Cats and nest boxes

Thanks Alan, for waterpistols you have to be there at the time.

I have a lot of bushes, but the cats use those to hide before rushing out to a kill.  Also birds, especially blackbirds nest in the bushes. Doesn't matter if they are thorny or not. I totally agree with what you dare not put into print . Geoff T below expresses it succintly !

I manage to deter cats from my garden by bursting out of the house and thundering towards them yelling or clapping my hands. It helps that I'm retired, of course. I am alerted to their presence by the birds' warning cries - quite different from the sudden silence when sparrowhawks are around.

I won't put up nest boxes because I have a cat who doesn't chase the birds. He helps by chasing off any intruding cats and likes me to trim back the bottom of the shrubs so he can see they're not lurking. I had lots of blackbird chicks this summer and all survived. I must try to get a photo of him asleep on the grass with the birds feeding nearby.

Mice are another story.

Nice to read your comments Grandmamac.

I use the same technique of rushing out, shouting and clapping, I too am retired but one can't spend all day looking into the garden!  I am trying to train the cats to run at the first sight of me, some are getting too cocky and wait until I run at them, or throw something; anything I have to hand, even if it is a shoe.

I think the best answer is a big dog permanently on guard duty, or a tiger ! I have heard that tiger dung works as a deterrent, but where do you get it?

I would love to have a dog but they are too much of a tie when you go away often, as we do.

You get tiger dung from the back end of a tiger

Very droll Geoff T.  It's best to wait for it to make it's own exit, and the tiger has moved on, before collecting it.

I believe some zoos do sell it to the public.

Hi Lolly

Good to hear the views of a cat lover. You are right that most cat 'owners' have no responsibility, (I am told that you can't own a cat, it adopts you).  Most round my way have a cat, often two, plus a dog, then they go out to work and leave the poor animals to their own devices.  Here in France I think it is worse than in GB.  The animals are generally well fed by their owners so why do they still go hunting ?

I am not a cat hater, I love all animals, just that I prefer wild ones to other peoples pets.  I would welcome a truly wild cat to my area.

I agree that bell collars can help the problem, but nothing is 100% sure.   Certainly water works well, but you have to be there to squirt them.  I have thought about setting up an automatic system, on the lines of IR detectors, as used by ultrasound scarers, but controlling a garden sprinkler.  This would work, but I am sure the cats would soon find a way round it.

I suppose I am being unrealistic in hoping someone will come up with something innovative, and cheap !

I believe that it is illegal, even though cats are classified as domesticated, whereas dogs are!

Here's some info from the website of Infertrust (information about firearms misuse and support for those affected) - http://www.infertrust.org/animal_cruelty.asp

Any person who deliberately shoots a domestic pet/other animal may be guilty of the following offences:

1. Causing unnecessary suffering to an animal (s.4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006)

2. Criminal damage (s.1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1977)

3. Harassment (s.2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997) - if there are two or more incidents.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this topic, but I think the subject is getting out of hand, it's not going the way I hoped.  Perhaps I was too optimistic that someone may have found a simple solution to an old problem.  I am not sure if 'the tearooms' is the right place for this discussion so I suggest we drop this thread now.

Thanks again to all for your thoughts