Ferals and neighbors

I help with managing a feral colony that developed in our neighborhood. We've successfully TNR'd all but maybe 4 (and we're hoping to catch those soon) but there are currently about 20 cats in the colony. Most of them hang out in the area between my cul-de-sac and the neighborhood behind us. Some neighbors, understandably, are not thrilled with the existance of the colony. I keep expecting someone to learn that Animal Control has been by to round up as many cats as possible....I'm surprised that hasn't happened already, to tell you the truth.

What's the best method for getting the cats not to use particular areas/gardens as litter boxes? A search I ran on the forum turned up a reference to garlic powder - does that work and does it hurt the grass at all? Any other recommended substances?

Is it possible to get the cats to stay out of the yard of neighbor Mr. F? He's very much against the existance of the colony.

I vaguely recall seeing a motion-detector device that squirts water being sold. Would this be useful in detering the cats from entering certain areas? Are cats susceptible to high-frequency emitting devices like dogs?

Another poster mentioned a "self-maintaining" sand litter box. Has anyone actually tried this? Does it work?

Any other suggestions for keeping the neighbors happy? We have made a point to talk about the TNR efforts and that there won't be more kittens because of it. On the other hand, I am trying to keep a pretty low profile on the whole thing.

Thanks!

From:

http://www.bestfriends.org/archives/forums/ferals.html

When neighbors complain about ferals and start calling animal control
Question from a member:
There are stray cats living in the woods across the street from my house. I wanted to try to catch them, spay/neuter and release them back. My neighbors are against this. One says they are urinating on her porch and the other says they are using her garden as a litter box and killing birds at her feeder. What do you do when your neighbors won't wait to give you time to show TNR works, or find alternatives, and call animal control that euthanizes the cats? The cats are being euthanized immediately so I don't have time to do much.
Response from Nathan:
As an animal control facility, we field neighbor "nuisance" complaints on a daily basis - both sides, the neighbor doing the complaining and the person who is the subject of the complaint. My first question is ALWAYS, "Have you sat down and talked to your neighbor yet?" I am amazed at how often the answer is No. They are your neighbors. You have to live next to each other. So we need to go over, knock on the door, bring a cup of coffee, and sit down and talk. Sometimes our neighbors are nut jobs and that isn't possible. That is the extreme. Once again, we cannot let extreme scenarios dictate policies for groups.

So with neighbors, it is important to listen closely and ask questions. In one case, a neighbor demanded, without explanation, that a caregiver stop feeding cats in the neighborhood! After asking several questions, she discovered the neighbor was upset because he didn't like cat footprints on his new car. To keep the peace, the caregiver bought her neighbor a car cover and he never complained again. By asking questions and offering solutions, it becomes possible to focus on the person's specific concerns rather than their generalized objections to feral cats.

Sit down and talk. Calmly share your concerns with the goal of amicably resolving the problem. It can be a good idea to prepare a small packet of written materials in support of caring for feral cats. If relations are seriously strained, community mediation services may be beneficial.

Offer concrete solutions! Once you have determined what the person's specific complaints are, you can address them. If you haven't had the cats neutered yet, do so, and let your neighbor know how much it will improve the cats' behavior while gradually decreasing the size of the colony. Offer to keep litter boxes in your backyard for cats to use, or put a cat fence around your yard.

Explain the value of TNR. TNR is the most humane and effective way to control feral cat populations and minimize the most common concerns people raise about feral cats. Be sure to explain the ramifications of trapping the cats and taking them to an animal shelter: most will be killed since feral cats are not candidates for adoption. In addition, more cats-probably unneutered-will move back into the area starting the cycle all over again.

Here are suggestions for more specific concerns:

Wild animals: Feed cats during the day and pick up any leftover food once the cats have eaten. Other humane deterrents are described in our fact sheets on "Living with Wildlife".

Kittens: Spay/neuter will prevent more kittens from being born. In some cases, feral kittens can be socialized and adopted.

Spraying, fighting, howling: Neutering quickly reduces or eliminates these behaviors. Regular and sufficient feeding will also prevent fighting.

Cats using yard as a litter box: Caregivers can place covered, sand-filled litter boxes in their yards, and/or offer to periodically clean the neighbor's yard.

Also..I found these sites on how to keep cats out of gardens:

http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/outdoors/820

http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/info/keepingout.htm

http://www.garden-supplies-advisor.c...repellent.html

http://petplace.netscape.com/article...asp?artID=2423

http://www.petfinder.com/journalinde...ets/1.52.1.txt

Katie

Thanks Katie, I'll give those links a look.

www.alleycat.org also has videos & brochures available to show your neighbors, as well as a list of other feral rescue groups in your state, as well as on-line answers to the questions that you've posted. I wish you lots of success to your group!

Originally Posted by gargoyle

I help with managing a feral colony that developed in our neighborhood. We've successfully TNR'd all but maybe 4 (and we're hoping to catch those soon) but there are currently about 20 cats in the colony. Most of them hang out in the area between my cul-de-sac and the neighborhood behind us. Some neighbors, understandably, are not thrilled with the existance of the colony. I keep expecting someone to learn that Animal Control has been by to round up as many cats as possible....I'm surprised that hasn't happened already, to tell you the truth.

What's the best method for getting the cats not to use particular areas/gardens as litter boxes? A search I ran on the forum turned up a reference to garlic powder - does that work and does it hurt the grass at all? Any other recommended substances?

Is it possible to get the cats to stay out of the yard of neighbor Mr. F? He's very much against the existance of the colony.

I vaguely recall seeing a motion-detector device that squirts water being sold. Would this be useful in detering the cats from entering certain areas? Are cats susceptible to high-frequency emitting devices like dogs?

Another poster mentioned a "self-maintaining" sand litter box. Has anyone actually tried this? Does it work?

Any other suggestions for keeping the neighbors happy? We have made a point to talk about the TNR efforts and that there won't be more kittens because of it. On the other hand, I am trying to keep a pretty low profile on the whole thing.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

If relocating is possible, it sounds like that should be looked at. Not always possible. The motion detector you talked about is called a scarecrow and it is prohibitively expensive. Enough so , if you are in an area with a lot of people it would probably get stolen pretty quickly. There are sprays and powders you can buy to keep cats off of areas, but the neighbor is not going to take to kindly if you sprinkle this on his lawn. You can find products at this link here:

Meowhoo

I'll check the meowhoo links, thanks. I agree, the scarecrow is too expensive and while I have some discretionary funds to use for the colony, something less intrusive and costly is in order.

Relocation is a dream at this point. It was hard enough just to get a response from the local ferals groups, I doubt there's any place to move them to. Now, after I hit the lottery it will be a different situation altogether

Any chance of contacting farmers in outlying areas? I relocated 18 cats several years ago to a farm with the stipulation that I would feed them for a year and look after them, and then it was up to him to provide the food. He is a happy man with cats that keep the rodents from his grain. It was a lot of work and a lot of travel time but I set up big feeders and only went once a month to refill those. There was a creek nearby they could get water from-

Unfortunately, most of the local farms have gone the way of development, so there are fewer and fewer in the area - I will probably have to go much farther out but I will see if there are any possible farms.

And to think that when I was a kid, we were considered to be living in the boonies