climbing cats

[commoner]

Hi all...I am plagued by a local cat which is climbing the trees in my garden to take birds which are nesting therin.............I do love cats AND birds too and wouldn't do anything drastic to stop this.....certainly nothing to hurt the animals but feel I really ought to prevent these daily raids on the bird population of the neighbourhood...........

Any acceptable ideas please?

Thanks in anticipation............commoner

[WendyS]

Apart from a powerful water pistol, which is only of use if you can stand guard 24 hours a day, this is a difficult problem to solve. I don't know whether sprinkling an animal repellant around the base of the trees would help although I suspect that when cats are in hunting mode their basic instincts are more powerful than their noses.

[antiguru]

perhaps you could ask it's owner to put a bell on its collar? This will alert the birds and also deters cats who are alarmed that they are making a noise. After a while it seems less fun.....

[Simeon]

You could construct something around the trunk of the tree to create a large overhang similar to those spike things they put around telegraph poles to prevent kids climbing them. It would need to be at a height that is out of range of a cats initial jump appox 5ft. This should hopefully deter the cat from climbing and negates the need for nasty chemicals

[CT]

Citrus peel, such as orange is supposed to be good at keeping cats away. Try spreading some around the base of the trunk and maybe rubbing some on to the trunk itself.

[blue eyes ;)]

or some vaseline round the tree trunk as they hate the feeling of it on the paws and its slippery!

[commoner]

Hi all...well thanks for all your suggestions....maybe if I do the whole lot I will get some peace for the nesting population of my garden............cats are really persistant as you will all no doubt know...thanks again...commoner.

[PurplePixie]

I have an animal rescue & the cats have the free run of a large enclosed escape proof garden. I have solved the problem of them climbing the trees that are too near the fences & getting out by using those collars that Vets put on animals that have just had operations. I put the collar around the trunk of the tree about 5 or 6 feet up, and the cats can't get past it! You just have to get the biggest collar that they do, or if the tree is too big you can make your own with a bit of imagination.