Django & Snoop vs. The Stellar Jays!

Has anyone ever had a Stellar Jay - or two! - harass their cats? We just moved into a new cottage surrounded by trees and dense scrub. About 3 weeks after settling in, a pair of bold and dare I say extremely obnoxious Stellar Jays took to harassing our two cats, Django and Snoop Doggy Dogg whenever they leave the house. It started out with the Jays just screaming at them from a post or branch just above. Now, these Jays are actually chasing them around the yard and harassing them wherever they go.

Our cats are outdoor cats and can usually handle themselves pretty well with animals of most types. But they seem downright spooked and intimidated by these agressive birds.

My question is, has anyone ever heard of Jays attacking cats? And also, any bets on whether my cats will eventually get used to these obnoxious neighbors and finally put them in their "place"?

Thanks,
Tom

Jays of all kinds are obnoxious, and fearless.
I've seen this very thing play out quite a bit.
Personally, I don't think I'd much worry, chances are, the jays have a nest near by and they are just trying to protect their home.
Hopefully they'll leave, or at least leave your cats alone after they've raised their brood.
Quite likely though that your cats will just get fed up and snatch one of them right out of the air.

I have seen many different types of bird dive-bombing cats. A cat I had years ago spent one fine summer unable to leave the house by the back door, as the blackbirds who had nested near the door used to swoop down at her, all the time (she was old & not interested, but they didn't know that). We have swallows nesting in our barn, and they are always harassing the cats. Once I had to rescue a neighbour's cat from a family of crows. The cat had done nothing save walk through the field, too close to the nesting tree for the crows' liking. Birds are very protective if they are nesting, and can be quite frightening. For example: last year our papers were full of the story of the buzzard who was nesting near a main road. This bird took to attacking cyclists, who were merely passing by. As you know, these birds have big beaks & sharp claws, so it wasn't a 'fun' experience!

Scooter has been fighting a losing battle with a huge mockingbird. During his outside play time, he hides in the holly bush so the bird can't pull his fur out. I hate to laugh at him, but it is so funny to watch this bird chase the cat.
Fred and his brother were harrassed by woodpeckers, so they figured out how to catch them. One would lie on his back like he was sunning his tummy, and the other one would hide under the car. When the bird dive bombed the one on his back, the one under the car would pounce on the bird. They never killed on that I know of, but they stopped the birds from attacking them.

thanks for the input, all. i'll let you know how the battle turns out. i'm arming myself with a squirtgun to discourage the jays from getting to big for their britches.

tb

One word: Owl.

Get a large plastic owl from your local hardware/homeware store and perch it (twining it down to the roof or trellis or whatever).

Or better yet, a hawk and an owl.
These are the two main predators of Jays and as Jays are slow moving and deathly afraid of these huge birds, they will likely find elsewhere to nest or may become a little more inconspicous suddenly

Hope that helps!

i like it. i just picked up a fake owl today and have put it on top of our storage shed, right near the cats' in/out window to the house. i'll let you know how it fares.

Hope it goes well!! Jays are smart and may realize that its plastic and doesn't move after awhile..But then you can just move the Owl's location...

The only downside is that many birds will stay clear of your yard now..but especially crows, ravens, javs, etc..

Good Luck!