But I have some feral cats I want to scare away. I don't want to harm them unless I have to, but they have worn out their welcome. What kind of loud sound could I get from a gun to try to scare them off?
Cats are smart. A loud sound will disperse them but only for a short time. Your best bet is to kill one, gut it, leaving the guts hanging and post it to a tree. If the remaining cats climb the tree and eat the remains, you have a big problem and they are not going away unless you kill them all.
Tough problem,feral cats are smart and mean as hell.I like cats a lot but honestly you would be doing them a favor by shooting them,they have about a 2 year lifespan and it's a miserable existence.
I didn't know that feral cats had such a short life expectancy. Interesting... But they can surely reproduce quickly, even in that short period of time.
They breed like crazy,but also die fast from disease and predators.Coyotes love the taste of cat,I lost about a dozen of mine to them. I really do like cats but I'm not kidding when I say the feral thing is a horrifying existence,better to thin them out.
That is too funny. I used to shoot them with a bb gun. nothing too powerful though. You could try a dog. I'm wondering if you can get some coyote urine around the yard. Not too sure on that though, and you would need to re-apply. Pepper spray may work too. Don't give them a place to stay on the property. Any places where they can nest should be plugged up.
I have a dog, but he doesn't seem like too much of a deterrent. My husband came close to catching one, but what do you do when you catch it?
Define catch....if he manages to grab one it is going to eat him alive,I'm damn serious here.Do not try and grab a feral cat as you will end up with stitches and possibly a rabies shot.
I meant catch in the sense you are thinking. I told him just to leave it alone. It makes me angry, my son's cat disappeared, I assume coyotes, but yet they don't touch the feral ones.
In most areas you can get live traps from the local animal control or the ASPCA. Once you trap them and give them to the ASPCA or animal control.
My first post here was just a joke. There is something you can do. Most cats are not fond of citrus smells. Plant lemon balm in the area. It's a perrenial so it will grow every year. Use a light fertilizer (10-10-10) and water it This may not drive them away completely but it will lessen their presence. The added benefit is that mosquitoes don't like it either.
Please don't ever, ever allow anyone to catch or even try to catch a feral cat. You will look worse than if you danced with Freddie Krueger if you do. They are not a pet. They are a wild animal like a lion is a wild animal. You may survive the attack but you may not want to, since as safn1949 says, you will wind up with lots of stitches and probably rabies shots too. Even as a kitten they will tear you up. Think of a saw mill running 100Xs faster and using 10 blades instead of one. NOT A GOOD IDEA. As far as getting rid of them, just kill them. You will be doing yourself and everyone else including the cat a service if you do.
