Up until recently I have had the pleasure of seeing a variety of birds in my backyard come and go as they please. The last couple of months though, my neighbour has allowed his dog to run freely and the dog always ends up in my yard, not only digging in my garden but obviously scaring the birds away too. While I solved the problem by shutting my gate, I now have a new problem. My neighbour now has a kitten (Sigh). While the kitten is adorable and very friendly my problem is the kitten prefers my yard instead of it's own. I have noticed the kitten, while still only very young, has started stalking and chasing the New-Holland Honey Eaters.
I would like to try and teach this kitten, while it's still young, not to enter my yard. I don't want to use traps, not that there is a need to and I don't want to have to confront my neighbour either.
I have a cat of my own and while she is not allowed to wander my yard or anywhere else outside without being accompanied by me I don't see why this kitten should either. I feel it's not only unfair on my cat but to the birds too.
I've searched the internet hoping to find the answer to deterring this kitten and I've found a few ideas I'd like to try, one of them being spraying citrus along the gate where the kitten enters my yard. My question is, will citrus spray affect the birds at all??? I don't want to spray it if it's going to have a terrible effect on the birds or deter them from returning to my yard.
Has anyone tried Citrus sprays or oils? Does it work?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Kimbolina, I can tell you, what my daughter did, it stopped her own dogs from barking, and the next door dog and cat from coming in her garden. She kept a bucket with water and a jug next to the door. Every time the dog barked or the others came into her garden, she chucked some water on them. Cats and dogs don't like. It worked rather quickly! Good luck!
M-L
I have recently heard that citronella oil around the borders of your property is supposed to work - haven't tried it myself though.
Hi Araminta, I tried the water on the kitten, I sprayed it lightly with a hose but it still keeps coming back. Today 5 times it's been in my yard scaring the birds and each time I've turned the sprinkler on, hasn't stopped it yet, sometimes it just sits there while the sprinkler is going.
I ended up buying some citrus spray, I will give that a try and see if that helps. The only thing I'm really worried about is my gate is next to a Bottle-Brush tree and Grevillea and I don't know how keen the birds sense of smell is. I don't want to stop them from going into the trees, I just want the kitten to stop chasing the smaller birds. I won't go too crazy with the spray just around where the kitten seems to come into the yard. Be nice if my neighbour would take some responsibility where their kitten and dog is concerned but I can't see that happening. I think they're already annoyed by the Rainbow Lorikeets in my tree......but hey that's nature, not me.
Thanks Araminta and Holly for your reply.
Fingers crossed it works and it doesn't bother the birds.
Please let us know how you go with the citrus spray i have the neigbours cats stalking birds in my yard and have tryed to "discourage"them,when they see me there up and over the fence but i would like to try to keep them out altogether
The best way to keep cats out that I know is a dog.
Our dog scares the cats so much that they don't even dare to come near our property and she has been taught not to chase birds.
Cheers, Owen.
cats are persistant little sods i have olso tryed spraying them with the hose but they soon come back,my problem is there in my front yard they even sit on the fence witch drives my two terrirers nuts!if any one has used spays or oils of some kind i would olso like to know.
thank you kimbolina for raising this topic.
Make a preparation of 12 crushed garlic cloves with about a tablespoon of cayenne pepper or some chilli and let it steep in 4 cups of hot water for a couple of hours .Strain well and fill a good waterpistol with it and blast the little invader .Dogs and cats hate it .Spray your fences too and around the garden beds . I sometimes have to deal with the neighbours somewhat feral tom ,and I blast him mercilessly .He kills birds and uses my beautiful raked seed beds as his toilet .He lives nearly a km away from us so he travels quite a distance across paddocks ,killing and eating God knows what !
Well I sprayed my gate and one other small area with the citrus spray, then let my cat outside to see if had any affect on her. Somehow I don't think it did anything because she went up to the gate, sniffed it, then just sat there. Then of course it started raining and I suspect washed everything I had sprayed away. So I don't think this is going to work. I am going to try huxter suggestion next but not spray the kitten just the gate and see if that does anything.
Does anyone know if there are plants that deter cats at all? I read somewhere cats don't like Lemongrass, apparently these are used to produce Citronella oil. Anyone know if this is true???
If all else fails I think I'll have to try the automated sprinkler system.
There must be something that cats really don't like. Sigh!!
Owen while having a dog might be the answer for everyone else, sadly I don't think it's going to help me. I have no room for a dog and I have a cat myself. On top of that the kitten next door lives with a dog so I don't think she would be too bothered by another dog.
What the kitten really needs is to be nipped by a bird, like a magpie, not hard, just enough to scare her, because she's so young it may deter her from looking at another bird, but the magpies here just scream at her and wait for me to chase her off. So I can't see that happening.
Me again Kimbolina, "lightly spraying" the cat with water is not going to deter the kitten. It has to be a decent amount of water chucked on top of the cat. It's not going to hurt or harm the animal either. The large waterpistol should work well! Yell at the cat, LOL, your neighbours might get the drift ??
M-L
What you really need Kimbo ...is rent a crowd from Noisy Miner Inc, they sort all the cats out round here, mine and the neighbour's that thinks he lives here. I can hear them right now going off in the back garden because the neighbour's cat is sniffing around. I love the cat and he has a bell and is only looking for a warm sunny spot to curl up in. Both cats are terrified of the noisies when they get going LOL
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdie, exactly what I need, can I come and curl up in a warm and sunny spot in your garden?? (I don't mind the Noisy Miners either) LOL
M-L
Yep there is plenty of room in the corner now.... the Blue Faced HEs came down and had a huge fight with eachother and then the Noisies joined in to heckle and the cat ran away LOL
don't know what was happening with the BFHE but one had the other upside down on the ground and they were screaming blue murder!!!
Sunshine Coast Queensland
lol birdie if there were only such a thing.
This morning the kitten was in my yard again this time stalking the Turtledoves so I decided to let my cat out hoping that she wouldn't hurt the kitten, just scare it off. Well the kitten was frightened by my cat, but then they both just sat there looking at each other and hissing. I ended up having to pick the kitten up and put her outside the gates. My cat was not impressed with me holding the kitten and I think I'm in the bad books now.
Maybe next time the kitten will realise she's not the only cat in the street and think twice before entering my garden, but somehow, I think I'm dreaming.
Just to let you know nothing I've tried has worked apart from squirting water on the kitten with a high pressure setting. The kitten now hates me and won't come anywhere near me but I don't think this is the end of it, especially when I'm not home.
Kimbolina, don't worry about, what the kitten thinks!? Or if it hates you, WATER DOES NOT HURT, Just tells it: you are not wanted here. Trust me, it will work, the more often you wet it!!
M-L
I don't believe we are going down that road again!!!! The suggestion of using a riffle and killing ANY ANIMAL is an unspeacable act of violence, and has to be rejected by everyone on this forum!! And has been done so many times before!! I'm appalled, sorry, I can not tollerate that!!!
M-L
Yes Raven, she beat me to it..... this is not a topic we should discuss any further..... cruelty to animals of any description is not what we are about here sorry. For some reason just the mention of unwanted cats seem to bring out the worst in everyone :'(
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdie, what's even more sad, not talking about it, won't keep people from doing it. That is tragic !!
M-L
Raven I would talk to my neighbour but he's kind of arrogant and I doubt very much he would listen anyway. He lets his kids, dogs and cat roam free in the street. Even the neighbour across the road from me has said he is irresponsible.
As for the cat, I couldn't figure out the other day what was spooking the birds in the backyard then one of my magpies came and sat on the fence screaming. I instantly knew it must be the cat and sure enough, there it was, hiding in the bush watching the birds. Once again I squirted it with a high pressure hose and it took off. I honestly think if I keep this up, the cat will eventually think twice about sitting in the backyard stalking the birds.
My suspicion is, my neighbour deliberately got a cat because of the birds in the area, especially the Lorikeets.
I will win :o)
Offending post deleted.
Guys remember we are looking at methods that do not hurt the cats.
As a last resort may I suggest your speak to your local council Ranger? Most have bylaws in place regarding the keeping of dogs and cats. Perhaps the owner may need to be reminded of his/her obligations of owning a pet, property boudaries and non interference to the peace and lesiure of ajoining properties.
My local council is very good when it comes to dog and cat problems, especially regarding noise, trespass and non registration. You pay your rates, so use their services, if the ranger appears disinterested a letter/phone call to the Mayor would be in order. Raven.
This morning it happened, the neighbour's cat killed a bird. I could hear the neighbour yelling at the cat but it was too late, the bird was dead. I tried everything to stop that cat from being in my yard or stalking the birds in the street, but nothing worked. No point talking to my neighbour about it because this morning I found out from another neighbour that they're moving out this week. Lets hope my new neighbours don't have cats, or if they do, they keep the cat indoors.
So disappointed!
one thing you could try until they move ,you could buy your neighbour a present!
one of those reflective prism balls to hang around his cats neck,one of my neighbours just got one for her cat and it seems to work,he doesn't seem to be able to get within 5m before the birds scatter, so far so good!
We have a cat, see my other posts.. He was pretty much wild when we got him, a very aggresive black monster, we have locked him up nightly for over 15 years, he is now fairly domesticated.
Fortunately he is not as interested in stalking now as he was in the past, what we did to control him many years ago was put a red cat harness on him - basically a walking harness, and on the loop we put four or five small collar bells. He could no longer creep up on anything without jangling like a tamborine.
I thought of putting a motion sensing peizo alarm on top of him as well, except that may have been viewed as cruel.
Cats are definitely persistent, but they can be trained - up to a point. You just need to be diligent.
The other suggestion is not to go for a water pistol with neighbours cats, you definitely need one of those water cannons to give them a good drenching!
Irresponsible owners really annoy me. Many years ago i worked nightshift work, and during the day would be woken regularly by the three terriers yapping next door. When i approached the owner he just said - we cannot keep them quiet, you are welcome to give them a hosing! So pushing the onus onto somebody else to resolve the problem is considered to be quite acceptable by some - its a very common thing.
Thanks mrcurlywhirly, I thought about the motion sensors too but I think that would scare the birds away even with the sound of the sprinkler system it frightens them.
Fortunately my neighbours are gone and so is the cat. I don't have any new neighbours yet and I'm loving it. No cats, no noise and the birds love it too.
While the cat was here I often squirted it with a high pressure hose which worked for a few days but then it would return.
Fingers crossed my new neighbours aren't irresponsible cat owners or even better I don't get any new neighbours at all.
I own a cat myself but my cat is never outside without me by her side and she's always inside at night. I have seen what cats can do to defenceless birds.
Yay Kimbo....... good riddance huh? Hope you get some nice ones next time.Have you thought of planting some really prickly uncomfortable bushes for the little birds? they love to hide in them and it is a total defence against marauding predators !
Sunshine Coast Queensland