I’m Seriously Ticked

[ATeacherChick]

I guess I'm lucky. My two outside cats kill snakes, work with my dogs to scare away opossums, raccoons, and other cats, and keep pests out of the feed shed.

 

[FeatheredFanatic]

I guess I'm lucky. My two outside cats kill snakes, work with my dogs to scare away opossums, raccoons, and other cats, and keep pests out of the feed shed.

I also have two outside cats thst do the same, but what I don't like is they kill the good snakes too. We have King snakes here in southern Alabama and they're good for keeping away the rattlers. I guess I'll take the good with the bad.

 

[Acre4Me]

Animal control here doesn't deal with stray cats because there is an abundance of them. And only srvice the area for aggressive dogs or animal abuse claims on large animals. It's also illegal here to catch spay and release cats to help the issue. They carry mange and disease, no reason for them to be around.

Same here - We just moved out of town, but when we lived in town, with some woods and creeks nearby we had a horrible feral cat issue. Being new to the town, I called the city and spoke with whomever was in charge of strays, animals, etc. They literally were surprised I was calling and actually asking if the town did anything to control the feral cats. I was provided with a resounding "NO" with a definite acknowledgement that the area has a very bad feral cat problem that they have no plans to address. No trap - spay- release either. Then to make matters worse, there were at least 2 people on our cul-de-sac that were feeding the feral cats (which makes them happy and well -fed, which makes for more baby feral cats), and feral cats negatively impact native bird populations (no, not talking chickens). Now that we are more in the country, we will see if there are as many feral cats as there was in town.

 

[1ADAM12]

So I have had a fox problem for about a month or so. One day chickens were out free ranging and I heard quite the ruckus! Thankfully I let the dog out and it ran the fox off. Fox has been back as I have caught it on game cam. I have large live traps out and have not caught a thing until this morning. It was a damn cat! I let it go with my dog chasing it. If I catch it again or I see it come back it’s a SSS Hahahaha he got his one chance.

 

[FeatheredFanatic]

Same here - We just moved out of town, but when we lived in town, with some woods and creeks nearby we had a horrible feral cat issue. Being new to the town, I called the city and spoke with whomever was in charge of strays, animals, etc. They literally were surprised I was calling and actually asking if the town did anything to control the feral cats. I was provided with a resounding "NO" with a definite acknowledgement that the area has a very bad feral cat problem that they have no plans to address. No trap - spay- release either. Then to make matters worse, there were at least 2 people on our cul-de-sac that were feeding the feral cats (which makes them happy and well -fed, which makes for more baby feral cats), and feral cats negatively impact native bird populations (no, not talking chickens). Now that we are more in the country, we will see if there are as many feral cats as there was in town.[/QUOTE
And if there is, a few meatballs laced with rat poison always does me wonders. They'll run off and die.

 

[Mrs.SWhite89]

Same here - We just moved out of town, but when we lived in town, with some woods and creeks nearby we had a horrible feral cat issue. Being new to the town, I called the city and spoke with whomever was in charge of strays, animals, etc. They literally were surprised I was calling and actually asking if the town did anything to control the feral cats. I was provided with a resounding "NO" with a definite acknowledgement that the area has a very bad feral cat problem that they have no plans to address. No trap - spay- release either. Then to make matters worse, there were at least 2 people on our cul-de-sac that were feeding the feral cats (which makes them happy and well -fed, which makes for more baby feral cats), and feral cats negatively impact native bird populations (no, not talking chickens). Now that we are more in the country, we will see if there are as many feral cats as there was in town.

Our neighbor that has no chickens feeds these strays....they are raddy and skinny still so they don't get fed much probably even sick looking at some of them. It's a great annoyance.

 

[bobbi-j]

So I have had a fox problem for about a month or so. One day chickens were out free ranging and I heard quite the ruckus! Thankfully I let the dog out and it ran the fox off. Fox has been back as I have caught it on game cam. I have large live traps out and have not caught a thing until this morning. It was a damn cat! I let it go with my dog chasing it. If I catch it again or I see it come back it’s a SSS Hahahaha he got his one chance.

Fox can be quite tricky to catch. It will keep coming back since it knows where to find your chickens.

 

[Suzi18]

So this is what I chose to do with the last stray cat that dared to walk into my yard. I feed him, bought him a heated cat house, took him to a low cost spay/neuter facility and look out for his general well being. And in return .....he keeps my coop and run free of mice,rats,voles,moles,chipmunks,snakes and any other vermin that try to burrow,slither or dig their way in. He also runs off opossum, raccoons and foxes. I live in town and am amazed at how many predators there are. He is quite respectful of my chickens and I guarantee you he is far more wary of them than they are of him . A couple pokes from their sharp beaks set the tone from day one. I would never be naive enough to leave chicks in an unsecure place where a stray or any other predator could get to them. That would just be stupidity. So if you chose to shoot a cat just because you failed to secure your chicks.....then so be it. Unfortunately I can't stop you but wouldn't it make much more sense to let him live and possibly keep other predators away that may actually do harm to your unsecured chicks