Cats, the bane of my life - anyone recommend a scarer

[bizzylizzy]

We have awful probs with cats where I live. We feed the birds all the time, we even buy meat for the rooks, crows etc. Sadly lots of folk forget about them. But... we have terrible problems with neighbourhood cats. They hide in the bushes and leap from the field over the low wall into the garden in the hope they can land on an unsuspecting bird. They also foul the garden. Yuk. We rent this place so can't make major alterations. I wouldn't want to hurt any living creature, but can anyone recommend a good way of discouraging them. Water is not an option as the door is alarmed and gives them advanced warning. I've heard sonic scarers are good, but the RSPB recommended on is beyond our means. Has anyone tried a decent sonic scarer that won't break the bank? There are so many fledglings around and we have to stop the carnage ASAP. Thanks fellow bird lovers.

[Celticv11]

Low wall? Two posts some string and tin cans on it is cheap enough.

[gness]

My Mum swears by a threeish ft. length of hose on the lawn to look like a snake and, for some reason a large, clear plastic bottle half filled with water. Seemed to work for her but I don`t know why.
If I can find the receipt for my non RSPB sonic deterrent I`ll let you know.

[rowanwitch]

An alternative temptation.... catnip plants (Nepeta Cataria) a long way from the bird feeders.... they will be so drugged they won't be able to see the birds let alone catch them

[Old_Geezer]

I used to have major problems with local cats. The best solution is to get your neighbours, the ones with the cats, to sell up and go away. That works a treat.

Most suggestions I tried had limited success. Ultrasonic ones were reasonable but need to be mains powered since batteries run out and the first you realise is when your lawn is covered with crap again.

You can get auto water sprays when they are near but it is of limited use at the front as no one has an exterior tap there.

Then there are the plants they are supposed not to like, but which need replanting every year, or the chemicals or lion crap that is supposed to scare them off too. Or one thing that did seem to have an affect was camphor.

Your problem is though that it isn't just soiling you wish to be rid of, but to change the nature of the beast to not chase your wild birds. I think to an extent you just have to lat nature take care of that one and the foolish birds suffer so the next generation is smarter.

[rsvp]

I had this problem and cut some spikey branches and nailed them to the top of the fence - it worked brilliantly and didn't look too bad at all.

[daffy654]

You need to stop feeding the birds where cats can reach them, the moggies will soon learn they can't get at them and will go elsewhere.

[Cetti]

Get yourself a child's water pistol. Cats hate getting wet and this works a treat.

[bizzylizzy]

Sadly the door is alarmed and in any case the cats always see us long before we get anywhere near them. We don't have the element of surprise :-)