what's the best thing to do in order to get ferals to hang around my house??

My dad today was saying that someone suggested for him to get an outside cat to eliminate some problem he's had for a while with moles in our yard. He tried everything but they just won't go away! So I was pretty appalled, I can't stand having an outside cat because I think it's wayy too dangerous and I am not sure I'd be able to handle it, I'd get too attached and wouldn't be able to close the door knowing there is a kitty outside...
So I suggested to him to attract some ferals, and feed them and get them fixed, and hopefully they will catch some moles lol. I remember someone said I should just leave some food out and they will come..Is that really going to work? I am afraid of attracting more racoons and coyotes than cats lol. Has anyone tried anything like this? I've been wanting to have more contact with ferals for a while so I am happy to do this...

Pretty much worked that way here.

I have a couple that eat out of my bowl on the porch--don't think the raccoons every get to the bowl!

I actually am going to try and trap the female and get her spayed (think its a female) gotta get a voucher.

Leslie

Describe the environment he lives in. Is it rural, semi-rural, x-burbs, urban?

DH happened to notice your question and reminded me of what we do. The cats themselves never chased the moles from the yard. What he did instead it to drop used cat litter over the mole holes. That got rid of them.

I know - an extreme thing to recycle, but I'm sure you could supply him some to use in his yard.

Another thing about moles. They feed on lawn grubs. If you kill off the grubs the moles have nothing to eat. We had a big mole problem. Killed the grubs.. bye-bye moles.

It's the suburbs but also in metro atlanta so not too far from the city...I'm thinking maybe there aren't a lot of ferals at all around here... Thanks for the mole eliminating tips btw I will pass it along...

Originally Posted by ut0pia

Thanks for the mole eliminating tips btw

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Willains! Look what you did! We could rescue a couple of ferales with the help of Utopia. But did only get the moles away...

By the way. Rats dont either like the smell of cat urine. This was why some police-stations have a programme of protecting ferales... Working just fine.
So if they are good chasers is excellent, but basically it is enough if they just are there...

So Utopia. Perhaps you can go on with your mini-TNR anyway?

Yes I am but i am not sure there will be any ferals that come, because I have never seen any ferals around my house, I've never even seen any outside cats that neighbors might have...I hope ferals do come and I sure will try

Remember that there might be no ferals around! (like me)

When my feral colony of close to 20 cats was around, none of them chased away the moles. I know they hunted because they did get the field mice. Because moles mostly live underground, the cats can't get to them, nor do they go pee on their holes. They didn't leave until we put used cat litter on their holes (and the runs). And actually, what they will do is leave your yard and tunnel over to the neighbors. Your neighbor won't be happy.

That is cool to know about the used cat litter. I will admit that my ferals do get the moles. They don't eat them tho. They drop them off on the porch for me. The mice the do eat when they find them. For some reason all the ferals come to my place. I think it is the free food. In fact, so do the possums and racoons. I just rescued to kittens from my hay loft. I wait till the get comfortable here, then they go visit the vet to be fixed. but then more come. Oh well,

Mary.

I don't know if it will help with moles, but if you want cats to hang around, plant lots of catnip. We call our yard "Kitty City" because just about every cat in the neighborhood comes for its daily dose.

We did the used litter trick when we had a huge woodchuck who was burrowing in our garden. He was too big for our-then-cat Gracie to mess with. He did not like the litter. He would just move over and dig a new hole somewhere else. Eventually we drove him off our property. He moved down the street a couple houses. One day we heard the sound of a gun and never saw the critter again. I think our elderly VT farmer neighbor got 'im.

Gracie would catch moles. Because of the water table our septic was close to the surface, andthe ground didn't freeze mid-winter attracting moles. Gracie would sit on the lid near the tunnel terminus and wait. Incredibly patient hunting cat... And play whack-a-mole when the little varmits did appear. ..

We never had a critter problem with Gracie around...

If you feed them,they will come!!lol no but seriously everywhere I have ever lived we would start off feeding one or 2 cats and end up feeding a dozen or more!lol I live in the country and my ferals are always catching mice,moles and birds.

If you feed them, they will come! Though I love the idea of planting catnip! Of course, depending upon where you live, you may also be feeding squirrels, raccoons, possums and who-knows-what else!

What we did was put up a slatted wooden table with inset legs. The raccoons couldn't climb it and the possums, I guess, didn't bother. It worked fine for the cats because they can jump up there. But when it came to trapping, we've trapped countless raccoons and possums.

But PLEASE do not put out food until you have a plan to have them spayed and neutered! We worked out a deal with several local vets - but you can search to see if there are any low-cost spay/neuter clinics near you. We wanted the convenience of being able to drop the animals off whenever they were trapped, and many clinics only operate (for ferals) like "every other saturday" or something. If we were limited to trapping only Friday nights or Saturday mornings, I have no idea how long it would have taken to trap all the ferals that came through here.

Also, make sure you know you're neighbor's animals! We ear-tip (the vet snips off the top of the left ear very neatly) so it's easy to see who's already been fixed before we head all the way to the vet with an already-sterilized kitty. I'm quite sure we fixed a lot of the barn cats around here - but though we bore the expense, it meant less homeless kitties.

Laurie

Originally Posted by LDG

But PLEASE do not put out food until you have a plan to have them spayed and neutered! and many clinics only operate (for ferals) like "every other saturday" or something. If we were limited to trapping only Friday nights or Saturday mornings, I have no idea how long it would have taken to trap all the ferals that came through here.

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Right! To do good is nice, but it is really excellent first when you have a conscious plan with it. Either some form of TNR, or adopting. Preferably some combination of both.

Homeless and semiferales are used to hide some time if necessary. So you dont have to trap them just hours before the surgery is open.
You can trap them also at least 24 hours before, keeping them in a carrier.
If you do have a dog crate, or a couple of dog crates, it will help much.
Dog crates are wery useful in many situations for a rescuer.

good luck!

Thinking on, one more thing.

You will de facto start a new cat colony in the middle of a suburban villa area. OR?

Thus, it is a good idea to have acceptance and understanding, and perhaps even cooperation, from your neighbours. All neighbours, or at least - most of them.

And this acceptance will be much easier to get if you DO present your ideas with TNR and or adoption-programme.
Hey! Perhaps some of them will stand in the queue for adoption??