Best way to kill cats? *Yeah I think the cats could have done it*

[War Chicken]

https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1998/spring/acet.shtml

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[WYNot]

my boyfriend worked as an animal control officer for years.
yes, they will come out to trap feral cats if you call them in as a nuisance animal.
and yes, it is a punishable crime in all 50 states to kill a domesticated cat, feral or not.

Not sure about Wyoming but here in Ohio, dogs are fair game in certain situations.

O.R.C. 955.28 Dog may be killed for certain acts - owner liable for damages.
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/955.28

Couldn't find a similar provision for cats but seems reasonable that if they are going after livestock, they are fair game. IANAL, so check your local regs. And if the neighbor is feeding them, they may be liable for the damages caused by them.

 

[furbabymum]

Haven't caught any yet. We have some poison out though. It's mouse poison but it's fish flavored. We used to just keep the poison in live traps so other animals wouldn't get accidently poisoned but since we are trying to get rid of the cats I just put some out to see if they'd eat it.

 

[Muffinburgler]

Did you talk to your neighbors before setting out the poison? These could be their pets and not just ferals they're feeding, and purposefully poisoning someone's pet is illegal. I'd really urge you not to use poison, it's a extremely painful and slow way to die. The cats may have messed with your flock, but that's no reason to torture them.


I still think protecting your flock with a fence and roof cover is the better choice. Removing the cats won't do anything, predators will still keep coming as long as the birds are exposed in some way.

Okay, I'll stop being a silly cat lover

Good luck with your flock!

 

[Baymule]

I feel for you. My next door neighbor feeds the feral cats. Since they have a great source of food, they breed like rats, usually at midnight under my bedroom window. They pee on the corner of the house (my bedroom) and the smell invades my living space. They crap all over my front yard and bring fleas. There are fewer squirrels and birds in the neighborhood. I cheer when I see a run over cat in the street. They also come up on our front porch to spray pee all over it. The stench is gross. I have a fenced in back yard, secure coop and run and a big Great Pyrenees that kills any cat stupid enough to try for the hens. That at least takes care of the back yard.

I would gleefully shoot every darn one of them, except I am in town with close neighbors. I would probably be spotted and turned in for animal cruelty if I used a pellet gun to eliminate them. They are a nuisance and the local animal control officer doesn't care about cats. There is between 20 and 30 of them next door every day and night.

 

[HeatherEmme]

You could, I don't know, at least attempt to call animal control to see if they'd collect them before saying something like, I don't think they'll come so I'll just kill the cats myself. Next, you could also attempt to contact local humane societies and rescues. How about talking to the neighbors to be sure they're indeed a feral cat and FYI not all stray cats are feral. If your neighbors are in fact feeding them, then it's possible that they're not responsible for your missing ducks and you're killing animals for no reason other than your ignorance. If they are attacking your ducks, and you shoot them, something else will simply take their place. Best solution? Provide adequate fencing/protection for your ducks if you're going to have them at all.

 

[War Chicken]

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Poison is the most discrete method, especially if you only put out enough to poison 1-2 at a time. Feral cats get sick all the time and will crawl off and die somewhere out of sight. Nobody will likely notice.

 

[HeatherEmme]

Wow. Some pretty disgusting comments on here.....

 

[furbabymum]

Did you talk to your neighbors before setting out the poison? These could be their pets and not just ferals they're feeding, and purposefully poisoning someone's pet is illegal. I'd really urge you not to use poison, it's a extremely painful and slow way to die. The cats may have messed with your flock, but that's no reason to torture them.


I still think protecting your flock with a fence and roof cover is the better choice. Removing the cats won't do anything, predators will still keep coming as long as the birds are exposed in some way.

Okay, I'll stop being a silly cat lover

Good luck with your flock!

We are trying to live trap them. They aren't going for it. At this point, it's whatever works.
Also, these people raise cows. My great pyr is a fence jumper. We've since fixed the problem but it took some time to correct. I've seen them chase our dog off with a gun. I'm pretty sure they'd do the same thing.

 

[furbabymum]

I like the philosophy I've been seeing here. I can't free range my birds but these free range cats aren't a problem at all. Pfft.
WE DO have a fence. I was letting them out. I've since stopped. It's a shame though. We have 40 acres of wonderful that our birds should be able to enjoy. Instead I'll be locking them up so the neighbors can keep predators about. This makes no sense to me. I've got big ol' dogs that I know could take down one of the neighbors calves if they put their mind to it. Should I just let them run about free and then complain like crazy when they get killed? NO BECAUSE THAT'S NOT BRIGHT!
As far as, get rid of one and another will come, yes, to an extent. As I've previously stated, we had a MASSIVE rabbit population. So massive that even the neighbors were making comments. Our dogs kept predators at bay and the rabbits were just exploding. Now we barely ever see one. We do see cats around our place like crazy though. I'm sure they've been killing them because EVEN A WELL FED CAT WILL HUNT BECAUSE OF INSTINCT. Now that a lot of prey animals have been eradicated I'm sure we will be having more issues.