wild cats!!!!!

[sjlattimore88]

there are several wild cats in my area when i woke up two were under my rabbit hutch not sure if they were messing with the rabbits but dont want to take a chance is there a risk of them killing or hurting my rabbits, what should i do poison them?

 

[Jasharia]

I would call you local pound and get some live traps put down. Then you can bring them in and they can put them down. You wouldn't want poison near the house there might be a chance the rabbits get out one day and eat it. I seen a lot of people trap cat and bring them to the pound and let them deal with it.

 

[MaggieJ]

You live in an area with predators... you need to learn to live WITH them. Doesn't matter how many you kill, more will only come.

I have found that exclusion is the best answer for everything except rats. (Those I poison.) But the others -- raccoons, foxes, coyotes, birds of prey or wildcats -- building a secure facility is a permanent and sure solution.

There may be times when a single rogue animal needs to be removed, but in general I feel it is a waste of time. There is always another ready to move into the territory.

 

[sjlattimore88]

You live in an area with predators... you need to learn to live WITH them. Doesn't matter how many you kill, more will only come.

I have found that exclusion is the best answer for everything except rats. (Those I poison.) But the others -- raccoons, foxes, coyotes, birds of prey or wildcats -- building a secure facility is a permanent and sure solution.

There may be times when a single rogue animal needs to be removed, but in general I feel it is a waste of time. There is always another ready to move into the territory.

this is true i guess i can build something so they cant bother the rabbits anymore maybe some type of bin under the hutch so i can collect the manure and block the cats at the same time

 

[OneAcreFarm]

this is true i guess i can build something so they cant bother the rabbits anymore maybe some type of bin under the hutch so i can collect the manure and block the cats at the same time

When you say "wild cat" do you mean feral domestic cat or actual wildcat like a bobcat or something? I would worry about all sides of the cage, not just the bottom. Cats will reach in and snag kits and eat them thru the wire, just like racoons. They should be enclosed if possible, if not maybe a chainlink fence or something like that with a roof?

 

[ladysown]

i have tons of stray cats around my place. Until they get hit on the road. Current population is four (down from 10 last fall).

I used to not like them until I learned they'd rather catch the mice then worry the bunnies. Cats will take the easier approach.

You can also scare them away. Water sprinklers, throwing loud noisy and wet things at them, get a GOOD tom cat that claims your property as his own. (he'll only keep the other toms away though).
Trap them - then remove them permanently.
Shoot them and bury them (DON"T SAY A WORD!)
Trap them and send them to the Animal Control...unless like ours they make you PAY For the privilege in which case I'd drive VERY VERY VERY far away and cross several major roads while doing so otherwise like skunks, coons, and other such vermin they will come back.

 

[eco2pia]

If you have outdoor hutches, you need something under the wire floor to protect the rabbits feet--a bin or chute is good, but in a pinch, I have just run 2x4 fencing wire tacked to the cage a few inches below the cage floor. Manure still falls through, but dogs, or raccoons, can't grab the rabbits toes from underneath.

I have lost rabbits to dogs biting their feet from underneath. It is an ugly business.

The cats are mostly just curious I would say, and less likely to try to actually break in to a hutch than a dog or raccoon. They watch the rabbits the same way they watch a bird thru a window, but most adult commercial rabbits could about take a cat on in a fight, it is the injured, or a fallen kit, that a cat would be interested in.

Maggie's right, you can't poison everything, just start thinking of your hutches like Fort Knox.

 

[Cattle Cait]

Shoot, shovel, and shut up.

State motto of Wyoming.

 

[KatzNetherlands]

Cats are actually pretty easy to keep away... I don't advocate shooting them... they are doing what they need to to survive, just like any other animal... Cats are really lazy, make the rabbits hard to get, and they will find something easier... There are plenty of sprays/scents made to keep cats away, You can even get a dog...my dogs likes my cat, but chases off others...

I personally would trap them, and maybe find a farmer who needs barn cats... they want feral cats...

These cats are probably wondering why you have all that food trapped in nice little cages just for them... No actual hunting required...lol You made it pretty easy for them.... Can't blame them for trying to take advantage of a free meal...

 

[MaggieJ]

I have the deepest sympathy for feral cats. It's not their fault they find themselves in the wild, forced to scrounge what they can. In fact, what I would do the people who dump them isn't printable!

All the same, one has to protect one's own critters. We have very few losses here. The rabbits are secure. The geese and chickens, while they free-range, are locked in before dark. Occasionally a big hawk will take a hen - maybe three in eight years. Last winter, after freeing us of rats, a weasel paid himself by taking out three chickens. We found the rat hole he was using to get into the coop and patched it. End of problem. I was sorry to lose the birds, but the benefit the weasel conferred on us was worth much more!

The best thing about using exclusion instead of poison, traps or guns is that it works even when your guard is down. It defeats the predators before there is a problem.

 

[KatzNetherlands]

Poison is a horrible way for any animal, even mice to die(takes hours of a slow painful death) ... Plus it can have greater side effects that you might not have thought of... Such as the case of poisoning mice, since it is not a instant death, a cat may eat a poisoned mouse, and itself get sick... I know from experience from trying to save one of my own cats twice from decon poisoning from a mouse... Saved her once, but not the second time

I know not everyone likes mice, or other rodents, or even cats, but no animal deserves to die such a bad death....

JMPO

 

[akane]

Feral cats are nonnative pests and should be killed in my opinion. They do a lot of damage to the environment. Anything tame though I trap and take to the humane society or post on craigslist and someone takes it. Poison should be a last resort. It's the worst way to die that you could pick and you can end up poisoning things you didn't intend to. Every now and then it is the only way though and we finally ended up poisoning the rats because no amount of trapping was working.

 

[sammysue63]

We have barn cats that also get into our chicken/rabbit barn. I have seen them in the roof looking down from the straw but they have never bother anything including our baby chicks, which they could probably get at if they wanted too.
I don't think they bother because we feed them. We just buy the cheapest barn cat food that we can get and make sure they get some everyday.
Unfortunately the side effect is that I am not sure they catch the mice either, since we seem to have so many in the cow barn. :slap:

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I have the deepest sympathy for feral cats. It's not their fault they find themselves in the wild, forced to scrounge what they can. In fact, what I would do the people who dump them isn't printable!

I with you on that one Maggie. Last year, I helped with a Feral Cat Capture/Spay-Neuter/Release program in our area. Keeps the numbers down and provides the ones left with more natural prey so they don't go after domestic birds, etc.

 

[KatzNetherlands]

Trap and Release.... we do that here too....

 

[eco2pia]

Release where? There is no "natural prey" for a feral cat, they don't belong here.

I hate to think how many songbirds fall to them, it is awful--not because of the cute wittle birdies, but because the native birds are already under pressure from loss of habitat and introduced species like the starling and english sparrow, and they are loosing range enough as it is.

I am of the opinion that free ranging cats, feral or not, are just as much of a menace as free roaming packs of dogs. I do not understand why people are not required to confine their cats to their own property like dogs. I have two cats I love--they stay indoors because I am responsible.

That said, poison and death for the cat is generally not the answer, a more responsible owner, via trapping and craig's listing or the humane society sound great.

 

[JT_Hunter]

cats taste just like chicken....no need to breed them like rabbits...people just keep dropping off free food on my door step...here kitty kitty....

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Release where? There is no "natural prey" for a feral cat, they don't belong here.

what I mean by that is mice, moles, snakes, etc.

I hate to think how many songbirds fall to them, it is awful--not because of the cute wittle birdies, but because the native birds are already under pressure from loss of habitat and introduced species like the starling and english sparrow, and they are loosing range enough as it is.

Birds are also taken by other predator birds. We have red-tailed hawks and owls that will eat just about anything they can catch and carry.

I am of the opinion that free ranging cats, feral or not, are just as much of a menace as free roaming packs of dogs.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this, having been subjected to a pack of free ranging dogs. They killed two of my sweet outside kitties, the neighbors rat terrier and cat, the people down the street lost an Australian Shepherd...see the progression here? The day they lunged after my kids on my own property was the day the neighbors got together and hunted them down and shot them. They were not killing for food, they were killing for fun. They did not eat them, just left them there. You don't have problems like that with cats. Also, even though we have three cats, we have an abundance of hummingbirds, cardinals, bluejays, mockingbirds, etc around our property. We feed them and they come back year after year. Do our cats sometimes kill them? yes, that is the way of nature. Do they always kill them or have they stopped coming? no, because we provide our cats and the birds with food and the cats don't need to eat the birds.

I do not understand why people are not required to confine their cats to their own property like dogs. I have two cats I love--they stay indoors because I am responsible.

I have three outdoor cats. We provide food and water, they get regular vet checks, shots, etc. We spend time with them every day. They remain on our property unless they go to roam in the woods out back. We have them because one of my children got bitten by a snake. They keep down the snakes, mice, rats, moles, etc. They also help to chase off the raccoons, possum and the like. What about that is not responsible behavior? Also, I have two indoor cats. They get the same treatment, just indoors.

That said, poison and death for the cat is generally not the answer, a more responsible owner, via trapping and craig's listing or the humane society sound great.

The Humane Society has more cats than they can deal with. They routinely put them to sleep for lack of space or adoptability. With Craigslist, you don't really know WHO you are giving that cat to, and what they plan to do with it. That being said, I am not against putting down nuisance animals. We live in the country and routinely have to shoot, shovel and shut up...

 

[Cattle Cait]

We have two barn cats who do their job just fine so we leave them alone. On occasion an "outsider" cat wanders through. They harass the chickens, kill baby bunnies, and carry who-knows-what diseases through the barnyard. Those cats rarely make it off our property because if we don't shoot them, the next farm that they come through will. Cats are a perfect example of what's going to happen to our dog population if we don't start controlling it, or is actually already starting to happen.

Note: When I refer to "our" farm, I mean my parent's farm since I'm currently displaced from said farm.

 

[DevonW]

Cats are the bane of my existence. There are a couple that have decided to use the wildflower garden as their litter box. There is another one who constantly tries to attack my rabbits when I have them in the exercise pens even when I'm standing right there. They're everywhere they're pissing on everything. And in the summer? forget about sleeping with the window open the cat fights are horrendous. And none of these cats are strays. I can't even shoot them, so I'm resigned to chasing them away, chucking rocks at them, or spraying them with the hose.