Diane de Ryss wrote:

>Does anyone have any good suggestions for dealing with the cat problem? I
>don't begrudge my neighbors having cats for pets, I just wish they would
>stay in their own yards. Our yard is fenced on all sides and we have
>worked hard and successfully to increase the bird population (planted 8
>trees, 5 bushes, installed bird baths, and bird feeders, etc.).
>
>We have blocked many cat entrances under the fences, but have left one
>side fence open underneath since we are also occasionally visited by
>raccoons (we'd like to continue to give them a safe place to sleep).

You may just have to let the raccoons fend for themselves, which they are
overly good at anyway; they have definately reached pest population size in
Seattle, and they do their own share of nest robbing.

You can make a fence much more cat resistant by putting up an overhang
(about 18" wide) at the top. 'Cat fence in' is a commercial version with
fishnet and light poles, but you can do it yourself. A fine mesh fishnet
draped over a horizontal trellis should do pretty well; most of the cat
rescue organizations have detailed plans they can send you. If your fence
is right on your property line, you'll need to have the overhang inside of
the fence, which will keep cats in, not out. But if _every_ time a cat
comes in it gets trapped, then has a good shower before being released,
they should learn to avoid coming back after once or twice. You'll also
need to watch out for trees with overhanging branches that could be an
escape route. You can put an anti-climb collar around the trunk for that.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried this yet since having a fence at all is still
probably a year away, but I know a few people who use cat-fence-in or
equivalent to keep their cats from going walkabout, and they're pretty
satisfied with the lack of escapes.


Allyn Weaks
allyn at cornetto.chem.washington.edu aka allyn at u.washington.edu
Pacific Northwest Native Wildlife Gardening:
http://chemwww.chem.washington.edu/natives/