How do you keep cats out of your raised garden bed?

The reasoning and data behind the claim being made has as much credibility as Art Spinella's claims so, no, I'm not buying it.

You've got a system where folks were/are feeding these feral pets, rather than eradicating them. If they start sterilizing all of them that they are feeding, rather than protecting them from being dealt with (as they seem to have been doing before according to the feral cat folks literature) you very well might see some localized reductions. But then the problem wasn't with eradication or this supposed replacement from outside. No, the problem was with the illlogic of the humans involved who were feeding unneutered, nuisance, feral cats.

In fact, if the population declines because those feeding them have finally at least sterilized them (which is precisely what I got out of reading their material), then that would prove that they were NOT BEING REPLACED by outside cat populations as is part of the central claim of why eradication doesn't work.

Now, if the humans in the loop continued to put out food for the feral cats and then had them removed and put down, would you care to hazard a guess as to what would happen to that feral population? It would crash.

At any rate, having a bunch of feral cats running about is only going to harm native species. In reality you are trading several of them for a single feral cat. You can try to pat yourself on the back for encouraging those feeding them for being less irresponsible, but it is still irresponsible.

 

Deny the following and and risk looking really silly talking about credibility

from this source If this was untrue it would have been soundly refuted...go ahead and Google.

Could you at least make a cursory look at links like this?

Feeding the ferals is to give the lowerd population a decent life...at barns that is not even needed.

Animal Conrol is no closer to exterminating ferals than decades ago - explain the superiority of that method with evidence. Trapping-Neutreing-Return has worked in Europe and Africa - why do they keep doing it?

Humans are a bigger threat endangering wildlife....thousands of species, including the big cats could disspear in the wild from habiitate destruction.

 

One of the reasons humans are such a threat to the native wildlife of everywhere they settle is they take domestic pets with them and the less responsible among those humans let those pets roam free among the native animal populations. Sometimes an animal doesn't come home. It only takes 1 female stray, breeding with the domesticated male population to cause an ever growing problem. Maybe the law should require all domestic pets be desexed except registered breeders?

 

That's actually what I looked at to draw my conclusions. Don't you look silly?

Art Spinella would be proud of a study like that. No bias having this come from cat fanciers. :cheer2:

What you and the feral cat defenders of the universe are doing is an amusing misinterpetation. You seem to have missed the point that the problem is the folks who were feeding and protecting them. The confounding factor that makes this "study" and example of "garbage in, garbage out" is the human one. By getting the ones maintaining their population to behave more responsibly than they had, it may very well have had an impact.

Another funny side note: I notice your particular link deletes the section about how the number of dogs euthanized dropped off as well--30% in fact. You can pretty much throw the whole thing out after that.

 

For all the reasons stated,, feral cats, (and dogs for that matter) are terrible for other wild life.... Lead poison them!

Icarus

 

A homeowner can have a nasty problem with feral cats getting under the house, shed, barn, etc. and making the whole place smell like cat piss. Neutered or not, elimination was the only option. The only other requirement was not to advertise the solution since many do not recognize the difference between a pet and a destructive animal.

[The following is humor, not serious!] If you want eradication to work 100% effectively, put a mandatory bounty on feral cats (like $50). It was shown with the Florida panther that a bounty provides motivation for complete and total elimination.

 

Here, here. A responsible cat owner keeps their cat inside and has already spayed, neutered and gotten the thing all the shots it needs. I say license the cats to make sure this happens. Any stray cat without a collar and tag is FERAL and should be humanely euthanized.

My parents live on the rim of a canyon that is a wildlife preserve. There are coyotes in the canyon. No one in the neighborhood owns cats anymore. Because they let them loose and the coyotes eat them.

I love dogs, but wouldn't support a trap-neuter-release program for feral dogs. I do not support it for cats either. Neither are native to my area. I think we have enough problems with feral native species we do not have to add non-native feral animals.

 

And I'm a cat lover, never have been that fond of dogs.

My previous cat could open doors by stretching out and working the knob with his paws until it released. Then he would strut in and give me the look that said, "well, I guess you were mistaken when you thought you could keep me out of this room." He also had a sort of bark he would do. But honestly he was the most perfectly litter box trained pet I've ever had or known. Once as a kitten I rubbed his nose in his urine, once in his poop and made a big angry impression over it (for show). I then took him to his litter box both times and it never happened again.

 

When I worked in Adak, Alaska it was the bald eagles. They were hard on small dogs as well as cats. Our national symbol also tended to pick through our garbage...

 

Fight fire with fire. Get a large (neutered) male Maine Coon cat. Litter box train him, then let him go in and out of the house freely through a small cat door. Ours goes in and out of the basement door and pretty much stays in the basement.

He'll keep other cats out of your yard and keep the rodent population down (if you don't mind a few meeces pieces around the house).

Of course I'm not against shooting them either, but that will only create a void that will be filled by another cat.

 

Interstingly enough, IIRC, the void from the feral cat I did in was somewhat filled by an o'possum (a native species) who began frequenting the garage, much to the dismay of the house cat at the time.

 

Feral dogs will form quite vicious packs. Of all the nasty attacking carnivores that farmers worry about, dog packs are the worst.

 

Only till you shoot that one.

 

That's why you need a BIG cat like a Maine Coon - ours is a mongrel (mostly Maine Coon) we got from a rescue, but he's still pretty darned big.

I never liked cats much, so I was not at all bothered when my wife's tabby expired. But then the rodents started to undermine our house foundation, walkways etc. Seems like that cat was serving a purpose after all. Got the Maine Coon and now we don't have rabbits or other cats either. They won't come inside the yard.

 

I don't think you understand. I don't want to get rid of the rabbits, squirrels, or possums. (My previous cat was a mongrel Maine Coon.) What I did want to get rid of was the critter that was pushing out all the rest, the feral cat.

 

For sheer entertainment value, you can't beat a Pine Marten

The Wilderness Classroom » Pine Martin

They are absolutely deadly to squirrels and other annoying rodents. The Pine Marten I have living near my barn, will wrap himself around the tree and wait for the squirrel to eventually come down. He then ambushes the squirrel and really tortures it

As thanks for living in my old barn, the pine marten will also poop on my back step.

 

That's his way of marking his territory. Throw it back at his nest, and have a few more cups of tea.

If that doesn't work, send him to me, and I'll have him take care of the squirrel that keeps eating my fruit and flowers.

 

Never heard of a Pine Marten, that's what I like about PC, you learn something new every day.

 

That's what squirrel gumbo is for...

 

I'm not sure if Pine Martens groom themselves like a cat, but I have noticed his poop has a lot of fur in it. I suspect the fur came from the small rodent-like things he eats

When it gets really cold, I put out a tin of cat food for him near the barn. He seems to appreciate that, he has almost come close enough for me to touch him, if I was that dumb

Pine Martens have long, sharp claws

As far as sending him your way, you get your own Pine Marten. Mine does a valuable service around the place