gennepher
Master
- Messages
- 13,401
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
For cat lovers on this thread I have a question that you may be able to answer. I have, over the years, consulted books and also the internet but it’s always good to try and get another angle on it. Is there really a way of keeping cats off my garden? Let me re-phrase; is there a pleasant way to keep cats off my garden.
For several years we have been defending our garden from a group of cats, all property of one human who lives a bit further down the street, on the other side of the road. A very unreasonable person who just thinks it’s quite amusing that her menagerie of mobile menaces use everyone else’s gardens as their toilets.
We have managed to make our back garden cat proof, at some expense and effort. It is now free of their disgusting gifts, safe for our grandchildren to play in and all the birds are back.
Our front garden however is a different matter. We have bark, collect pine cones and holly leaves from the park, shiny spinning things, spikes, stuff to spray on the ground and on, and, on, and on. Not really a garden of beauty more of a junk yard of paraphernalia that cats may or may not like.
I have nothing against cats, they are merely animals doing what animals of their irk do, but they do live in the UK under the protection of right to roam - I just seemingly have to battle away to deter. I blame lawyers, who, like economics professors and so called social scientist, fiddle away with society, chipping away at symmetry in their own little bubbles.
Anyhow, I digress. So just how do I keep a bunch of cats from continuing their nasty habits in our front garden. And please, don’t suggest getting a cat or even a dog - I would not let one into my house.
Like you, @dunelm I have made the back garden pretty much cat proof from stray cats. But my back garden does back on to some ancient woodland, and I have foxes and badgers etc that leave little messages. The messages are very distinctive to the animal...I have moles too.
I am unable to stop the foxes leaping from garage roofs.
But the badgers that burrow under the fence are a menace. There is a family of badgers that insist on their right of way. They are often in the front garden, which is dug up on a regular basis. But I draw the line to them digging near my bungalow walls, or under the wall from front to back garden. The badgers want my frogs for supper. The frogs are in my ponds in the back garden. So I asked around for advice. I was told chicken wire. I placed chicken wire near and beside my walls and fence. I even dug some chicken wire into the ground. The badgers then stopped digging their tunnels under my walls into the back garden. I found that cats don't like chicken wire either, they cannot dig their little messages in, they don't like the feel on their paws. But I was pleased how successful the chicken wire was stopping the badgers digging, and into the back garden. The badgers decimated my frog population one year. But I have a breeding pond they always return to each year, and so my frog population built up again.
Other ideas are black cat silhouettes, metal ones, that you stick on the edge of the lawn, you can get a set of 3 fairly cheaply. But you do need to move them around to keep a stray cat on its toes. I have a stone cat with glass eyes (but the eyes need replacing again). And stray cats are wary of that.
My cats in the past have been scared of large birds, like buzzards. We have birds of prey here including buzzards. Some idiot a few gardens away was enticing a buzzard into his back garden, so it would swoop in for the meat/kill, I assume he was using meat. So my cats in the past fled indoors if the buzzard was near. One small cat of mine wasn't quick enough, she was on my garage roof. I saw it and couldn't get out to save her. The buzzard got her. Popeye is still very very wary. So, you know you can get quite big plastic owls, that move their heads (and I am assuming make a noise as well), a person across the road has one. She is not an animal lover. And the owl moves its head. Cats don't go in her garden. They give it a big wide detour.
The Scaredy-cat plant I have used in the past in the front. I was hoping it might keep the foxes away. I think it did. But it wasn't hardy enough to stand the winter here, so they died.
I understand half full plastic bottles in the border might work. The light reflection is supposed to deter. It's an old game keeper's trick. It might work with strung CD's or other
shiny reflective stuff.
I have a neighbour who stands guard at her window and charges out with a powerful water gun....but I am sure cats return to annoy her.
I mentioned cat silhouettes before and a large owl. Well, you can get them with realistic glow eyes. It's the glow eyes that is important. This works for badgers too. Maybe, if you are partial to gnomes, maybe some with scary glowing eyes, possibly battery or solar powered.
I have had infra red sensor LED lights in the front, both battery charged and solar. A couple I had. Cats and badgers don't get used to them in the same way as a continuous light.
I have had a lot of problems with badgers and I don't want them making my garden their home...but what works for badgers works for cats....
>^..^<