cats

[bluejay55]

Now that I have started my new hobby of birdfeeding/watching, I am having visits from the neighbourhood cats.  I live in the Beaches area of Toronto so quite a dense neighbourhood.  I have chased them out of the yard.  Now I have taken to putting a fireguard screen around the bottom of the birdfeeder so that I do not have a large number of ground feeding birds and if they do choose to eat off the ground they are surrounded by the fireguard.  I have sent my dog out there to chase the cats away, but they return.  My OH found a dead bird beside the house and one at the front and I fear it may be due to my birdfeeding and the cats.  Any ideas on keeping cats out of my yard?  Would much appreciate any advice.

[Julie]

I'd appreciate it too. Found junco feathers and a dead hermit thrush so far, and there are two cats in the yard at any one time. I plan to call the city and see what they can do to enforce their bylaw; it's actually illegal for cats to be wandering freely. But short of setting up camp in my backyard I don't know how they could really make a difference.

Technically you'd be within your rights to live trap the cats and then take them to a shelter as strays. I've considered taking a pic of the dead bird, of the offending cats, and postering the neighbourhood with a mock thank you note. Anyone who lets their cat wander from dawn to dusk isn't going to feel any kind of responsibility, though. So for now I'm throwing cold water at them with little result.

[bluejay55]

Actually Julie, I phoned Animal Control in Toronto.  They tell me ( I thought like you did) that it is not illegal for cats to wander the city, just illegal to not have a licence for them.  They advised me I could catch them and bring them down to the Animal Control office.  I am not really into doing that though.  I just thought there might be some other way.  If I hear of anything I will post it.  The thing is the cats eat the juncos and hermit thrush because they are ground feeders. Very sad.  Too bad they can't catch the pigeons.  Awful aren't I?

[Leslie]

Some advice I remember from some forgotten source is to clear your yard of bushes so that the cats can't hide close to the feeders.  Since bushes and shrubs form a significant part of rich ecosystems, creating a lawn or hard surface "desert" seems a bit drastic.

[Lloyd]

Leslie makes a good point. I spotted the neighbour's cat hiding beneath our Forsythia bush watching several Golden-crowned Kinglets munching on Juniper berries nearby. I went to Canadian Tire and bought "Critter Ridder" and spread it all around the area that the cat had been laying. Voila! The cat's gone and now Juncos and Y-Rumped Warblers have joined the Kinglets.

[WBU]

To reduce the chance of a cat catching one of your birds, your bird feeders should be 7' to 10' feet away from dense flower beds, shrubs or a location the cat can easily hide but the feeders should be within 7' to 10' of a place the birds can go for cover, such as tree, cedar hedge or a large tall bush. The 7' to 10' feet distance seems to be the "magic number" when it comes to protecting your birds from four legged and winged predators. To improve the safety of your birds from cats there is a product called "CatStop" made by ConTech (http://www.contech-inc.com/products/catstop/). It is a motion activated and emits a ultrasonic sound that cats do not like, it scares them out of the area. The sound is not heard by the birds or most people (teenagers can be the exception). Feedback suggests it works well, it can be purchased at Wild Birds Unlimited on Dundas.

[bluejay55]

Thanks so much for the advice.  I am going to try critter ridder first and if that doesn't work try the sound system.  Thanks again.