to enforce.

Oh...and shetland sheep dogs are GREAT at keeping those buggars away! LOL! They hear them coming and see EVERYTHING...then chase them away so fast it will make your head spin.

[COWBOYSURVIVAL]

Thanks Trabitha, I can't even get codes enforcement to take care of feral horses here..and it isn't that I want to. I wanted to live where you can actually do as you please...I chose it!

[BLEUXDOG]

My neighbor had 5 or 6 cats and she let them out in the yard all the time. When they found their way over a 6 foot privacy fence her husband put a hot wire on it. It was on the inside of her fence about four inches from the top and on insulaters that held the wire about four inches away from the wood. Their cats NEVER got out again.

I would run a hot wire on the outside of the fence with wire insulaters holding the wire as far away from the fence as I could get, 4 to 6 inches. This should stop the cat from topping the fence. I would not want to have to deal with feral cats. This is going to be a marathon fight not a sprint.