Your Thoughts on Feral Cats

[PsRumors]

I have a friend that traps feral cats,has them fixed and then locks them in the bathroom. He will then go and sit with them until they come around and get interested in him. I think he is a crazy ole coot but to each their own.

As for us, as long as they don't want to fight with our cats I'll let them be but if they are fighters they end up at the pound.

 

[/pine]

Every feral (and outside pet) cat(s) killed saves the lives of thousands(x30+) of NATIVE songbirds and mammals every year...yet the bleeding hearts fail to recognize this...

A widely publicized study by Smithsonian scientists and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service earlier this year estimated that feral cats each year kill 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion birds and 6.9 billion to 20.7 billion mammals.

The truth is that while cats are beloved pets to millions of Americans, feral cats pose similar dangers to the environment as other invasive species introduced by humans. While cats are cuter than Burmese pythons, both are nonnatives that prey on native species, potentially disrupting a delicate ecological balance.

These so-called trap-neuter-return programs are flawed because they allow cats to continue hunting other species.

 

[DeeDubya]

I'd rather have a few cats, feral or otherwise than rats. I mean even the Egyptians had that one figured out.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I lost quite a few chickens to one. I finally live trapped it after spending a bunch of money on chicken wire and electric fence. After the cat was gone the chickens stopped dying. I've had domestic cats in the past and they didn't bother the chickens. I don't think all feral cats are chicken killers but that particular one was. In short, as long as I have chickens, I don't want feral cats on the property.

 

[dmccarty]

Last Friday I made two five gallon batches of beer. I put the buckets of wort on the front porch in the cold to help cool down the wort before putting in the yeast. I also was running a chiller that the wifey got after shoulder surgery to help her deal with the pain. You fill it with ice and water then attach it to your shoulder. I strap it on the bucket of wort to help cool it down. :thumbsup::laughing::laughing::laughing:

We have seen a cat a time or two around the place which is a bit worrisome because we are worried about it going after the chickens. The cat is not that big and I suspect the chickens could defend themselves but it is still worrisome. I was cleaning up in the kitchen and I saw the cat sneaking around the septic field. Usually he is in the back yard. He weaved this way and that in the weeds but eventually turned to the house. I am not sure if he smelled the cooling wort or heard the little chiller pump. The wort is flavored sugar water at this point so the smell might have gotten to him. I let Mr. Felix get close to the house before stepping out at which point the cat ran like heck.

Interesting I thought. First time this has happened and I have had plenty of wort cooling on the porch....

About an hour or so later, the wifey yells from the kitched. Great, she cut herself. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: She was mumbling and not speaking clearly as I made my way to the kitchen. :confused3::laughing::laughing::laughing: A raccoon was almost on the front porch! :shocked::shocked: What attracted said coon? Noise or the smell of the wort?

What is really odd is that we have a couple of wet areas on and near the property but we have NEVER EVER seen a raccoon or sign of a raccoon in all the years of owning and living on our place.

The coon heard the wifey screaming and mumbling and it ran off. :laughing::laughing::laughing: Smart coon.

Coon goes after my beer to be and we will have a problem. Said problem might lead me to having a certain kinda Davey Crockett hat or maybe a jacket that was popular in the 20's or 30's in college.. Coon skin was used. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[DAD1220]

Well, I too have bad experience trying to tame a feral cat.

Outside of that, a varmint is a varmint and around a farm if it costs you time or money it has to go!

If you turn it into a hunting game, you'll get tired before they do!

Use catcm'em live traps and from there do what ya got to do. If there is someone that will take them live, good; shelter, vet, Thai restaurant,... If not, they take a long ride, literally or figuratively!

 

[TomSeller]

Actually the best cereal cats are the neutered ones that are good hunters and can't have kittens

 

[TomSeller]

real men don't hurt animals just to be hurting them.

Very true

 

[TomSeller]

I'd rather have a few cats, feral or otherwise than rats. I mean even the Egyptians had that one figured out.

You got that right, you either need a few cats or a few coyotes around.

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

CHOOT 'EM ... all of them!

 

[don45640]

Down here in Southern Ohio,they're pretty much a plague. The coyotes HAD been keeping the numbers down `til recently. I have a friend from Portsmouth ,Ohio,and he said they are out of control. Living in town,he can't kill them with any gun but an airgun.
He had given me a Crosman 1400 22 cal. airgun,for free:cool2:,since I told him that I had an old 140 Crosman which was the forerunner to the 1400,and he saw how much I loved that old gun.
I told him I would loan him the gun back,that the sights were dead on,and he could work on the cat problem.He said he might need to do that.
It shoots really hard and will definitely kill the feral cats. don-ohio ^)

 

[QRTRHRS]

Repeating what I have stated before, it should be mandatory to nueter and spay cats and dogs. Anyone wanting to breed them should have to have a license. Too many people letting their animals run free along with back yard breeders that just want to make a fast buck and don't care after that. Same goes for horses too!

Both my stallions have passed on now but when I used to offer breeding, I would turn down people that just wanted to experiance having a foal and had no idea what they were doing.

FWIW, I agree most feral cats don't domesticate well but I have one that did, She had kittens in the barn so which we caught and used to bait her. She bloodied her nose trying to get out of my have a heart trap. Took a long time and alot of patience but she is now my "garage" cat.

I always have the trap set in the barn to catch possums because they have the potential to carry the old age protozoan that causes EPM in horses. The occasional cat I trap gets "fixed" and released. The possums get drowned.

Lastly, I think it should be a moving violation to dump an animal along the road. We get plenty of that too.

 

[/pine]

Actually the best cereal cats...

like Tony the Tiger ?

 

[vwnotrunning]

When they are fighters or sprayers I find a way of eliminating them. Initially just being unpleasant and they usually find other places to visit. Persistent problem cats get eliminated by what ever means as required. My wife will catch and have them fixed (I don't want to know how much we have spent on fixing others cats!). We always have cats around. We let our chickens run around free and the cats all leave them alone. The cats give them an eye every now and then, but the chickens stand there ground. The cats are getting lazy, starting to see the tree rats getting closer again! (I hate tree rats)

 

[Wooddust]

Feral cats are an invasive non native specie. These people who are trapping, spaying and releasing them have no regard for the impact on birds and the environment. Every stray feral cat in my sphere of influence is a target.

 

[JakeBrake]

I have two formerly feral cats that have adopted me.

Last year a feral cat had a litter in our cellar while we were gone for a few days. When we came back home mother cat and two kittens took off. I have not seen them again. She left two kittens in the cellar. These two would have starved if I had not fed them in the cellar. They would hide when I entered the cellar. I worked with them for a couple of months before I could handle them. Eventually, I was able to catch them and have them neutered (they are both toms) and vaccinated. The spay/neuter clinic said that five months was the ideal age to spay/neuter cats. So that's when I took them in.

They have grown into rather large cats. The two are inseparable. They are strictly outside cats. I feed them in the cellar which provides a warm, dry shelter. So far they have caught many mice and moles and one squirrel. I'm overrun with squirrels. I'm hoping they will catch more. When I go outside, they come running to me.

 

[CliffordK]

Many rats and mice are also non-native species, and followed the human migration around the world.

I don't have any hay at the moment, but a couple of barn cats, within reason, is not a bad idea. Perhaps they would help with the explosion of moles that I'm experiencing. Where is a good gopher snake when one needs it?

Anyway, keep a couple of barn cats.
If you can catch them, take them in for a one-time spaying/neutering & vaccination.

If you have birdhouses, mount them high. It also works good to slip a piece of aluminum gutter over a 2x4, and attach the whole thing to a post.

 

[DieselnHooters]

Feral cats are an invasive non native specie..

so are you

 

[2LaneCruzer]

When they are fighters or sprayers I find a way of eliminating them. Initially just being unpleasant and they usually find other places to visit. Persistent problem cats get eliminated by what ever means as required. My wife will catch and have them fixed (I don't want to know how much we have spent on fixing others cats!). We always have cats around. We let our chickens run around free and the cats all leave them alone. The cats give them an eye every now and then, but the chickens stand there ground. The cats are getting lazy, starting to see the tree rats getting closer again! (I hate tree rats)

I have a lot of wild turkeys venture in the yard from time to time; this one cat will stalk them, and the turkeys mostly ignore it. I was watching them one morning, and the cat got too close and much to the surprise of the cat, about 3 old hens rushed him and he took off for tall timber. The turkeys went back to their business of fertilizing and clearing the back yard of bugs and bird seed.

 

[Tchara]

My solution?
Medium rare with mushrooms in a savory wine sauce.

just kidding