Cats in the Garden

[Tallpine]

I caught a probably feral one today.  It was freaking insane in the trap.  I took it to animal control and it calmed down after the truck ride.  I told the gal at the counter this one was evil.  It seems she didn't believe me because it was acting docile...  she got a cat carrier and tried to transfer from my trap into it and the kitty got loose.  It climbed her leg and jumped off onto some quilts hanging on the wall...  took out 3 of the quilts, then went over the counter into the office space where it proceeded to knock a bunch of stuff off of desks before it came out.  It took 3 animal control officers to corral up the kitty, all of them got scratched and one was bitten. 

I stayed in the corner out of the line of fire trying not to laugh.  I don't think this one is going to make it through the night...

And you didn't get a video ...?   

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

wife 1.1 "requested " that i save 3 feral kittens my dog had treed. looking back i shoulda dived outa the tree as soon as i was 15 feet up  woulda hurt less.  ended up scratched gnawed and thoroughly unhappy. thankfully i'd already had a pair of rabies shots when i worked at shelter.  i got some spectacular infections though

[roo_ster]

get a box that is rated to charge 5-7 miles of wire, for livestock.  greatly reduces repeat offenders. and reduces tree rats as well

Was this a solar-powered box?  I have only ever used the itty-bitty boxes for our yard.  Worked great for the kids dogs.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

this was a plug in box  i have a solar one for when i take the goats to clear property away from home.  use t posts and lots of that fiberglass cord with the wire embeded.  as much to keep out dogs as to keep goats in

vis a vis the box?  a friend was wearing flip flops and in a puddle of water ducking under when his bald head hit the wire  he made a peculiar sound

[RocketMan]

The scarecrows seem to be working well thus far.  Still no cats in the garden.  We did get the lawn mowing crew two weeks in a row, though. 

[41magsnub]

Beemer (the 11 yo chocolate lab) is in trouble.  She discovered my tomato plants Saturday.  By my estimate she ate 6 almost ripe baseball sized early girl tomatoes and about a dozen yellow cherry tomatoes.  I caught her in the act with tomato juice dripping from her mouth.  

The chicken wire is up and stern words were spoken.  She does not act sick or anything and it has been almost 2 days so I don't think she ate any greens or if she did not many....  supposedly green tomatoes and the stems are toxic to dogs.

[MrsSmith]

Had to do the same thing with my garden last year. One of the dogs absolutely loved tomatoes and cucumbers. Craziest thing I've ever seen! Vet said the pup could eat all the vegies he wanted but didn't say anything about the greens. I'll have to look into that.

[41magsnub]

And so it begins again.  I have landscape fabric down over the raised beds after tilling and weeding them last weekend.  I noticed this morning that a cat tore through the fabric and left me a present.  The traps go out tonight.

Doesn't help me right now, but the hunting dog I pick up in July should help.

[zxcvbob]

I killed the first wabbit yesterday morning.  There were 2 in the back yard, and by the time I got the pellet gun ready and managed to get out on the deck w/o the dogs getting out*, one got away.  I popped the other one and he fell over DRT.  I like these Crosman hollow-point pellets.  With round-nosed or pointed pellets, too many times the varmint does a backflip and then runs off to die slowly somewhere.

_{*the only access to the back yard is from the patio door, and when I open it usually the dogs go boiling out and scare away any small creatures -- but they never catch them.}

[Tuco]

A magnum air rifle will do for a typical housecat.

Shot placement is key.  I suggest reading Corbett's "Man Eaters of Karamojo" for a realistic account of dealing with gutshot felines.  Don't ask me how I know.

[RoadKingLarry]

I thought this was going to be a fertilizer thread

They really need to be composted for several months first.

[Cliffh]

I've taken to tying a 20' rope to the live trap whenever it's set out; too many skunks have ended up in the trap.  I then use the rope to drag the trap around back next to a good backstop before using a .22 rifle.

With the coyotes and buzzards around here I don't even have to bury them afterwards.

[Tallpine]

I've taken to tying a 20' rope to the live trap whenever it's set out; too many skunks have ended up in the trap.  I then use the rope to drag the trap around back next to a good backstop before using a .22 rifle.

With the coyotes and buzzards around here I don't even have to bury them afterwards.

Coyote bait ?   

[Cliffh]

Don't really need bait for the coyotes around here.  I've seen them trotting through and around the yard at all times of day & night. 

Two of them came through the yard one night around midnight as I was letting the dog out to do her business.  One of them stopped about 15 yards from the house and stood there looking at me and the dog while the other kept on, but then circled back around through the trees along the creek.  We stood there looking at each other across the sights of the .357 for almost 5 minutes.  I really didn't want to dig a hole the next morning.......

[Tallpine]

Don't really need bait for the coyotes around here.  I've seen them trotting through and around the yard at all times of day & night. 

Two of them came through the yard one night around midnight as I was letting the dog out to do her business.  One of them stopped about 15 yards from the house and stood there looking at me and the dog while the other kept on, but then circled back around through the trees along the creek.  We stood there looking at each other across the sights of the .357 for almost 5 minutes.  I really didn't want to dig a hole the next morning.......

Just hang them from a tree or a fence post.  Legend has it that will keep the others away ...