Feral Cat Problem

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C

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I live in town on the edge of a large park.(80+ acres) The park has lots of brush to encourage wildlife. There are deer, groundhogs, raccon, fox etc.... and unfortunatly way to many feral cats. In the past 24 hours I have had 4 unwanted cats in my yard and one even came into my back porch and sprayed!!! As if that isn't enough my housecat is currently in the animal hospital as a result of being attacked in our yard last night.

I need some info on trapping cats. The other option is a .22 but I have a very limited number of safe firing lanes. Also any idea of what kind of trouble I could get in for killing cats? Does the risk of criminal charges make it worth the effort of live trapping and then transporting them to a shelter.
 
I have the same problem and just use the .22. If they are around the directions I don't want to shoot in I use a RWS 52 air rifle,It goes right thru a cat. Where I live is no big deal. Also have a dog problem but it is legal to shoot dogs here if they bother livestock and such. I had one jump through the open living room window and do $175 worth of vet bill to our house dog. The 9mm cured that problem.
 
Conservative I don't think that you will ever get an argument over the trapping method, a haveaheart <sp> type trap baited with tuna should do the job. Take the prisoners to the pound or local animal rescue place and let them deal with the rest of the story.
Otherwise, Sub sonic ammo in a .22 rf and proper burial will help your landscape.
If you are really in a town there are most likely ordinances against the discharge of firearms.
Hank
 
A non lethal way is to spread moth balls around your porch, etc.

A lethal way is to put a few bowls of ANTI-FREEZE around the area. I am told that they will drink it. Be prepared to bury some cats.

Since you are in town, and most towns have laws about discharging firearms in the city limits, you may wish to deploy my POSSUM and RACCOON defense system against your cats.

I'm fairly good with a compound bow. It is silent and effective (if I do my part). I left a racoon with arrow still attached at my garbage pick-up. Seeing that coon with arrow protruding, one of the garbage men asked my wife if there were indians in the area. We are expecting the "friends of animals" freaks any day now.

If you don't shoot a compound bow, get a crossbow as they are easy to learn, accurate, and just as silent. Either way it is "silent death" to the critters.

EDITED to add:

The reason I kill racoons is that they carry rabies, and my part of SE Alabama leads the state in rabies. Both coons and cats are leading carriers of rabies, so I don't touch them. Just, conveniently pick them up by the arrow and deposit them somewhere safe. Best advice I can give you.

[This message has been edited by AUTiger73 (edited March 23, 2000).]
 
stay away from that antifreeze, it is a poison and they will drink it, but its a horrible way to die, and your own pets will drink it as well.....fubsy.
 
I agree with fubsy. You don't want your own cat accidentally poisoned. I would use a 22 with CB. Aim for the lungs and that way, the cat won't die on your porch or backyard. It'll go somewhere else to die and some scavenger will clean it up for you. If you can't use a .22, use a good pellet gun.

Never shot a cat myself, but I've got scores of pigeons to my credit.
 
There's not much that I can add to what has already been suggested.

I'll try anyway. :)

First, PLEASE don't consider anti-freeze! I believe that it crystallizes the urine. The animals will die in agony. Dogs also like the taste of anti-freeze.

If you must shoot, be well aware of your local laws. You already mentioned your concern for safe firing lanes, so I'll leave it at that.

Traps are likely your safest and most humane method.

A few years back, we had 6 feral cats in our neighborhood. We trapped all of them, took them to participating vets and had them spayed / neutered. (free!) End of feral cat explosion. The wife and I traced the roots to ONE unspayed female cat owned by a neighbor.
Of course, the un-neutered male cats are an equal culprit.

Irresponsible pet owners. Maybe I should make THEM drink a bowl of anti-freeze.

I think it would be far more just.

Cliff
 
A high-powered airgun is a good way to go. Shot placement is extremely important. If you're allowed (or even if you're not), CB caps are quieter than the big airguns, and shoot a 29 gr. bullet at about 600—800 fps. Airguns that duplicate this performance crack like a HV .22 rifle. If the animals are feral, your shelter may just have to put them down anyway. Untamable animals, which may be diseased, are not high on adoption lists. The laws vary but nuisance wild animals are not often protected from being destroyed in the wild. You can check your local ordinances, but if you're not shooting your neighbor's Muffy, you probably have a lot of leeway. Good luck.
 
You could do a couple different things.

1. Call an Animal Control Officer and ask for assistance or advice.

2. Practice your shooting skills with a .22 rifle or revolver firing CB Caps.

or
3. Get a pet Monster-Cat-Hating-Dog and place bets on the outcome.
 
Traps worked pretty good for me at my sister-in-law's. The Toms were too smart though. I'm thinking Colibri from Augilla. It penetrated a phonebook about the same as a bb from a Daisy air rifle w/ 10 pumps out of a SW34-1.
 
First, check with the local animal shelter as to the laws in your area. They may even lend you traps to trap the cats.

Many towns have ordinances against discharging firearms, so check before you shoot.

As a professional I prefer to use a single door havahart type trap baited with cat food or sardines placed as far to the back of the trap as possible. Cover the trap with cloth (Burlap or and old quilt) and place it where you most often see the cats (In my area usually near the garbage cans). Check the traps at least once a day (This is law in most states). Be prepared to catch all kinds of animals (skunks are fun). Take the cats to the pound, they will deal with them humanely.

It is not a good idea to relocate any wild animal you have trapped. They may spread disease to an area that is unaffected. Also most wild animals are territorial and will probably be killed by the established population of similar animals in the area you release them in. And you must have permission from the landowner to release wild animals and usually you need a license from the state to do so.

Most feral cats were once domesticated and were dropped off by owners when the cat became a problem. It would have been more humane to take the animal to the pound. Feral cats often affect the populations of wildlife and game animals, not to mention their affinity for garbage.

Be careful with the cats you have trapped, do not handle them if at all possible. Do not allow your pets to come near them or you will deal with fleas!

Good Luck!


Geoff Ross
 
What has two legs and bleeds profusely?

1/2 a cat.


:D

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"I like the word 'indolence.' It makes my laziness seem classy." -Bern Williams
 
Thanks for the input. I won't be using any type of poison because it is indiscriminate and inhumane. I will be using a homebuilt live trap and if I can't catch them all that way I will place a bait pile in front of a safe backstop. The back stop is an earthen berm. Once trapped the nicer cats go to the shelter and the scrappy sick ones go under the garden.
 
I'm not a cat person. But, they do serve a purpose. My yard backs up to an empty field. If it weren't for the neighborhood cats I would be over run with other critters. Something to consider.

If I were going to shoot them, I think I would use a paintball gun. The ones that are real feral wouldn't care, but the ones that belonged to irresponsible owners,,,,,,
 
Feral cats will wipe out your entire Quail population.

When hunting in Georgia I've had Game Wardens tell me to shoot ANY feral cats that I saw.

Good luck in your quest. :)

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"Lead, follow or get the HELL out of the way."
 
If you're not out to kill them, I have a GREAT way to send feral and neighborhood cats packing without doing permenant damage.

Use a pump-up BB gun of your choice (Crosman 760 Pumpmaster or Outback 1-pump for me). Pump it up and load it the way you normally would, with one BB. Then put two more BBs in though the muzzle, and tip the gun muzzle up. The magnet on the end of the bolt should be strong enough to hold all three. Then just shoot it as you normally would, just aim a little high.

Instead of a BB gun, you now have a single-shot, mini shotgun at your disposal. Using three BBs instead of one limits your velocity and range quite a bit, but it's a whole lot more effective at short range (20-40 yards). On cats, the BBs don't penetrate the skin, but when all three BBs hit, you usually hear a multiple thumping noise and a loud yowl as the cat rockets skyward, flipping and twisting like an epileptic hit by a car. Then they usually head for parts unknown at high speed. After one or two dose of that, they NEVER come back (at least here).

Also, the BB shotgun-burst technique is deadly on rogue pigeons and blackbirds. A well placed BB shotgun burst will drop a pigeon dead in its tracks, and will turn a blackbird into a puff of feathers. Much better than just one BB, at close range.



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"Oh yeah? Well I talk LOOOUDLY! And I carry a BIIIGGER stick! And I'll use it, too." -Yoesemite Sam
 
We've had a bit of this problem as well.

Cat lovers are often illogical about all this. They'll let their pet run free at night, to prey on local wildlife, and then the cat rests up during the day, is fed at home as well, and then ventures out that night for more hunting. Hardly a 'fair' fight. We were finding dead birds, squirrels and such - we enjoy watching the critters, so I got tired of it.

We use a Havahart trap ( http://www.havahart.com/ ), and it has worked pretty well. Bought it at Cabela's or Cheaper Than Dirt, as I recall. Tuna fish seems to work as bait .... but led to a funny story. Came home one day, and I had apparently trapped the only known rabbit that had a taste for tuna fish. ;) Weird.

If you go the air rifle route (works well on pesky wabbits as well), you should probably get a .22 or .25. We use a .22 Benjamin Sheridan with scope, and it works well, and is humane (quick, terminal head shots). Do a search on TFL about air rifles - we've talked about them from time to time. Quite a range in price, actions and uses as well. Interesting field.

I agree about the poison - my heart won't let me do that to an animal.

Once the cats are trapped, most animal shelters will take them off your hands.

One other point. I suggest you don't tell anyone about your cat removal activities. Cat lovers that let their animals run wild don't seem to give a damn about wildlife, but they get upset if someone else gets rid of their pet. Many of them (the owners) seem to have the attitude that it is unreasonable for you and I to be upset about their cats being on our property.

The dilemma is that if you catch a cat and know who owns it, do you go through the brain damage of taking it back to them with a suggestion they keep it inside? Or, do you just take it to the shelter and let the chips fall where they may?

Good luck. Regards from AZ
 
DorGunR: What complete drivel about cat's wiping out "entire populations of quail" , Quail mortality run 80% per year regardless, of feral cats, foxes, or any other predator spiecies.

K80Geoff: Best answer given to this question.

George Hill: shame on you :)
 
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