What would you do?

I live in the country, with a neighbor just across the road. This neighbor has a few cats. These cats roam all over, including in my yard. While these cats might help keep the mice population down, they also are affecting the birds that visit my feeders. I've caught the cats several times in my yard. So far I've just scared them off.

I used to be a cop for the county in which I live. I've very familiar with the laws concerning animals. There's no "leash law" for cats. However they're suppose to stay on the owner's property.

This is getting me a little upset with these cats.

There *should* be something if it's illegal for the cats to be allowed to run freely and off the owners' property. Maybe check w/ animal control in your county?

I have a big super soaker that I use on the cats whenever we find them in our yard ߘ Have not had nearly as many feeder incidents in the last 2 years.

Snydremark wrote in post #18022345
There *should* be something if it's illegal for the cats to be allowed to run freely and off the owners' property. Maybe check w/ animal control in your county?

I have a big super soaker that I use on the cats whenever we find them in our yard ߘ Have not had nearly as many feeder incidents in the last 2 years.

There's not an animal control in the county. This is a smallish county, so the deputies handle everything. I used to be a deputy. Here's the catch-22. While the owner is to keep pets, livestock on their property, they're not required to leash or tether cats.

Soaker, didn't think of that. Definitely will have to try that.

Is there an animal shelter near you that take in domestic animals? Maybe trap them, turn them in to the animal shelter and let the owner know where their "pet(s)" are if they aren't willing to keep their cats indoors where they need to be.

Have you spoken to them. Invite them over for a beer or soda. Get to know them. Might take some time. Explain your frustration to them as you did to us. They might turn out to be good neighbors. If that doesn't work, super soaker.

Buy a silencer for your gun and a shovel

frozenframe wrote in post #18022283
What would you do?

I would trap them with Conibear traps - the traps that instantly kill whatever they catch. I would set the traps in a concealed area, so that no one could see the dead, trapped cats. Then I would dispatch the bodies in thick brush many miles from where I lived so that no one would find them. I would not bother trying to abide by the law in this case. Illegal methods are sometimes the only means that allow us to get what we want in an efficient manner.

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Larry Johnson wrote in post #18022573
Have you spoken to them. Invite them over for a beer or soda. Get to know them. Might take some time. Explain your frustration to them as you did to us. They might turn out to be good neighbors. If that doesn't work, super soaker.

This why the super soaker in our case. Tried talking to the owners about it and was met with a shrug of the shoulders and "predators do what predators do" attitude. Without being willing to try

If they become a nuisance again, I may go the route of live trapping them and returning them that way...

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18022665
I would trap them with Conibear traps - the traps that instantly kill whatever they catch.

You've never had a pet, have you?

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18022665
I would trap them with Conibear traps - the traps that instantly kill whatever they catch. I would set the traps in a concealed area, so that no one could see the dead, trapped cats. Then I would dispatch the bodies in thick brush many miles from where I lived so that no one would find them. I would not bother trying to abide by the law in this case. Illegal methods are sometimes the only means that allow us to get what we want in an efficient manner.

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I'm with Tom on this one. Cats cause a lot of problems. They are not native, and destroy massive numbers of our native wildlife. People need to keep them indoors where they belong. I don't let my dog run all over to defecate in the neighbors yards, kill the native wildlife, or the neighbors poultry.

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OhLook wrote in post #18022678
You've never had a pet, have you?

When I was growing up, my family had pets; the typical family dog. But strangely enough, I never really grew attached to them. I guess that by nature I am just really not a "pet person" at all. Truthfully, having a pet really doesn't make sense to me, and I don't understand the desire to have one.

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I have live trapped, and went as far as returning the cat to the owner in the trap. People who want to keep their animals usually get the message. I have a lot of feral cats in my neighborhood, and unfortunately they go to the pound when I catch them.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18023281
When I was growing up, my family had pets; the typical family dog. But strangely enough, I never really grew attached to them. I guess that by nature I am just really not a "pet person" at all. Truthfully, having a pet really doesn't make sense to me, and I don't understand the desire to have one.

That helps to explain why the solution you proposed in Post #7 is so one-sided. Many people form intense emotional attachments to animals that live with them. To them, deliberate killing of their animal would be an outrage. The welfare of the cats themselves might also be considered. I don't see killing one species just because you prefer to have another species around. Repellent sprays can be used to protect one's property.

Snydremark wrote in post #18022345
There *should* be something if it's illegal for the cats to be allowed to run freely and off the owners' property. Maybe check w/ animal control in your county?

I have a big super soaker that I use on the cats whenever we find them in our yard ߘ Have not had nearly as many feeder incidents in the last 2 years.

Buy a Super Soaker and instead of water go you your local Hunting store and buy a bottle or two of fox pee and add it you baby oil...(It will increase the sent) and spray the suckers... the will stay away and the owner will get the hint... that stuff smells bad and is like skunk to get off.. Had cats and dogs go after chickens years ago and fox pee fixed it real quick.

Bad side is it may keep the birds away too but the cats will not kill them...

ThomasDidymus wrote in post #18023326
Buy a Super Soaker and instead of water go you your local Hunting store and buy a bottle or two of fox pee and add it you baby oil...(It will increase the sent) and spray the suckers... the will stay away and the owner will get the hint... that stuff smells bad and is like skunk to get off.. Had cats and dogs go after chickens years ago and fox pee fixed it real quick.

Bad side is it may keep the birds away too but the cats will not kill them...

pro tip; that one's going in the idea list, thanks! ߘ