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#Post#: 66699--------------------------------------------------
Why though? Cat edition
By: betty Date: May 20, 2021, 11:19 am
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Jumping on to the "pets doing their business in other people's
yards" train.
Why do people think it's ok to let their cats roam outside? I
live in a small town, semi-rural. We have coyotes and foxes and
eagles and busy roads (all of which can kill cats) and lots of
smaller birds (which can be killed by cats).
I garden. I regularly have to clean cat poop out of my garden
beds. Cat poop can carry dangerous diseases, especially for
pregnant women and immune-compromised people. I don't want it in
the gardens I grow food in (or the flower beds I weed by hand).
Anyone have great suggestions for preventing cats from going in
my gardens? Or great suggestions for convincing cat owners to
keep their cats indoors, for the safety of the cats and others?
#Post#: 66701--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: NFPwife Date: May 20, 2021, 12:12 pm
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My husband has been doing battle with the neighborhood cats.
Full disclosure-he's armed with only things that can't do them
harm and are relatively inexpensive.
Here's what we've done - where they like to poop we started with
coffee grounds and citrus peels (every time we ate an orange, we
threw it in the food processor and chopped it up and then
sprinkled). Those were nominally effective, they'd avoid those
spots and then shift to somewhere else. Next, we got poultry
netting. About five 24 inch by 10 feet rolls and put them around
the all the edges of the front of the house and their main
access point to our backyard. Initially, you could see it pretty
well, but then the grass grew up nicely as we progressed into
spring and you can't see it at all. They know it's there and
they're pi$$ed at DH. They literally glare at him when they see
him. He looked out the window yesterday and one gave him a
scowl. He scowled back and they commenced a staring/ scowling
contest that had me doubled over laughing.
(I've heard you can use human hair and I was ready to empty all
my brushes but DH's family is Eastern European and that is,
apparently, not to be done.)
#Post#: 66710--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: XRogue Date: May 20, 2021, 4:23 pm
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[quote author=PVZFan link=topic=2061.msg66701#msg66701
date=1621530747]
My husband has been doing battle with the neighborhood cats.
Full disclosure-he's armed with only things that can't do them
harm and are relatively inexpensive.
Here's what we've done - where they like to poop we started with
coffee grounds and citrus peels (every time we ate an orange, we
threw it in the food processor and chopped it up and then
sprinkled). Those were nominally effective, they'd avoid those
spots and then shift to somewhere else. Next, we got poultry
netting. About five 24 inch by 10 feet rolls and put them around
the all the edges of the front of the house and their main
access point to our backyard. Initially, you could see it pretty
well, but then the grass grew up nicely as we progressed into
spring and you can't see it at all. They know it's there and
they're pi$$ed at DH. They literally glare at him when they see
him. He looked out the window yesterday and one gave him a
scowl. He scowled back and they commenced a staring/ scowling
contest that had me doubled over laughing.
(I've heard you can use human hair and I was ready to empty all
my brushes but DH's family is Eastern European and that is,
apparently, not to be done.)
[/quote]
Cats hate mint, so would a mint border or strategically placed
clumps be an option?
#Post#: 66931--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: Kimberami Date: June 1, 2021, 12:44 pm
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HTML https://inspiringplans.com/how-to-keep-cats-from-pooping-in-your-garden-flower-beds-and-yard/
This seems like a very good article on discouraging cats.
I have heard that burying plastic forks with the tines facing
upwards will work, but I've never tried it. I used to use frames
made with chicken wire over rows of veggies, but I only had a
very small garden.
#Post#: 66936--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: NFPwife Date: June 1, 2021, 3:10 pm
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I love the plastic forks idea! Thanks!
DH is also doing battle with a robin who wants to build on the
downspout above our door. It started a nest, he took it down
(nothing in it and it was just a few random scraps). He put up a
pool noodle. The bird took the pool noodle. (There's no way it
blew away, it was in the wooded area behind our house where they
hang out in the trees.) DH put the noodle back up. It came down,
but this time it might have blown down. We figured nest building
time was over so left the noodle down. The bird started a nest
the next morning. DH took that down and put the pool noodle back
up. The bird was really aggressive with him this time- flying at
DH's head while he pulled the materials. The bird sat on the
wire across from our door and squawked at DH every time he was
out. If the birds and cats start working together, DH is in
trouble.
#Post#: 66939--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: betty Date: June 1, 2021, 6:37 pm
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[quote]DH is also doing battle with a robin who wants to build
on the downspout above our door.[/quote]
We had robins nesting on top of our meter box, attached to the
back of the house. After the nest was empty, we took it down and
went to work preventing nesting in future years. After some
false starts, I finally made a board with 30 nails poking
through so the whole top of the meter box is covered in pointy
spikes. So far, so good. I like the birds but not on top of the
meter box!
Back to cats. I just cleaned more cat poop from the garden. That
garden bed is surrounded by lemon balm, a type of mint, so that
didn't work. I read recently that coffee grounds might
discourage cats so I'll be trying that.
#Post#: 66953--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: DaDancingPsych Date: June 2, 2021, 10:01 am
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[quote author=PVZFan link=topic=2061.msg66936#msg66936
date=1622578231]
I love the plastic forks idea! Thanks!
DH is also doing battle with a robin who wants to build on the
downspout above our door. It started a nest, he took it down
(nothing in it and it was just a few random scraps). He put up a
pool noodle. The bird took the pool noodle. (There's no way it
blew away, it was in the wooded area behind our house where they
hang out in the trees.) DH put the noodle back up. It came down,
but this time it might have blown down. We figured nest building
time was over so left the noodle down. The bird started a nest
the next morning. DH took that down and put the pool noodle back
up. The bird was really aggressive with him this time- flying at
DH's head while he pulled the materials. The bird sat on the
wire across from our door and squawked at DH every time he was
out. If the birds and cats start working together, DH is in
trouble.
[/quote]
This is how I started my pandemic... fighting a robin wanting to
nest on top of an outdoor light fixture. Had I not been home all
the time, she probably would have succeeded. I live in a
townhouse and I think she settled for another house's light
fixture. During this battle, she appeared to be building
multiple nests on different homes??? Maybe she was confused as
to which one she choose??? Either way, I wish I had thought of a
pool noodle!
No cat stories from me today. But I enjoy reading!
#Post#: 66974--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: pierrotlunaire0 Date: June 2, 2021, 9:53 pm
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[quote author=XRogue link=topic=2061.msg66710#msg66710
date=1621545828]
Cats hate mint, so would a mint border or strategically placed
clumps be an option?
[/quote]
I doubt that would work based on a previous cat. Mr. Baxter once
found a mint growing wild along the edge of the yard. It took
him 30 seconds to gleefully eat the whole thing. After that, we
would catch him checking that area out to see if it had come
back. We always figured that since catnip was a member of the
mint family, it was close enough to catnip for him to enjoy it.
Plus, Mr. Baxter loved to eat grass. It was like living with a
cow that could purr.
#Post#: 66986--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: Kimberami Date: June 3, 2021, 8:09 am
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You could grow them a patch of catnip in another part of garden.
They won't care about the veggies and flowers then :D
#Post#: 67010--------------------------------------------------
Re: Why though? Cat edition
By: XRogue Date: June 3, 2021, 3:51 pm
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[quote author=pierrotlunaire0 link=topic=2061.msg66974#msg66974
date=1622688820]
[quote author=XRogue link=topic=2061.msg66710#msg66710
date=1621545828]
Cats hate mint, so would a mint border or strategically placed
clumps be an option?
[/quote]
I doubt that would work based on a previous cat. Mr. Baxter once
found a mint growing wild along the edge of the yard. It took
him 30 seconds to gleefully eat the whole thing. After that, we
would catch him checking that area out to see if it had come
back. We always figured that since catnip was a member of the
mint family, it was close enough to catnip for him to enjoy it.
Plus, Mr. Baxter loved to eat grass. It was like living with a
cow that could purr.
[/quote]
Dangit well I was hoping. Every cat I ever knew hated mint. (I
do NOT endorse my dad's suggestion of a bb gun)
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