Is there anything that you can put around your house (other than a Pit Bull) that will keep cats away?   At our friends lake house the crazy lady next door has 20,30+ feral cats living in and around her house.   The cats are ruining the neighborhood since most homes are primarily weekend places and it can be weeks before anyone is there to clean up after them.  My friends place is the worst since he is the closest and spends the least amount of time there.  The stench outside is overwhelming.   We have called the county many times and they will not do anything about it.  Other neighbors have resorted to shooting them,  teaching their dogs to kill them or putting out plates of tuna mixed with antifreeze.   All those options are pretty cruel, but they are tired of seeing their investments ruined.  I have no love for cats and have made an offer to buy the place but am not going to move forward until we find some way of getting rid of the smell and the source of the smell.  I am not opposed to shooting them and have a suppressed.22,  but I would rather find another option before resorting to that.   We have tried moth balls and that did not work.   Trapping them is not really realistic because we are only there on weekends.  Ideas?

Antifreeze is pretty cruel.

Get traps. Pay a local kid $2 a kitty.

CCI Subsonic 40gr hollow points + your suppressed 22 = problem solved/problem staying solved

We have an outdoor male alpha cat that runs off all the other males.

Find the biggest one and feed it.

+

Conibear 220 for medium cats, Conibear 330 for large cats.

Hava Hart trap, now what to do with the trapped kitty, up to you, release at a remote location, or if the cat can be handled, not too feral, turn into the local animal shelter.

This actually works. Only put out enough food for one cat.

I hate feral cats with a passion. Shoot 'em dead.

No.

You must remove them.

I bought a Hav A Hart trap. I've trapped 14 and called Animal Control. We're on a first name basis.

I also whacked one with my Super Colibris.

Dog Jerky Treats are good bait.

Also sardines. I've caught three with sardines.

Well, two. I caught this one twice.



I may have caught all the dumb cats. A couple of nights ago I looked out and saw one sitting on the cage and another beside it, but they never went in.

I have used bait on a fishline and hook.

Trap and a .22 revolver is my method.  I live in Texas.  

This.

.338 Lapua

+3 neighbor has a smaller collection of nasty cats been having "troubles"

come home to find a nasty looking and I mean comical looking typical nasty tomcat sitting by my front door. big ass head ears half chewed off missing 10% of his hair
a little bit of food a pat on the head and that nasty bastard literally keeps the neighbors cats off my property right at the property line.

actually he is the second one. the first was bigger and meaner but a loose pitbull killed him

What round for feral cat?

I have the same gun and the same suppressor.

12lb Coehorn Mortar



http://www.buckstix.com/CoehornMortarHunt.htm



Long read but worth it.

50BMG. Get all with one shot; tricky part is lining them up.

The antifreeze (old-style; from what I hear the new stuff doesn't have the same effect?) works pretty good, I hear. Yes, they will be sad before they die, but oh well. Ground up rat poison in some food works well too, I hear.



(No firsthand experience; I have very conscientious neighbors who keep our neighborhood wandering-cat free, so I haven't had to worry about it.)

Suppressed .22 for the win. I don't have one but my lever action with CCI's new Quite .22 works for me. They only flop around for a few seconds.

"I am not opposed to shooting them and have a suppressed.22, but I would rather find another option before resorting to that"

R u serious?  This is like, a wet dream.

There was a halfway house on my buddy's street. Cats were a huge problem. The final straw was him walking out to his car one day and finding 5 of them inside it ( he had his windows down, it was a nice day)


We talked to the city. They refused to do anything.


Gamo air rifle.

It seems the cats are not the root cause of the problem here.



 

The background info is 3 of the 4 people in my neighborhood participate in getting rid of them..  
I trap,  the ones that seem like they could have a chance at being in a home, I take them up to the shelter.    The ones that obviously sick or too feral.  The don't get that.      If it has a collar, I will let it out of the trap,  if it has owner contact, I call as ask if they are looking for their cat..    There was one I kept catching repeatedly with a collar,  it was skinny,  I took it to the SPCA.
Should also mention that we have 3 of our own, indoor, and don't hate cats.






 

Cat trap
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p2_HVi457dU

Or coyote
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wXYOvqt48VE

Havahart trap. Turn kitties into the pound a county or two away. Bye bye kitty.

The property is not in the city limits, but I think you are correct that shooting them is still illegal.  All the neighbors are fed up with them but there is still a risk of someone telling the wrong person.
Shooting them and then trying to find a place to get rid of the corpse is not something that I would find relaxing.  Plus we rarely go without kids and that’s not something I want them sharing with the class when they go back to school. lol.   Poisoning them is not an option.  Too much risk of other animals being exposed nor is it very humane.  
Other than the cat issue the place is great.  We have been going down there for years and enjoy all the neighbors.  It’s only about 1.5hrs from our house and on open water with a nice boat house.   There is talk that the lady might be moving soon,  but who knows how long it would take to get rid of the cats when and if she does move.  

swimming lessons in the trap. Ice water works quick and painless.
subsonic 22 from a distance, definitely on the sketchy side of the law.
baiting them will be frowned on unless the DEC is cool w/ your dilemma

Get a coyote.

Local feral cates were wiped out when the coyotes moved in.

I will do it for free! Ive always wanted to try feral cat hunting! I hear its fun (on the DL) in WI, where feral cats were decimating the songbird population. quick, smart things are the most challenging to hunt

That is hilarious.

Trap and release... in a coyote area.  I think the coyotes like to play with the cats...

You have an open invitation to come whenever you want.  My friend wants them gone more than I do.  He is not going to be able to sell the place until they are all gone.

Unfortunately there is no good answer.

We have feral cats here and we just shoot and shoot and as soon as the current crop is gone another pops up.

ohh and IBTL...
some things have to be done but just generally are better not talked about on a open forum

One of the neighbors has a rope tied around his trap because somehow they kept falling into the lake when full.  

Havahart trap

1.  Body shots from a .22 are not always quick killers.  They tend to run under the porch to die and smell for a month.  Headshots are key.
2.  Never just throw dead cats out in the pasture.  Place a big rock on top of the dead critter so that the dogs dont drag all the carcasses right back into the yard.

.22   and I like cats

42.09. Cruelty to Animals
(a) A person commits an offense if the person  intentionally or knowingly:

(1) tortures an animal;
(2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food, care, or shelter for an animal in the person's custody;
(3) abandons unreasonably an animal in the person's custody;
(4) transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner;
(5) kills, seriously injures, or administers poison to an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent;
(6) causes one animal to fight with another;
(7) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training or in dog coursing on a racetrack;
(8) trips a horse;
(9) injures an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's effective consent; or
(10) seriously overworks an animal.

(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the actor was engaged in bona fide experimentation for scientific research.

(c) For purposes of this section:


(1) "Abandon" includes abandoning an animal in the person's custody without making reasonable arrangements for assumption of custody by another person.
(2) "Animal" means a domesticated living creature and wild living creature previously captured. "Animal" does not include
an uncaptured wild creature or a wild creature whose capture was accomplished by conduct at issue under this section.
(3) "Cruel manner" includes a manner that causes or permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering.
(4) "Custody" includes responsibility for the health, safety, and welfare of an animal subject to the person's care and control, regardless of ownership of the animal.
(5) "Necessary food, care, or shelter" includes food, care, or shelter provided to the extent required to maintain the animal in a state of good health.
(6)  "Trip" means to use an object to cause a horse to fall or lose its balance.



(d) An offense under Subsection (a)(2), (3), (4), (9), or (10) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state jail felony if the person has previously been convicted two times under this section.

(e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(5) that the animal was discovered on the person's property in the act of or immediately after injuring or killing the person's goats, sheep, cattle, horses, swine, or poultry and that the person killed or injured the animal at the time of this discovery.

(f) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(8) that the actor tripped the horse for the purpose of identifying the ownership of the horse or giving veterinary care to the horse.

(g) It is a defense to prosecution for an offense under this section that the person had a reasonable fear of bodily injury to the person or to another by a dangerous wild animal as defined by Section 822.101, Health and Safety Code

(h) It is an exception to the application of this section  that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and otherwise lawful:

(1) use of an animal if that use occurs solely for the purpose of:

(A) fishing, hunting, or trapping; or
(B) wildlife control as regulated by state and federal law; or


(2) animal husbandry or farming practice involving livestock.


In my experience cat hoarders are the worst and can be quite nasty when they find out you're disappearing their kitties.   Have you tried calling the health department in your county?  Tread carefully, poisoning is a very bad idea.  

Chris I am utterly disappointed in you asking this question...

I have personally shot your .22 with your Sparrow...in fact I shot a rabbit with it!

You know what to do!


Edit:

1. Capture
2. Release at pit
3. ?
4. Profit

Antifreeze is a pretty cruel way to go...and with both that and rat poison you are going to kill scavengers (buzzards) and possibly some birds of prey (hawks and eagles) as well. You might even kill a dog if the cat manages to stagger into someone elses yard.

1) Trap
2) Sell at local Chinese restaurant
3) ?????
4) Profit like a mofo!

Have you tried "marking" the property with any kind of Predator urine?  A Pee-rimiter?

WOLF PEE


ETA: removal of self incriminating text

fe·ral



adjective



1.existing in a natural state, as animals or plants; not domesticated or cultivated; wild.

2.having reverted to the wild state, as from domestication: a pack of feral dogs roaming the woods.

3.of or characteristic of wild animals; ferocious; brutal.