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The Cat War

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GemmaJF View Drop Down
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    Posted: 13 Mar 2014 at 8:01pm
Some will know I've had problems with cats predating reptiles in our garden for some years now. 

When we moved here, none of our near neighbours owned a cat. The lizards colonised the garden and there seemed to be dozens of them. 

It still may be early yet and there may be more to emerge, but currently the population count is two young adult males, one sub-adult female (though she may breed for the first time this year) and four juvenile animals. I noticed one of the juveniles lost its tail this morning. I know exactly why, I was only out for a few hours, but I saw the suspect when I returned and chased it out of the garden.

I'm quite distraught about this as the population has been very effectively decimated by cats.

I'm not really going to get into the pro's and con's of cats, I don't dislike them I trained as a veterinary nurse when I left school and spent many years caring for injured and abandoned cats.

I've heard all the rhetoric that it's natural for cats to be outside and cruel to keep them in (in fact in the US it is the norm to keep them indoors so I'm sorry that is total nonsense) 

I've read the PC nonsense published by the RSPB (which is already being steadily discounted) stating that cats do not cause bird declines. 


Clearly cats do have a detrimental effect on bird populations. Perhaps the RSPB should remove the rubbish on their website that cats only kill sickly birds that wouldn't survive to breed the following year. In fact according the article above, cats are killing chicks simply by being present. 

In any case they are certainly causing a very clear reptile decline locally that I have witnessed with my own eyes.

What I do dislike is the owner of the cats. He has simply been rude regarding requests to keep his cats indoors and control them. Making it very clear he regards his cats as my problem, not his.

They have 3 large cats. All the time they are outside. They are not litter trained as they poo in our garden daily. I regularly find them in our garden hunting. I watched them for over two hours today hunting along a lane, between them, the three cats 'pounced' on unsuspecting creatures over 20 times and clearly caught several even in that relatively short period. In fact I've no doubt they spend far more time in my garden than they do in their own, which is just a plain lawn.

I've let it get to me a lot. I stopped feeding birds in the garden, didn't maintain the wildlife garden so well (the pond is in ruins) and just wished it would all go away. 


Things have changed though, The Cat War has begun!


Today was covering the log piles with freshly cut brambles. No cats going to be jumping on top of them ever again. Angry

There's plenty more planned, I'll update on The Cat War as I implement each stage and discuss how effective the measures have been. I can't stop the neighbour's cats decimating local wildlife, but I'm damn determined they won't be doing it anymore in my garden. Big smile

Can't wait for the water blaster to arrive Wink


One interesting paper discusses among other things the owners habits and levels of Herpetofauna predation. I was fascinated to see that owners of cats who feed wild birds, have cats that bring home half the number of herpetofauna?



Trying to figure if this is because the feeding owners are just more wildlife aware, or if wild birds actually help to warn herpetofauna of a cats presence? In which case I'm glad we've just got a new bird table and bird box!











Edited by GemmaJF - 13 Mar 2014 at 9:10pm
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Suzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Mar 2014 at 9:36pm
Gemma I do sympathise. We used to have cats at our last house as we backed onto fields with no access to roads but here we don't live in a terrace and they can get onto a road (and do, several killed  since we've been here) so we decided not to have cats here.
However we are lucky because we can 'enjoy' all our neighbours cats! We have lovely neighbours, we really do, but none of them are interested in reptiles. I am surprised at just how much ignorance there is about reptiles being slimy or biting people. Men seem to be almost worse than women in these views.
We also have a big vegetable garden and flower borders and any newly dug soil must send out a message to cats as they soon find these patches. What to do? Well I have a water blaster but it wasn't good enough really. I make a kind of hissing noise that my brother taught me and they don't like that and soon shoot off. You can't spend all day outside hissing is the trouble. So I either water thoroughly newly dug or weeded areas or I stamp the soil flat. For large areas like the veg garden I bought several long lengths of clematis(I think it was) netting. Small mesh anyway. It is about 4ft wide and as long as you like from the local garden centre. I think the lengths I have are about 12ft and I just roll them out and lay them over newly turned soil, weight them with a brick or two  and that thwarts the cats. They are quite an expense to start with but they do last for years and are light to move and roll up to store away. I also keep hazel and willow branches when I cut my trees back and plaster those over the garden as well. All this is a complete palaver but it works. I do get some cat muck in my longer wilder areas, but not too bad. You have to walk along looking at the ground really. After all the rain we've had recently my neighbours must think I'm barking watering the garden with a watering can! Well neighbours your cats are the reason!
Good luck with your battle Gemma!
Suz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Mar 2014 at 6:37am
without a doubt the most harmful invasive species of non-native wildlife we have introduced to the UK. Those who advocate culling of native predators like foxes and buzzards are also often cat keepers, too...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Mar 2014 at 9:19am
Thanks for the tips Suz, the new veg plot I'm putting in is probably looking to the cats like a purpose made litter box so I'll be referring back to your post during The Cat War!


Will have you seen this study from the US? Though the blame is put on barn and feral cats, compared to the UK it is the norm to keep domestic cats indoors. I therefore think there would be parallels to domestic cats left to free roam all day in rural areas in the UK.


As the first serious quantiitative study the scientific fact is being revealed. The shocking truth is that the impact of cats on wildlife is far higher than ever previously predicted.

I think cat owners need be aware, as the science catches up there are already calls for an outright ban on domestic cats in New Zealand based on the results of this study. In time the truth is going to come out, however much the money spinning 'nature organisations' want to push the problem under the carpet.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Mar 2014 at 9:43am
Today I'm off to buy some fencing wire. 

We had a chicken wire fence at the back of the garden with a hedge growing through it, which might have helped to keep out cats. Unfortunately one day the farmer caught it whilst turning a plough and ripped out several feet of it. This has left the back open. Looking at the very obvious paths in the garden made by cats doing their rounds this is the primary way in. It's partly overgrown with brambles too and this is providing cats with cover.

The plan is to remove the bramble initially and remove the cover. I'm going to use the cut bramble as some natural barbed wire. Placing it on places where cats sit or use as jumping platforms. This will leave the back of the garden totally open.

My first cat deterrent is going to be a string of CDs threaded onto the fencing wire. Apparently cats hate their own reflection (thinking it is another cat) so the line of CDs should act like mirrors. Any cat approaching from the back of the garden is going to be faced with several dozen 'other cats' staring back. Angry

I'm particularly interested to study the effect of this. Will it effect the lizards coming and going for example? I hope not but if it stops the cats coming from that direction half the battle will be done.

The idea is a modern twist I found on the internet of an old ground keepers trick of leaving bottles half filled with water out, the same thinking, reflections in the bottles are said to deter cats!


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote will Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Mar 2014 at 9:56am
thanks for the link Gemma; I saw the report a while ago and was shocked by the figures. I seem to remember a UK study estimated 160 million birds were killed by cats in the UK each year (possibly an RSPB study before they got soft on cats). I'll be interested to hear how your various deterrents get on - I hear lion dung works pretty well, too...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Paul Ford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Mar 2014 at 12:31pm
Gemma,
 
Good for you - its your garden, you enjoy it!
 
What about for your best spot (the log pile?) some kind of fruit net or cover suspended above it - this won't bother the lizards but will keep them safe!? (You could make it look acceptable with a decent frame or hoops...)
 
I had one of those heron deterrent water blaster things for my koi pond - it was actually very good but the main problem was that it needed a permanent pressurised hosepipe connected to it which occasionally blew off (but only at night or when we were outConfused).
 
Paul
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OUT ABOUT 1HOUR AGO and what did I spy + another ariel predator not a good pic as they never give you time for a posed shot a Jay hopping post to post where the lizards bask reckon it pone of its favorite hunting ground as it is mine   keith

Edited by AGILIS - 14 Mar 2014 at 1:28pm
   LOCAL ICYNICAL CELTIC ECO WARRIOR AND FAILED DRUID
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Mar 2014 at 7:41am

Couple of pictures of the 'Front Line' which is actually at the back, but it's a war so it's bound to be confusing! 


Above is the damage caused by the plough, leaving the area by the compost heap totally open. Bottom left a log pile with newly laid brambles.

Below continuation of the 'Front Line', arrow indicates the usual route into the garden for cats. I've tried blocking this etc in the past but with no luck at all.




Seems a shame to remove all the brambles, but I'm not wasting the material as it's going on the log piles and bund to make them very unattractive to cats. The idea is to remove all this cover and this is where I will then put in the line of CDs. Seems like a bit of a backward step, as the birds are using the brambles as a staging post to the new bird table, but unfortunately this is exactly the sort of dilemma I'm faced with when dealing with the cats.


It's difficult to make any accurate estimates of just how often these cats are in the wildlilfe garden (I can't be out there or checking 24/7)  But I'm going to judge the success of each deterrent on the basis that up to now, sightings have been at least daily. I am considering using a camera to monitor the situation and also alert me to cats in the garden whilst working at my desk etc.

I guess I could also judge it on the smell! It's extraordinary but whilst out in the wildlife garden once the sun up the smell of pee and poo is very noticeable. So much so that after photography sessions I can still smell it on my clothes. Unhappy




Edited by GemmaJF - 15 Mar 2014 at 8:57am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Mar 2014 at 8:37am
Clearing the 'Front Line' continued over the weekend. The material produced is now piled up on the log piles so that cats will be discouraged from jumping or sitting on them. Not only prickly, but also cats hate climbing on things that feel unstable:



As well as laying the brambles on the piles, I made some 'bundles' by rolling the cut brambles along the ground with a rake, and placed them in strategic spots. The open area to the left of the picture is the derelict pond, this is to be renovated so will soon be cat no go area. I still want access myself to the log piles for maintenance and photography, so I'm going to put in a small gate that overhangs the water. Hopefully the cats will not be interested in entering the water just to get around a gate! I've got some Prikka-Strip which are plastic spikes to stop them simply jumping onto the top of the gate, but more on that and cheat wires  later!

Some options for securing the 'Front Line' in the long term are:

Hedging (I'm thinking Hawthorn for birds and cats will be reluctant to climb in it)

Mesh fencing.

Combined hedge and fence.

This made me wonder if there is any information on the girth of gravid grass snakes available? I really don't want to exclude grass snakes visiting and laying eggs in the compost heap.

Fencing to prevent cats is 2.5 cm. Which seems narrow for grass snakes. Unfortunately the next size up is 5 cm. A determined cat can definitely get through a 5 cm mesh. (Heads are much smaller than they look under all that fur, no collar bone, so if the head gets through so will the rest). I guess the question is whether a prowling cat would bother to go through a 5 cm mesh, even if I know full well they could under severe duress such as being chased by a dog.

Which gives another option, of installing the 5 cm mesh, not to exclude cats (as it isn't guaranteed to do so) but to contain a new dog, which apart from the fact I rather like dogs, could be the ultimate cat deterrent. Wink I'll only go with 5 cm mesh though if I know grass snakes are not going to get stuck in it. (not just gravid, I guess I need to consider grassies with a prominent 'bulge' that have just fed too).

The water blaster has arrived! Pictured with a growing arsenal of equipment:




Edited by GemmaJF - 17 Mar 2014 at 10:36am
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