The Cat Problem
 

I moved to a small town in rural Nebraska about 6 years ago. The move was for many reasons, but the main reason was I like the small town living. When I first moved into my small house, I noticed that the gentleman that lived behind me had two feral cats living in his garage. At first this was not a problem, it was probably a good thing. The cats served a purpose, they kept the local mouse and snake population in check.

This started to become a problem about 2 years ago, when one of my other neighbors started leaving cat food outside his garage to feed them. The population of feral cats started to increase. 6 months ago I counted 13 different cats now living in the garage. I spoke with both neighbors about this, and came out of those conversations with out solving the problem. I then spoke to a local law officer and found out that my options were rather limited. You are not allowed to "control" the cats yourself. My option was to contact the Humane Society and contract with them to remove the cats. The reason behind this was that if someones pet cat was trapped and removed, I would be liable for any damages. I contacted the nearest Humane Society and found out that they would help, but at $25.00 a day, and no set time line, the cost of doing this was prohibitive to say the least.

So I purchased a dog, with the idea of training this dog to keep the cats away. This was a great idea, or so I thought. I tried to train the dog to chase the cats away, but the dog thought that the cats were playmates, and soon was friends with the cats. As a matter of fact, the only thing that my dog thinks that should be removed from my house is bacon. Time for plan B.

I spoke with my father on this subject and after a couple of conversations, came up with a plan. I made two L shaped bars, and mounted one end to the chimney, and the other end to my roof. Then walked around the neighborhood until I found a dead bird. I took the wings off of the bird and hung them from the bars on the roof. What this did was attracted birds of prey to my roof. I have had two different hawks and a owl using this perch for the last 3 months. I also have a neighbor who is not that happy with me. The population of feral cats is shrinking. When i arrived home two days ago he had called the local police department and filed a complaint. I spoke with the officer and he told me there was nothing he could do, but I should try to do one thing. I was told to try to remove any cat remains from my roof so my neighbor could not see them.

I never understood cat haters, how are they harming you? I live in an area in the woods of Central Virginia where there are about 10 homes per square mile, do the math over 60 acres for each house. A little old lady living at the entrance to the paved street that leads to the dirt roads we all live on feeds feral cats, maybe a dozen of them. I slow down driving past as there is often a cat darting across the street in front of her house.

My closest neighbor the only other house on my dirt road who is 1/4 mile past me and almost a mile from the "cat lady" complains often about all those cats. He is further away from her then me and I might see a cat other than my own close to my house once a week. I just believe some men hate cats and want them to become extinct.

I would have purchased a laser pointer that rotated the light on your neighbors front lawn/porch. :coffee:

It’s too bad there isn’t a catch and release program in your area. Where I live, you can have the animals trapped, taken to a vet where they are are neutered/spayed, then returned to where they were caught to live out their lives. The vet who cared for my cat before he passed started the program and donates his efforts.

It does reduces the population over time.

As an aside, the barn cats I’ve been familiar with weren’t feral. They lived around people, horses, and goats. They got acclimated to all three.

You could import some rabbits into the area they "thump cats" but then you may have a rabbit problem. Leave it to the birds. :D

This has nothing to do with "hating cats". If there were only two of three cats, they were and are welcome. This is about controlling a problem that will become larger in the future. Feral cats are a part of life in every community. They serve a purpose, but can become a problem. 13 cats in one spot will become 30 here very soon. Feeding the cats causes more problems. It attracts more cats and defeats their purpose. You are also welcome to come here any time for a BBQ. We can sit in the back yard, converse about horse racing, and enjoy the stink of cat urine. That is not a joke, I can smell the garage from my back door. These are after all wild animals, they are not pets.

Cats are once again ruling the world.

Recommended reading: "The Lion In The Living Room"

http://www.simonandschuster.ca/books.../9781476738246

I have a neighbor down the road about 1/2 mile that has like 30 cats. He takes new additions to the vet to get fixed. There is however a few that or sort of wild and he can't catch. So the population grows needless to say, He's an elderly man living alone. The 2 homes on either side of him won't sell because its apparent the cats destroy property. A picnic table for example will be scratched up and look like shit in a matter of weeks. They hop the fences and urinate, crap, then dig the yards up. He's been approached by neighbors. His only excuse is he hasn't the heart to haul them off. The county says there's little they can do since they're cats, and even stray cats are not a concern of theirs. I've advised the homeowners to take pictures, get a witness or two, and go to small claims court and sue for damages.
He's not a particularly pleasant old man anyway. Were it me I wouldn't hesitate. Perhaps $10K would motivate him more to remedy the situation.

Shoot them...?

They are horrible for the environment.

In my experience, it's common for folks who don't know any better to call stray cats "feral", even tho there's a big difference. I've fed and adopted quite a few stray cats in my time, and none of them were "feral". I'm not saying they don't exist, but rare is the cat that doesn't eventually (or quickly) respond to some kindness and TLC.

Stupified as to how this wasn't the actual response. :ThmbUp:

Picture of FD's kitchen.

http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/...ady-442022.jpg

:lol::lol::lol: I actually am on the side of Fantastic Dan, WTF? Maybe I haven't gotten enough sleep lately.

Have no problem with this, but do it the right way. Just putting out food is not helping, only making the problem worse.

It looks pretty clean and those cats look healthy and well taken care of.

Considered it, but after conversation's with the local law enforcement decided to go in another direction. And in my experience, officers responding to a "shots fired" complaint are not in a good mood.

I didn't get that from his posts. His problem is a HUMAN one -- with his totally irresponsible and inconsiderate neighbor who, evidently, is oblivious to what a nuisance uncontrolled breeding of cats can wreak on entire neighborhood.

By the way, I have been a cat lover all my life. Have seven right now. :coffee:

I agree, if you care enough to feed them, care enough to also get them fixed, it's in the best interests of all involved. And most SPCAs and the like have several low-cost clinics through the year.

Do you have Habitat for CAts in your area? the catch them, neuter them and return them. It really make the cat's lived happier.
I had them pick up my strays a few years ago - they got my 3 at the time, and one other who used to just walk by the house every day. When they brought them all back, that poor little guy would still walk by every day, but he would cross the street one house before mine and come back over one house past! Poor guy!!! Must have thought I was some kind of monster. :eek:

I have 4 right now - all homeless at one time. No problems with any of them.

Never leave food out. It attracts other unwanted animals that you don't want around.

It is a ****ing cat.

A cat.

Would you take a homeless person into your home? They would cost less than a pet. They can also talk and actually communicate. And at the end of the day you can release them into the wild with hopes of actually bettering society.

These programs work great. Maybe you could get together with the neighbors and get this started. In Dallas they do this.

I’ve posted about my ferals I adopted in Dallas. They are doing great. But they are indoor cats now and have been over 3 years now. Total of 3 now....here’s 2

I prefer the cats over humans any day.......

I'm with Ralph. Almost every cat I ever owned (and I'm a crazy cat man) was a rescued stray or feral. They make the best companions, and I never see a mouse or rat around the barn.

I'm very sorry to hear that.

I had a neighbor whose cat would use my bushes as its outdoor toilet. The stench was so bad I could never open the windows on that side of the house, ever. When I spoke to my neighbor about it she became very pissy saying she couldn't control her cat and there was nothing she could (read that 'would') do about it.

I left my car in my cousin's driveway with a window part way down one time. When pulling in the driveway after going out to eat, a cat was coming out of my car. I knew it was going to be bad. The cat had pissed on the carpet in the back, worst smell you can imagine. I tried everything to clean it but ended up having to cut out that section of carpet.

In more than one residence where I have lived, I've found dismembered birds in my yard from neighborhood cats. I've never understood why leash laws exist for dogs but never for cats.

This was looked into. The nearest agency was 25 miles away in a different county. And that is why they wanted to charge me for this. I can't blame them for this but if it would have been a set fee or I could see where my neighbor would quit feeding the cats, I would have gone in this direction. And then probably ended up trying to get my neighbors to "share" the cost.

Good for you! :ThmbUp: We, too, have rescued all our cats. In most cases, we have very little or no idea of their history at all.

Don’t......feel .....sorry.......:lol:

Very handsome looking puddies. The one on the left has a racoon kind of face. Very beautiful. :ThmbUp:

Yeah, it's a ****ing cat. Got a ****ing problem with that? I thought not.

Same.

:ThmbDown: :ThmbDown:

Call me an old softy, but I happen to think that pets enrich our lives. And I've never had one that didn't communicate just fine, I assure you.. :p

Exactly. God put most of animals on this earth for our enjoyment.

We finally agree on something -- well, maybe except for the God part. :coffee:

It's always a welcome sight to go to the airport and have confidence your flight will be safe when you see the bomb sniffing cats in action.

Or knowing the flow of dangerous drugs is partially impeded by the drug sniffing cats used by law enforcement.

Hunters can always count on the assistance of their trained hunting cats.

And the delight of a child as they play "fetch" with their cats.Always amazed at the cats that run and grab the Frisbee with their mouths.

Anything more relaxing then a walk down a country lane, your cat faithfully ambling by your side ? Or sitting by a crackling fire, your cat at your feet, nestling with you?

And it warms me when I see a blind individual able to participate with more independence in life, thanks to the assistance of their seeing-eye cat.

Each one on mine has a very distinct personality.
I can pretty much tell what they want.

Right now, all 4 are lying on the carpet, watching me play the races.

The youngest, one, the biggest one, is thinking, "Can we eat this guy or what?":eek:

:lol::lol:

The fact this board is overrun with cat lovers does a lot to explain it...

A real pet...

Together with another animal put on this earth for our enjoyment. Preferably with a fine wine.

All you cat bashers are nothing but assholes.

It would be a dog-owner that's dumb enough to draw comparisons between the two animals. It's a total apples to oranges comparison...hope that's not too intellectual for ya'll to understand.

Just like this post does.....:rolleyes: