Cat scarers

I am plagued by cats belonging to several neighbours. They are constantly using my garden as their personal toilet and have caught several birds on my lawn. Has anybody bought one of the electronic scarers as advertised in RSPB catalogue? Do they work?

  • Hi,

    I haven't got a RSPB model but I do have one that I bought in the garden centre (about £40) - this one does not work - the cats walk straight past it!! It's pointed at the main entry point of the garden and it's been there at least 6 months. Maybe the RSPB one may be better, and maybe others on the forum may have had success with them, but I'm sad to say I haven't.

    Good luck Jayne

  • I used a little pepper dust to stop a cat depositing on my new gravel bed. I must add that it was my own cat and no injury occurred - he didn't get close and sniff.

  • Running up the garden in stocking feet shouting as I fling a jug of cold water their way is how I scare the cats that come into my garden......come to think of it I probably scare the folks living either side of me as well :-( LOL.

  • I've done that too and now they bolt for the fence when I bang on the window and point at them. But I'm not always in the kitchen.

  • I probably did not explain the problem clearly. I own several cats, they stay in my back garden, enclosed by a cat fence which stops them from roaming into neighbouring gardens and allotments. My neighbours either side have no cats and their lawns are very large. Yet blackbirds insist on coming down onto my lawn, and the cats killed one recently. I try to deter the birds - I have a very large plastic heron and a large glitter balloon but the birds still come. I chase them whenever I see them but it does not stop them. I feed the birds in front of my house to stop them from going round the back..... I love birds and am a member. What device can I use to stop them. since these cats are my own, using a CAT scarer is not what I can use, and it seems unfair to keep the locked in the house during the entire summer. I need to find something that scares the blackbirds away into the neighbours' gardens.
  • Hi Kornelia,    you've replied on an old 2012 thread and not the one you started which is HERE;    but don't worry as this site is often hard to navigate.       To be honest,   I think those of us who replied to your other post fully understood that you own cats but as a Community of people who dedicate themselves to assisting the conservation and protection of birds I do feel you are asking your question on the wrong website;    you say you are a member (assuming of RSPB, which is commendable) and that you love birds but then go on to say how can you scare them away into next doors garden.    Quite simply, and please forgive me but I think you are missing the point;     birds are quite naturally found in gardens and surrounding outdoor areas and throughout the countryside,  it is their natural habitat and unless you cage area your entire garden like an enclosed aviary - but an aviary that doesn't allow birds in then it will be impossible to keep every bird out as it's what they do,  hunting insects, digging for worms, sifting through leaf litter and borders.     It would be like you going to the shops to get food and each time you approached the door someone would come and scare you away each time.      As much as I want to help you,  I think you are asking the impossible -   you don't mind birds in your front garden but don't want them in the back so maybe you will be better not feeding birds at all and then more of them will go find other feeders in the local neighbourhood and you will therefore see less of them.       The only bird scarers I have seen are dedicated balloons which are sometimes used to keep birds from eating new seed crops but as you say often these do not work.   The other types of scarers (for commercial use) are sonic cannons and recorded predator calls but these are generally used for safety reasons at places like airports to ensure safe take off and landing of aircraft.        To finish,  I can only suggest you remove the front garden feeders and hope that your local neighbourhood have some sort of feeder set up so more birds will head off there.