feral and non-feral cats

[chrlefxtrt]

feral cats

A decent BB gun will work wonders. It won't kill them but they will get tired of being shot in the @$$. My uncle has an old hand pumped fire extinguisher that he uses for undesirable animals.
You could think about .22 short. I personally would NEVER use one on say, a opossum, but I know someone that has been known to use this particularly quiet cartridge in an old Marlin bolt action. The opossums in their neighborhood would not stop bothering the dogs.

 

[mbt2001]

A red rider or crossman pump bb gun... 2 or 3 pumps should sting but not break the skin.

 

[M2 Carbine]

Out in the country is nice, that way they can take thier rightful place as the roaming hunter they think they are and get the fair balance of being hunted by Coyote and such.

So you are one of the butt heads that dump cats and dogs on our country places.

A tame cat or dog isn't prepared to live in the wild and heads for the nearest house. Where we have to take it in or take it to the animal shelter.

I swear I catch someone dumping one more animal around my place and I'll blow out their tires.

 

[bsf]

Do not trap and release in a separate area. That is rude. You are just pawning the problem off on someone else. Take them to an animal control office or kill them if you feel comfortable doing so.

ETA
What the heck is this doing in S&T?

 

[jwxspoon]

paintball gun

 

[foghornl]

When I lived out in "The Boonies", I had [ahem] "people" drop off their unwanted pets near my place. Got so bad I finally put up a big sign....

"If you drop off a pet here, please put $50 in mailbox, so that said animal goes to the vet for checkups, and first months food.
Or a box of .357Mag pistol ammunition."

 

[chrlefxtrt]

Or you could get one of these

If I were a cat this would certainly keep me away!!!

 

[Quigley]

Restore The Balance

chaiokitty.com

 

[ArmedBear]

Renascance Bulldogge, 12 pack, lawn chair. Just sit back and watch the show. No need to shoot anything.

Floats like a butterfly.

...with a warhead.

Good with kids, too.

http://gargoylebulldogs.com/GARGOY~1/Page_1x.html

Add some of these. Cats have claws. One got our dog in the eyes pretty badly. She just wanted to play with the cat. Since that incident, though, she wants to kill them all.

 

[MSTJ]

So you are one of the butt heads that dump cats and dogs on our country places.

A tame cat or dog isn't prepared to live in the wild and heads for the nearest house. Where we have to take it in or take it to the animal shelter.

I swear I catch someone dumping one more animal around my place and I'll blow out their tires.

I called the local animal shelter. They acted offended that I even have a problem with cats on my property and said they're over run with cats. I prefer not to be on some hippie-activist blacklist.
I tried deterrent pellets and sprays.
I tried spraying with a garden hose.
I tried throwing stuff to spook them away.
I even tried peeing around the property line at night.
I tried the one pump BB to sting and spook away. I'm not going to try a kill with a BB gun. That's just cruel.
I live well within the city limits, so firing a .22 at strays is out of the question.
I can't force my neighbors to manage their cats.
And now I've got to worry about you blowing out my tires.
I guess I'm out of options. What would you suggest?
Should I move to the country just so I can shoot cats?

BTW: Not a butt head, and never dumped a dog anywhere. A dog has never jumped into my fenced in yard and peed on my stuff or turn my flower beds into a big stinking litterbox.

 

[Richmond]

nuisance animals

I probably won't look at this thread again, so save the flames. I don't make the laws.

Many people who come to me facing felony charges in these situations are convinced that their actions are perfectly reasonable - and maybe they are. Still, in upwards of 40 states they can bring you felony charges. I have several of these on my caseload right now.

For example:

http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2008/01/03/news/01cat.txt

Family cat shot with arrow: Neighbors face cruelty charges
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By Kevin Behr / Winona Daily News
.
A St. Charles, Minn., family, including an 11-year-old child, witnessed their pet cat walking home from a neighbor’s yard with an arrow protruding from its abdomen in September.

Late last week, animal cruelty charges were brought against the alleged shooter and his father who allegedly conspired to shoot the animal with a compound bow.

Ajalon Thomas Corcoran, 23, was charged with two counts of animal cruelty. One count is a felony for causing the animal’s death, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

His father, Bernard Morse Corcoran, 54, received identical charges for aiding and abetting the crime.

According to the criminal complaint brought by the Winona County Attorney’s Office, the family saw the cat coming across the street with the arrow sticking out of its side Sept. 17. They were unable to remove the arrow but broke it off to transport the animal to an emergency veterinary clinic.

Because of contamination, the time required to remove the arrow and uncertainty about a successful recovery, the veterinarian recommended against surgery. The cat was put to sleep.

The family confronted the Corcorans about the incident, but they denied involvement.

A deputy with the Winona County Sheriff’s Department inquired about it, and Ajalon Corcoran admitted to shooting the cat with a compound bow and a blunt-tipped arrow typically used for small game. He said the cat was a nuisance and thought it was a stray. He told investigators he attempted a lung shot with the intent to kill the cat but did not want it to suffer. Ajalon Corcoran said he had an agreement with his father to kill the animal, according to court documents.

Neither man has been arrested, but they have been summoned to appear Jan. 24 in Winona County District Court.

To quote Massad Ayoob on the subject:

An alternate reality is a lonely place. People who can’t tell the difference between “how they think things should be” and “how things are” have little credibility when push comes to shove, and they have a very bad history insofar as getting themselves and people they love in trouble.

Check your local laws before following the advice you may receive here - including mine.

Oh, and non-lethal for cats? A good spray bottle or high power squirt gun with an ammonia solution or similar. Sort of sporty, too.

 

[HK G3]

Water hose is the best way to deal with insolent cats .

My family's cat was trained with a spray bottle. After she got sprayed a few times for sitting on the kitchen table, she stopped altogether.

 

[mbt2001]

First off, cat people are strange people. They "own" a cat that they seldom see, feed or do anything else, that truly is a nuisance, but they let them roam, often leaving them if they travel or move. But if something were to "happen" to that cat they go nutty.

That is solution number 1a. Keep it loaded and handy, when the cat is seen, pop it on the butt until it vacates the premesis.

Solution 1b includes using solution 1a, but getting a typewriter and sending messages to 1.) the animal "police" 2.) the "owner" 3.) the subdivision 4.) the town council. List property damaged and keep copies. That way you are documented and PERHAPS something might be done about the problem.

Odd that in the same place where pit bulls are "banned" and you can get fined for not picking up dog crap, cats are allowed to pee, crap, shed, maim and destroy....

 

[hso]

A buddy of mine with a similar problem borrowed one of our live traps and proceeded to capture the offending felines and transport them either to the pound or out into coyote country.

Alternately, remove the primary reason they come over by squirrel-proofing bird feeders. This goes a long way to cat proofing them as well.

Next would be the motion activated sprinkler units you can put on your garden hose. This would wet 'putty down every time it came near the feeders. The advantage is that cats would still be able to hunt the rodents your feeders may draw while you protect zones from them.

 

[Apachedriver]

How interesting that you can substitute the word "criminal" for the word "cat" in most of these posting and you'd almost not have to make any other changes for them to make sense. We can't shoot them, poison them, scare them, or take the offensive in any way to protect our way of life or our possessions without possibly risking legal action with either. They get away with whatever they want and appear to have more rights than us, and yet others around us are offended at the horror of us trying to do what's right for us and them. Just rambling.

That being said, I have a Blue Heeler that owns our yards when it comes to any cats or raccoons. Interestingly, there haven't been any cats in the yards of either of our next door neighbors since we got him. He's learned to not bother the birds too much unless he sees them going for his food or water bowl. The squirrels stay up in the trees and run along the fence but that's about it.

Anyways, my .02.

 

[M2 Carbine]

MSTJ

Should I move to the country just so I can shoot cats?

Yeah, come on out, then you to can be mad at people that dump animals around your place.

No, I don't shoot cats, or anything else that I don't absolutely have to. What's one more mouth to feed.
(I have ten of my own and none were invited here)

But no good deed goes unpunished. I've been feeding a stray cat that was dumped. He thanked me a little while back.

Honestly, other than trying to keep them away with a hose, I don't know how to stop them from coming around. Cats mostly don't recognize boundaries.

 

[mpmarty]

Fortunately, in Oregon a cat on your property is legally feral no matter if he lives on the ranch over the hill. My wife and I grew up in rural Oregon where barn cats were the norm and kept the mice out of the grain. However, every couple of years the cat population got out of hand and we had to thin the herd. Generally a box or two of .22 shorts took care of the problem quite nicely and it still works here where we live. We have no cats, want no cats and will tolerate no damn cats and my dobes feel the same way.

 

[Castr8r]

I'm glad I live in the country! I give all feral cats ( even the ones with a collar...) a one gun welcomeing salute and make them a permanent resident of my 24 acres. I have birds galore at my feeders,and a quail raised about two dozen babies last year. (You ever try to count a covey when you jump them unexpectedly?) Any person interested in keeping wildlife should be satisfied with nothing less than eliminating feral cats. I like cats in their place-inside! Don't be dumping cats or dogs in the country- if they're lucky, they'll be shot and die quickly. Otherwise, they may be set on by neighborhood dogs, or be used as food by coyotes or bobcats, or just starve to death. Only a very few actually have the skills to survive.
Ain't this a booger of a first post? Some of you are probably already convinced that I came out of the shallow end of the gene pool, but I've been around for 66 yrs. lovin' the outdoors and observing wildlife. Flame on!

 

[rainbowbob]

Alternately, remove the primary reason they come over by squirrel-proofing bird feeders.

All kinds of interesting suggestions in this thread, but the one quoted above caught my attention. I think I've tried most methods of "squirrel-proofing", and not one of them has worked. Those damn critters are smart and persistent! I've even seen them gang up on cats and chase them off! I don’t want to thread-jack - but if anyone has an effective (non-lethal) solution for squirrels, let me know.

As for my feral cat problem: I've used the have-a-heart trap with great success. I was trying to catch a particularly nasty s.o.b. that was attacking my own cats. However, the first one I caught was a neighbor’s cat. I removed it and took it over to them and explained what had happened. They looked at me sort of funny but didn’t say much.

Anyway…I finally caught the one I was after and I took him to the pound. I didn’t call and ask if they would take it – I just showed up and made it their problem. That's their job, isn't it?

Ironically, a year or so later, we found what appeared to be the remains of another one of the same neighbor’s cats. All that was left was two piles of sheared off hair (coyote?). When I told them about it and showed them the evidence, they looked at me sort of funny that time too. (I swear neither I nor my wolf-dog-hybrid had anything to do with it!)

We even tried adopting a feral cat once - big mistake! I had a problem very similar to the one suffered by "M2 Carbine" (see photo in previous post). Ouch!

 

[FourTeeFive]

I have an indoor-only cat who is a great pet and companion. Perhaps the real problem are the people who won't spay their cats, and those who abandon them at a moments notice. Irresponsible pet "owners" seem to be the problem behind the symptom being discussed here.

I used to have an outdoor cat whom the neighbors loved since he was the official "Mole Terminator" for a four square block area. He lived a long and happy life without adding any kittens to this world. But the great outdoors is a very dangerous place for a 12-pound mammal, and if you want it to live a long time it is better off indoors. Just my $0.02 worth of advice, from a self-professed cat lover.

 

[TallPine]

We had a "stray kitty" using our yard for a litter box last summer and fall.

The scraping area was about three feet across and the claw marks were about a five inch spread.

 

[MSTJ]

TallPine
We had a "stray kitty" using our yard for a litter box last summer and fall.

The scraping area was about three feet across and the claw marks were about a five inch spread.

Yeah, I don't think Hav-A-Hart is going to help ya there.
Maybe something more like a Hav-A-Pair trap.
Can you get someone to take pictures if you decide to try the 'squirt it with a water hose' method.

 

[Quigley]

Facts about chaiokitty.com:



Some view us as politically incorrect -we aren't about to killing pets, we are about saving birds and bunnies..


We are serious about our cause! We have our jokes and fun stories about cats but it is not a sign that we aren’t serious about education, promotion, and eradication of the damage of feral cats.


Research on feral cats is extensive, scientific, credible, and supports our position. To date, NO ONE has attempted to provide any fact based opinion to us that refutes our position.


We are not doing anything illegal, the Animal Rescue League tried to shut us down and failed; many more individuals and organizations have been supportive of eliminating feral cats!
Putting a chaiokitty.com decal in your window says you are informed about the damage feral cats are doing and support restoring the balance in nature. Period. .

 

[Quigley]

Thank you for contacting me. I hope you will pardon my delay in responding to you. I appreciate having the benefit of your views and concerns regarding legislation to reduce the number of feral and free-roaming cats. Your input on this matter is helpful to me. As I examine this issue, I will certainly give your views every consideration. Again, thanks for sharing your views with me. Please don't hesitate to let me know how you feel on any issue that concerns you.

Sincerely,

Tom Harkin

United States Senator

 

[Quigley]

State Regulations on Feral Cats
Researched by your chaiokitty staff

State Answer to email to the state DNR (or equivalent) question “Does your state have any regulations concerning the killing of feral cats” or a reference in their respective written regulations.
AZ
Domesticated animals are not covered under our jurisdiction. You would need to contact your local police department or humane society.

IA
We afford no protection to feral cats. I would be very careful indiscriminately going down the road shooting cats, as some farmers have free roaming cats to protect farmsteads from rodent populations.

CO
Feral cats are not a wildlife species and there is no hunting season for feral cats. Check with your local city or county government about control of feral cats.

MN
Page 26 2006 Minnesota Hunting Regulations

SD
Feral cats are do not fall under any category for protection, so shooting them is not illegal. They are not hunted as part of any regulated hunting season. There are regulations that prohibit shooting near buildings or in towns that would apply to shooting feral cats.

IL
There is nothing in the Wildlife code that addresses domestic cats, feral or other.

IN
There are not any hunting regulations against feral cats however, it will be very hard to determine whether or not they are someone's personal property.

NE No

no regulation in regard to that

MO No regulations concerning cats in the wildlife code
NM NM Game & Fish doesn't have any regulations regarding this. You'd need to check with your city or county
GA DNR doesn't have any regulations on feral cats. You would need to check with the local county animal control to see what their policy is on feral cats. This may differ from county to county
KY Our department does not have regulatory authority over laws pertaining to domestic animals (even though it’s running around in the wild it is still classified as non-wildlife). You may try to contact your local authorities.
OR Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife really doesn't have much of a 'Feral Cat" program, it's a private land issue at this point. ODFW does more managing of wildlife and wildlife related programs. For example, hunting, so if you are going to be hunting feral cats, ODFW would advise that you have a hunting license, you obey any trespassing rules, and abide by the rules and regulations governing your city or county in regards to firearms. Also, you may want to be aware that shooting a feral cat could possibly lead to civil charges if that cat is "owned" by someone. We encourage you to contact the Department Of Agriculture at 503-986-4550 for more information on feral cats. We also advise that you get in touch with your city or county government for make sure you are within firearms regulations. Please contact us again with questions
KS KS has statutes that speak to domestic cats. These are criminal statutes and not wildlife statutes. Our agency does not address domestic or feral cats. Our assistant director of law enforcement suggested you contact your local sheriff office or police dept.since they are the main enforcement agency for enforcing criminal statutes
ND There are no regulations on feral cats.
TX This is a matter you need to take up with your local Sheriff or County Clerk's office. We only regulate wildlife species
FL 828.12 Cruelty to animals.--

(1) A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both.