Chasing cats away

[BB]

I practice catch and release fishing and thought about using a paintball gun with flourescent orange paint to hunt and "tag" deer with the upside being other hunters will see blaze orange and hopefully hesitate long enough trying to decide what they are seeing to allow the deer to make good its escape.

I would talk with your local Fish and Game / Ranger / local police... I can imagine the laws about animal cruelty--no matter your reasons--might hold some unpleasant surprises. Might treat it like hunting deer with a pellet rifle and no license and/or out of season.

-Bill

 

[3rd_shift]

BaROOOOOO!!!,
BARK-BARK-BARK!!

A dog can work wonders on cats trying to stray in.
"MREOOOOWWW! pFFFFT! ROWWR!
The big problem thereafter is finding more cats for them to scare off. :naughty:


I had a cat for 21 years, and she didn't take long to figure out where not to go in the neighborhood after she graduated from kittenhood.

 

[BIGIRON]

Interesting point.

Texas has a fairly recent law about harrassing and interfering with legal hunting activities. I could see how a zealous GW might push the envelope on that one.

On the other hand, I think it's a great idea for cats. Certainly make their owners wonder.

 

[Martin]

Today my wife bought 1 kg of catfood. Every neighbor she met, she explained she'd be feeding the cats on our grounds from now on. She will put the food near the spots with most droppings.
None of the neighbors was fond of this idea as the cats would probably look for a new toilet. Eventually, the one feeding the worst food (or no food) will end up with them all. I just hope we don't attract too many of the forest creatures like IsaacHayes' experienced.
Now I understand why cats around here are getting fatter every day..

 

[BIGIRON]

Great idea Martin. Hope it works. Be interested in how long they stay away after you stop feeding. Let us know pls.

 

[Martin]

Will do !
I secretly hope that the cats go bang from all the food. Like that guy in Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life".

 

[TedTheLed]

just make sure the bits of food are "waffer thin..." :lol:

 

[lukus]

When I was growing up we had a neighbor that had over 30 cats. Our place started to smell terrible, they had loud, yowling cat sex outside of my window at night, I couldn't let my cat outside without injury to her; and then one night I left my truck window open. One or more males got in and sprayed the whole interior. It even dripped from the windshield and off the dash. Unbelievable smell and tough to get rid of. Multiple steam cleanings and I still had to drive with the window open - resale value $0. That was it, I started shooting them when I saw them down near the stock pond. Nine months, and around 2 dozen cats later our place smelled like it should, we had birds, frogs, and other small animals again, and I could sleep through the night. Kind of a final option, but very effective.

I live on 17 acres in the country now, and we occasionally have problems with feral cats. I feed the wild song birds and the feral cats will collapse a local population of birds if given the chance. A .17HMR is the ticket, quick and humane. And yes, I still have a cat "Bob" that's an indoor baby.

Do a google search on feral cats to get an idea of how destructive they can be. They are the bane of many conservation efforts.

 

[TedTheLed]

that's why we spay and neuter our cats..

 

[robinhood4x4]

I practice catch and release fishing and thought about using a paintball gun with flourescent orange paint to hunt and "tag" deer with the upside being other hunters will see blaze orange and hopefully hesitate long enough trying to decide what they are seeing to allow the deer to make good its escape.

Interfering with legal hunting is illegal in California. If it's illegal in Ca, there's a good chance it's illegal in Tn. If I witnessed you do this I'd turn you into Fish and Game.

 

[TedTheLed]

animal marking:

http://www.ccac.ca/en/CCAC_Programs/Guidelines_Policies/GUIDES/ENGLISH/V2_84/CH22_2.HTM

interference with hunters:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=interfering+hunting+law&btnG=Google+Search

from the above, it would seem paintball marking, or any other marking, wouldn't come under the term "interference" --

there are some deer who come here to visit and drink regularly, they are so tame, I can often get quite close.. and I'd hate to see them killed... maybe a nice kevlar vest would look handsome on Rudolph..

 

[robinhood4x4]

I skimmed through the first link and didn't read much of the second so perhaps I missed something (got back late and need to get up early tomorrow). There's a big difference between scientists and F&G using a tool to study animals and blatantly shooting animals with a paint gun with the intent to prevent a lawful hunter from harvesting the animal.

This is way off the original poster's topic so if anybody would like to continue this topic, please start a new post.

To keep this on topic...What does animal control say about the cats? Who's responsibility is it? (I'm guessing it's the owners and that they can be fined). Maybe they have suggesting on keeping the cat away.

 

[Martin]

A motion-activated sprinkler is on its way from the US to me. Let's see.

 

[stevesurf]

Hello all...you guys are taking the direct approach; why not lure the cats away with laser pointers? They'll get conditioned quickly and go wherever the laser appears - it works!

 

[Empath]

The posts suggesting hauling the cats off somewhere have been deleted. Let's keep this thread focused on legal and humane remedies.

 

[Martin]

The past week, my motion-activated sprinkler has arrived from America !
It won't be before next year when I play with it. A sprinkler doesn't make much difference in this type of weather and cats now stay inside homes and barns.

Until now, irregularly placing a little cat food in front of our door has kept away any droppings from the paved area there. Some mesh on the grass along the walkway worked as well. The rest of the garden we just ignored.

In spring, I will have a go with the sprinkler and update this thread.

 

[Kirk]

Our old dog (a labrador retriever) "adopted" a feral kitten when her mom abandoned her. We live-trapped the kitten, had her spayed, and brought her home. She hung around for a few months until other ferals started hanging around. She either was killed by coyotes, other cats, or left to join the circus. Bummer, she was a cute cat and my old dog misses her. She was not a problem. We fed her and we don't believe she hunted, as least very successfully. Now we "airsoft" the other ferals and chuck a few rocks. So far, they haven't gotten the idea to stay away. Maybe this winter, when it snows, will thin the herd. It may sound cruel that we hope these feral cats die, but they are NOT natural to "wild America". They are exotic compared to mice, birds, deer, coyotes, cougars, raccoons, skunks, and all the other "natives". We don't go out of our way to harm feral cats, but if they die off, the world would be a better place. By the way, we have 2 totally indoor cats and love them to death. They don't get outside to kill critters or get killed by something bigger.
Kirk