Stray Cats and City Gov't at it's finest! Please read. Need Advice.

[Glenn]

Everyone - Killing the cats IS NOT a legal option!  Period.  I will NOT have people advocating illegal acts on this site.  >

[fourbizz]

You can kill nuisance animals in many states Glenn. Even in California at least in some counties, it is legal to shoot domesticated animals.

Not saying that killing them is the best way to go. I certainly would. But just playing devils advocate here.

[Glenn]

Where he is located, it is NOT legal.

[Branuss04]

What about trapping them and relocating them into a more rural area??  I wouldn't think relocating cats would get you in trouble.  

 

How does that alleviate the problem?  That is unless you hate songbirds, squirrels, etc.

It alleviate's HIS problem.  And yes I DO hate squirrels and songbirds if they wake me before 7am!!!

[bigbaitfisher]

Check the hunting department for predatory game scents.  Even if you just drag it around the parameter, and place it on a drip stick, it may be enough to keep them away.

I have two cats, and they can not stand black pepper.  I've placed it around all of my fishing stuff as a deterrent and it works in keeping them out of the area.  Something about the smell.

You could also see if you could borrow a very large dog for the week and walk him around on a leash, allowing him to chase and scare the cats.

I wouldn't bring a gun into any of the situation, even if it was a simple air gun at 100 FPS.  It will frighten the neighbors and cause a lot more trouble then its worth.

And if that doesn't work, place milk on the neighbors a few houses down steps every night.  At least the cats will be over there now ;D Sorry.

[Muddy]

I don't understand the big deal about this but a simple google search brought up many good ideas and successful solutions to your problem here is a link to the search:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=stray+cats+control+&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

In the search you will find information that most municipal  animal control centers are mandated to take are of wild dogs and not (feral) wild cats. You will find products and solutions galore on these pages. It is as simple as doing a search

[pokey]

get yourself a $30 air soft gun and snipe them. It'll give em a good sting and is non lethal. Could be fun.

[Olebiker]

My boss had a problem with black buzzards roosting on her house.  She has gotten really good with a paintball gun.  After three or four instances of getting popped with a paintball, the buzzards decided to roost on someone else's roof.

I expect that the cats might respond in the same way. . .  kind of a reverse Pavlovian response.

[daviscw]

You can kill any animal damaging your property or endangering your family.

With that said though, my mom uses a watergun to keep out cats our of the garage.

[roadwarrior]

I don't understand the big deal about this but a simple google search brought up many good ideas and successful solutions to your problem here is a link to the search:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=stray+cats+control+&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

In the search you will find information that most municipal animal control centers are mandated to take are of wild dogs and not (feral) wild cats. You will find products and solutions galore on these pages. It is as simple as doing a search

Thanks Muddy...Some serious advice on addressing the problem.

8-)

[=Matt 5.0=]

My mother-in-law belongs to this organization in RI.

http://www.pawswatch.org/

Maybe there's something similar where you live.

[Gatorbassman]

When I was stationed in Hawaii. We had a very serious problem with stray cats living around the barracks. It got so bad that you had to be careful when opening the trash can because a cat would jump out and attack you.

The root of the problem was that we had a lot of happy cats. Happy cats reproduce more and have more kittens per litter.... So why were these cats happy? We found out that there was a female officer who didn't even live there who would come by every day with cat food and feeding them. It was a pain in the butt to get her to stop, but she did. This took care of the constant supply of new cats so now we could focus on how to reduce their population. We got permission to use live traps and then the Animal shelter euthanized them for us.

So find out who's feeding them and make them stop. I guarantee that one or more people are keeping them happy or there wouldn't be a problem.

In many cities and states it is legal to kill ferrell animals. (cats included) Check your local laws. If there isn't a law addressing ferrell animals on the books then propose one to the city council. Get your local government involved.

[grimlin]

My mom went to the animal control and they told her the only way to get rid of them is traps.They even gave my mom 2 traps and she was bringing 2-3 cats in everyday to the animal control.

But because she was willing to help do it the right way and not harm the animals the animal control corporates with her.

At the end of the year she ended up with well over 500 cats trapped.However,the neighborhood didn't have any more cats around.... ;D

[Valascus]

I have been researching both municipal and county laws regarding the issue. Apparently I cannot even discharge a pellet gun within Overland's city limits. So the shooting of anykind idea is out. I also imagine the paintball idea may be similar, and even if it isn't, if someone saw me shoot a cat with a paintball gun, I am sure they would call the police for animal cruelty. So, again, shooting is out.

I also have looked up scheduling for Overland's city council meeting, which I will attend as soon as there is another meeting. The woman that babysits my daughter will also be attending as well as a few of the people who signed her petition. Hopefully this can spur some sort of action to be taken.

Muddy, I have done quite a few web searches over the last few months regarding the matter. I posted this thread hoping that someone may have an idea that I have not come across on your run of the mill web search. But, pertaining to some of the information in your search link: I keep my property as clean as possible and have made sure there are no spaces the animals can use for shelter. Unfortunately, one of my neighbors is not quite so neat and I am certain his backyard is a great place for at least a few of them to hide.  I could use some of the sprays that are listed, however, almost biweekly reapplication is required in most cases. A single bottle of the stuff costs at least $20.00 in my neck of the woods at my local hardware store. That's going get pricey awfully fast and is not even completely guaranteed to work.

Fluke, I am not certain if anyone in the vicinity is feeding the cats. If they were, I am not even sure they would admit it for fear of recourse from the city code enforcer since he left all of those notices on everyone's doors. One thing about this area is there are many people around here with bird feeders. Easy predation of the birds may be keeping them in the area. I will try to convince my wife and neighbors to try an experiment and remove the feeders for a short period to see if it helps alleviate the problem.

I think the safest, most practical, and cheapest course of action for me to take will involve trapping the animals myself with the cooperation of the local animal control department. I will call them this afternoon to see if there is anyway something similar to what Grimlin described can be set up. I will also try to call Overland's animal control/rabies/code enforcer to bother him again about setting up additional traps. If I don't get anywhere with either of these phone calls, I will just have to call as many animal shelters, vets offices, etc., as I can to see if they are taking the cats. If they aren't, I am not really sure what I am going to do with the animals. Some of them I have seen are kind of sickly looking while others are a bit on the aggressive side. So I am not to sure if an animal rescue agency of some sort would take the animals, but I suppose that will be another avenue to look into.

[Muddy]

Hey Val, check some of that search material. Trapping may only be sucessful if spaying and neutering is in the mix with it.

[Fisher of Men]

Hey Val, check some of that search material. Trapping may only be sucessful if spaying and neutering is in the mix with it.

At around $50+ per cat, that might get expensive.  Surely, there's something you can feed the little devils to make them sterile. . . like antifreeze?  

Just kidding, Glenn!!

Trap them and take them to a local dairy farm.  I'm pretty sure they'll stay around there for awhile.   8-)

[Valascus]

I couldn't get a hold of Overland's "animal control" agent...again. However, I did talk to someone at STLCo Animal Control and the answer I got this time was far different that what I got last time. When I asked about the waiting list for the animals to be picked up, the officer told me that only applied if the person requesting pick up of the animal wanted a "guarantee" of no-kill or adoption of said animal. The last person I spoke with said nothing about a no waiting list option. She informed me the waiting list was designed to ensure that room and provisions were the animal within their facilities. I told her I wasn't concerned with that at all. I just want the cats away from and off my property. She said that's not a problem and that if I do capture any of the cats to call and an officer will be dispatched immediately. She was even so informative as to provide me with an after hours number to call if I have a cat that needs to be picked up. So I just bought a Havahart 32" x 11" x 12" trap and a buncha cans of cheap tuna. Hopefully over the next couple weeks I can make a dent in this problem.

[guitarkid]

Steel toes. If that does not work a k-bar.

They are like a bad habit, just kick it.

That is why I am glad I live in the country. A cat comes around, It bites the bullet. Literally.

                 -sm

[Fisher of Men]

Steel toes. If that does not work a k-bar.

They are like a bad habit, just kick it.

That is why I am glad I live in the country. A cat comes around, It bites the bullet. Literally.

                 -sm

. . . and they soon die from lead poisoning.  

[moby bass]

Have you thought about trying to find people to adopt them after you trap them.  We have had many cats and some have gotten pregnant before we could get them fixed.  We never had any trouble getting rid of the kittens.  Always people who wanted them. We just rescued two from the pound last March, (which brought our total to 5) and they are two of the most loving creatures we've ever had.  BTW, our cats are excellent mousers, keeping the rodent population down. We have little dead bodies everywhere.

[Valascus]

Have you thought about trying to find people to adopt them after you trap them. We have had many cats and some have gotten pregnant before we could get them fixed. We never had any trouble getting rid of the kittens. Always people who wanted them. We just rescued two from the pound last March, (which brought our total to 5) and they are two of the most loving creatures we've ever had. BTW, our cats are excellent mousers, keeping the rodent population down. We have little dead bodies everywhere.

If I happened to catch a kitten or one of the younger cats, that might be possible. Some of the older ones I have seen are kind of sickly looking and there are three in particular that are pretty aggressive. To make matters worse, the aggressive ones aren't really that afraid of humans. Usually if I start to chase one off they will run, but those three start hissing, making all kinds of racket, and will stand their ground. My next door neighbor is a cat guy, so I may be able to see if he would adopt any younger animals. I get the feeling that a lot of the older cats are just too sick or aggressive for adoption.

It's funny that you mention the mice. Almost a third of Overland used to have a massive rat problem about a year ago. Was on the news and everything. I never saw one around here, but the residents who saw them on a regular basis said it was way more than just a few rats. The city tried their best to ramp up means to eradicate the rats, but over the course of about 2 months the problem seemed to fix itself. I think I know why.

[fishinfiend]

It may be pricey, but I would try and get in touch with this guy. He is real good at taking care of vermin.

[Avalonjohn44]

Have-a-hart traps are the way to go.  They work.  We used to use them in south Jersey many years ago, and over the course of a summer we cleaned out our area.  We killed them ourselves though, so they couldn't come back.  Many shelters will release strays instead of killing them, which is what the shelter in Jersey was doing.  The cats came right back.   I have spoken to multiple folks at shelters that say they have released hundreds of stray dogs and cats rather than have to kill them.  

[key chain bass guy]

Cayenne pepper might work.  Probably not feasible to put all around the perimeter of your property, but sprinkled through the garden may keep them out of there.  Could be a short term fix anyway until you get the help you need from the County.  Had a problem with racoons in the trash cans awhile ago, sprinkled some cayenne on top of every bag I tossed in and the problem stopped pretty quickly.

[Valascus]

Cayenne pepper might work. Probably not feasible to put all around the perimeter of your property, but sprinkled through the garden may keep them out of there. Could be a short term fix anyway until you get the help you need from the County. Had a problem with racoons in the trash cans awhile ago, sprinkled some cayenne on top of every bag I tossed in and the problem stopped pretty quickly.

Tried cayenne pepper with mixed results. Kept some away and not others. Not sure why. Bad thing about cayenne is you have to apply it daily. In the morning when the dew settles ,or if it rains, it dilutes the effects. If we didn't re-apply the cats would just come back. It worked pretty well for the most part when the pepper was fresh though.

On another note, I am on the cities schedule of minutes at the next city council meeting to speak on this particular subject. I have a whooping three minutes to state my case.  : But, I guess that's another issue altogether.