Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => Miscellany => Where The Wild Things Are => Topic started by: Treewheeler on 03 September, 2008, 07:21:23 pm
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Why...?
Is this forum full of cat lovers and seemingly few dog lovers...?
I confess that I dislike cats.
Although I've been bitten by more dogs over the years than I've been scratched by cats, I just can't stand the habit of cats to shit in my newly turned soil.
I'm not sure what the law is when it comes to criminal damage by cat but I do know of one fed up local garden enthusiast who has been trapping cats in his garden for a while now and handing them into the R.S.P.C.A in another county... sans collars.
I pick up my dogs shit... :thumbsup:
Just wish the local cat owners would come to my garden and take back their property too...
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Why...?
I'm not sure what the law is when it comes to criminal damage by cat
None, to the best of my knowledge.
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Having a shit in a garden is hardly criminal damage!
Rubbing their nose in it doesn't help either - having a poo in some earth is a perfectly natural thing to do.
Get a grip, frankly.
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So then... my dog comes and shits on your lawn and I leave it there.
Not nice.
I know that cats are protected by laws and cannot commit trespass.
However, I have just seeded a small lawn and in one week it has over a dozen shit holes dug it by local cats.
Have the cat lovers here any suggestions...?
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Get a cat ;D
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The easiest way to keep cats out of your garden is to get a cat! Cat's will tend to go to the loo on the edge of our just outside their territory. For most cats in a modern urban environment, their territory has been shrunk down to the back garden, and will be delineated by the garden fence/wall/shrubs. The effect of this is that if you have no cat, next doors cats territory will tend to extend into your garden, and they'll go into it to use it as a loo. If you had a cat, it would protect it's territory, and go to the loo in your neighbours gardens!
Personally I like dogs and cats, but it would be unfair of me to have a dog which would have to be stuck indoors by itself most of the day. A cat can look after itself, so for me (and probably a lot of people who work in places like London), is a more practical option.
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Do you want to hit them Tuggo, or shall I?
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If I wanted to keep cats off a newly seeded lawn, I'd probably do something like suspend a bit of netting a few inches above the surface. To get to your lawn the cats would have to walk through the holes in the netting or get stuck in it, which they wouldn't like or want to do. I guess it could have the additional benefit of keeping off any birds off who might want to eat the seeds.
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A Very Brief History of Cats and the Law (http://www.messybeast.com/retro-legal.htm)
Thats interesting reading...
Cats have it all their own way it seems.
I do like to bit about 'infuriating' a cat ;D
I'm certainly not cruel enough to kill, maim or shave, paint pink and tie a tin to its tail however much they shit in my seedbeds.
I seems that it the dry earth they go for to shit in.
So I guess I shall have to put a sprinkler on any new ground over night.
I can't have a cat as I have 2 Parson Jack Russells...with history...
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I seems that it the dry earth they go for to shit in.
To a cat it just looks like a giant litter tray. :-\
You get much the same problem if you've got a heap of sand in the back for building work (concrete etc). If you don't cover it up when you aren't around, the local cats will "use" it.
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Sprinkle your garden liberally with Mint Imperials.
It looks odd, but it works.
Until it rains.
Then you have to do it again.
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Give in to the purry furry goodness :thumbsup:
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I'm rather - negative - about almost all pets. Never really liked keeping one. So everyone can have a go at me if they wish. Form a queue please. ;)
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Anyone who bothers about such matters has a) too much hatred and/or b) no life.
Chill.
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I do know of one fed up local garden enthusiast who has been trapping cats in his garden for a while now and handing them into the R.S.P.C.A in another county... sans collars.
Having just lost a cat I'm really angry about this. And it's not something that is actually going to solve the problem, merely display him to be a total fuckwit who has no understanding of how this can impact on the lives of the people who on the cat, whether they be adult of child. >:(
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Hear hear, bpoab.
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Bastards like that are a good reason to have your cats microchipped.
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Damp earth, rained over night, more shit in the garden... >:(
I shall 'infuriate' the next cat I see! ;)
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I think they got there first ;)
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Why...?
I'm not sure what the law is when it comes to criminal damage by cat
None, to the best of my knowledge.
cats are legally wild animals (edit; that came from the Observer Book of Cats and was in relation to the Road Traffic Act)
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I read that cats are exempt from the road traffic act.
This means I may run one down and not be obliged to stop or report it.
However the wheels of my Kangoo will make a right mess of the lawn if I try to chase down the culprit... ;D
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The RSPCA are pretty comfortable with spraying water at cats to shift them or to correct unwanted behaviour like shredding the sofa.
Use the hosepipe or an IR-activated sprinkler. The ultrasonic cat scarers don't appear to work at all - ours just used to ignore the one our cat-hating neighboiur bought.
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If you want to keep cats out of your garden, if you have a zoo nearby then try to get hold of some lion poo. This spread in the garden will keep cats out. You can get lion urine online as well.
You won't smell it - but the neighbouring cats will!
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If you want to keep cats out of your garden, if you have a zoo nearby then try to get hold of some lion poo. This spread in the garden will keep cats out. You can get lion urine online as well.
You won't smell it - but the neighbouring cats will!
Urban myth, it don't work and it DOES STINK...
Sorry to shoot you down Greg, but I know a few people who have tried this (and incidentally Zoos can't give it away(or sell it) any more on H&S grounds) , and it has ruined the enjoyment of their garden. Cat poo/pee is apparently much more preferable to LARGE cat poo/pee
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If you want to keep cats out of your garden, if you have a zoo nearby then try to get hold of some lion poo. This spread in the garden will keep cats out. You can get lion urine online as well.
You won't smell it - but the neighbouring cats will!
Urban myth, it don't work and it DOES STINK...
Sorry to shoot you down Greg, but I know a few people who have tried this (and incidentally Zoos can't give it away(or sell it) any more on H&S grounds) , and it has ruined the enjoyment of their garden. Cat poo/pee is apparently much more preferable to LARGE cat poo/pee
My mother's next door neighbour swears by it. And I've never noticed any odour. He uses something in a spray bottle (it may be lion scent).
Mum doesn't need to worry as the local cats don't like her paved courtyard garden (except to sunbathe in).
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If you want to keep cats out of your garden, if you have a zoo nearby then try to get hold of some lion poo.
Or just steal a lion
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You have to go out and pee round the edges of your garden.
Furthermore you need the cats to see you doing this act of ownership.
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The easiest way to keep cats out of your garden is to get a cat! Cat's will tend to go to the loo on the edge of our just outside their territory.
Some cat owners have told me that cats can be trained to not do this - any truth in this?
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cats...trained....
Ha ha ha haha ;D
Cats train their staff, not the other way round,
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You know there is a very good reason why it is said that "trying to manage sysadmins is like trying to herd cats"
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The easiest way to keep cats out of your garden is to get a cat! Cat's will tend to go to the loo on the edge of our just outside their territory.
Some cat owners have told me that cats can be trained to not do this - any truth in this?
I may have chosen the wrong word here ... but it was the owners who were saying this (or something similar), not me, so don't shoot the messenger!
And frankly you're just going to make it more likely that Tuggo's mate deports your precious 'friends' if you boast about how independent they are, and how they will piss and crap on any property they feel like, cos cats are so great, better than people you know ...
[I do think cats are lovely creatures (though not as nice as dogs), but surely crapping on the neighbour's lawn isn't ENTIRELY desirable, is it?]
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...cats are so great, better than people you know ...
???
[I do think cats are lovely creatures ... but surely crapping on the neighbour's lawn isn't ENTIRELY desirable, is it?]
yes, if that neighbour is Mr Tuggo* :)
*caution, may contain traces of not-being-entirely-serious ::-)
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I think it's easier to train cats to do things, than it is to not do things. ie you can teach a cat to come when called, or a bell is rung, or light flashed etc, so long as you feed it when it comes. It'll rapidly associate the two, good old Pavlov at work.
It's harder to stop the little buggers from doing something, like scratching their claws on the furniture, or digging up your freshly laid lawn.
Rather than training them, it's generally easier to either provide a better alternative, or some mechanism to make what they are doing less comfortable or acceptable to them. Eg, one mechanism to stop them digging at the furniture is to wrap the item of furniture with baking foil, apparently they dislike the feel of this on their claws. Another approach is to provide a proper scratching post (or similar), since this is normally much more acceptable and works better, since they scratch to remove the dead outer layer of their claws, it's not purely destructive!
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I have a strong dislike of cats...
I disliked wiping cat shit of our toddlers playing in the garden.
I dislike cat shit in my vegetable patch.
I dislike the smell of cat shit in the garden on a warm summer's day whilst I'm enjoying a beer
I dislike retrieving my lads ball from the bushes and having to wipe-off the cat shit.
I dislike the damage to my car bonnet where the cat insists on cliclimbing-up to sit on my car
I dislike planting something to see it dug-up again.
I dislike the fact that the cat killed the parent blue-tits of the young in my nest box which subsequently perished.
IMO cats are vermin kept by people.
I have considered shoving the shit through the owners letterbox, or applying a little sandpaper to their car bonnets just so they feel the joy of their pet ownership as much as I do, I'd hate them to feel left out...
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IMO cats are vermin kept by people.
Or the other way around
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;)
http://www.fugly.com/pictures/18208/mean-missing-cat-response-signs.html
;D
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www.ivy-house.org.uk/images/freecat.jpg
;D
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I dislike the damage to my car bonnet where the cat insists on cliclimbing-up to sit on my car
Damage to your bonnet?!! Fuck me, where do you live and what is this newly discovered species of giant, car mangling cats?
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Car paint these days isn't as hard as it used to be, and a cat with muddy paws can cause some fairly major damage (although it normally buffs out with ScratchX, provided the lacquer is deep enough).
I have to be careful to keep the little darlings out of the garage.
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I think it's fair to say that SOME cyclists would react strongly on finding scratch marks in their frame paint. It's just lucky that cats tend not to walk up bike frames. (or drop onto them from overhanging branches.)
<SNIP>
I have to be careful to keep the little darlings out of the garage.
Actually I have to be careful to not lock our local little darlings in when putting the bike away.
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IMO cats are vermin kept by people.
I have considered shoving the shit through the owners letterbox, or applying a little sandpaper to their car bonnets just so they feel the joy of their pet ownership as much as I do, I'd hate them to feel left out...
That says more about you than the cats IMO.
Cats that I know tend to bury their shit, and the shits are small. Dog shit on the other hand is huge. I can count the times I've stepped in cat shit on the fingers of one hand. I've stepped or fell in dog shit many, many times.
Cats are the win :thumbsup:
Oh, and whoever said that this forum is "now with added tetchiness" was quite right ;)
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I have a strong dislike of cats...
I'm with you on this one Fab Foodie. The if you can't beat 'em join 'emadvice to "get a cat" as a deterrent to other cats is inappropriate too.
It doesn't consider the impact on the bird population, nor the matter that too great a density of cats in an area is apparently quite stressful for the cats too.
Our neighbours' cute and cuddly balls of fur seem to spend a large amount of time playmauling small animals and fighting. Recently one was poorly and chose our garden to leave little piles of vomit in :sick:
I've nothing against the creatures themselves, but cat "ownership" does merit an ASBO :P
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Recently one was poorly and chose our garden to leave little piles of vomit in :sick:
Yes, they know just who to target ;)
How high up the list of agents eroding the environment do you score cats then ?
And I take it you don't eat animals yourself...
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Recently one was poorly and chose our garden to leave little piles of vomit in :sick:
And I take it you don't eat animals yourself...
If I could find any good recipes for cats I'd be tempted :)
PS emoticon error in my original post - the 'tongue out' icon was meant to me tongue in cheek.
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...It doesn't consider the impact on the bird population ...
I've heard this quoted before, and it doesn't really hold water. The more birds are eaten (or killed anyway) by cats, the remaining ones will have more resources (ie food) and will tend to breed faster. In an environment like the British Isles, were cats have been common for an awfully long time, their impact on native populations of wild life is minimal in the grand scheme of things. Admittedly an individual bird may take a different view, but overall they don't change the proliferation of wildlife significantly.
Now, in areas where they haven't existed previously, such as small isolated islands, their introduction has been disastrous, typically where there are species of things like small flightless birds, which are easily predated upon, but that's hardly the case with the British Isles, or if it was, it's so long ago, that it's far too late now.
You may also have a valid argument about the stress on cats, although domestic cats are used to living in quite close proximity to other domestic cats, and most are not stressed by it.
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My cat couldn't catch a bird if he wanted to, he's a quite cross eyed, you see. The only time I've I've ever seen him catch anything was a mouse that was already living in the house, and he let that go unharmed.
As for the stress thing, cats quickly get used to having other cats around. There's a vast herd of cats in our street, of which three of four cats regularly come into our house through the catflap. He just sits there watching them eating his food. He doesn't give a monkeys.
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We have two cats
They have a litter tray each, which they use, an acre of land for their exclusive use and all the surrounding fields they can eat. Since we have been here we have seen one other cat - an elderly tabby who occasionally wanders through the yard muttering to himself.
One of our cats doesn't go beyond the house side of the yard and the other goes as far as the little pond just the other side of the yard gate. He's caught some voles since we've been here, but not many cos he's a bit old. The other one has never caught a thing in her life. That may change when the mice move in as winter approaches. They may be earning their keep then.
Acceptable, or is this just an insatiable rant against felines ?
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In our local "It's a pound" shop they sell cat repelant in the gardening section. Dunno if it works as my Missus won't let me buy it.
It's not that I hate all cats - just ours ;)
Am currently trying to get stinking cat shit out of an SPD cleat. :sick:
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Do the people who get upset about occasional bits of cat shit go ballistic when a bird shits on them or their car?
If not why not?
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Because its not the occasional bit of cat shit but night after night with 3 or more cats digging holes and disturbing new plantings. >:(
If it was a dog shitting you'd be writing stern letters to the local rag no doubt.
I pick my dog shit up thank you.
Cat owners don't. >:(
As for bird shit, well ain't that just a portent of good luck all round :thumbsup: