How to keep cat from raiding songbird eggs

[soulsurvivor]

We have a cat that does its cat thing and keeps us free from the field mice, voles, moles, etc.

But same cat loves songbird babies. She's already got all the nests staked out and will raid these nests soon after the babies hatch out of their eggs. We deal with this every year by keeping the cat locked in the shop day after day until the bird babies, mostly robins, get old enough to fly and leave the nest. That's a long confinement for the cat, which allows the pest population to go unattended.

What I'm wondering is this - is there some type of tree guard that I could put on the trunk of the bird nest trees that would keep the cat from climbing these?

I know there are other more pressing problems in the world, but for today, this is my big problem. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

[texican]

Get a cat loving dog. Or, rent one, for the spring months.

Turkey bells tied on the collars help with grown birds, but it does nothing for chicks.

Or, you could 'crate' the cat for a month. I don't know, do cats work well on leashes?

[Common Tator]

We have a problem with rats climbing up into the palm trees here, so many cities put a metal band about a foot tall around the trees. That also keeps cats from climbing the tree.

[luvrulz]

You know those dog collar thingeys that they use when they don't want your dog to be able to lick or irritate their stitches?? Why wouldn't something like that work around the trunk of the tree?

[fatrat]

Cats do very well on leashes. I've known people to tie the cat to a long rope so they can run around but not get up the trees.

[Macybaby]

We had one that did that too - soon the birds learned to avoid the trees near the house. Did not bother me as those darn kingbirds took to trying to drive me away every time I went in the back yard.

The utility company puts a ring of tin around the utility poles to keep animals from climbing them. Usually about 18" long. Might not work if htere are low enough branches for the cat to use. You could rig up something temporary and take it down once the birds are gone.

Or you could get a bb gun and pelt the cat when you see it go up the tree. Works great if you can do it from a location where the cat can't see you.

[wy_white_wolf]

Declaw 1 front paw. Cat won't be able to climb but it can still catch mice.

[mnn2501]

Birds will learn to nest elsewhere, you can't blame a cat for following its nature, especially one you use to control pests, Sounds like a great cat, I would not attempt to stop it.

[||Downhome||]

what you want is a baffle its much like the dog collars mentioned earlier, you could fasion them yourself if your handy and have a material that is some what felxible.

sheet metal seems the best option, of course if you had a Tree Trunk Protector like the kind used to protect the trunk base on young saplings. that may be simpler to fasion best thought there is that black poly pipe. could put a few pieces together to cover a really wide base. as long as the cat cant get its claws in I think it would work.

[Oggie]

This should work:

[huisjen]

Give it a collar with a bell.



Maybe one like this. It's 5" across and weighs a pound.

Dan

[RedneckPete]

Donate the cat to a Chinese food restaurant.

Pete

[cornbread]

Feral Cats S.O.S.

Judd Cooney
5/26/2006
http://connection.ebscohost.com/cont...FB5151F.ehctc1


Cats, both domestic and feral, are the number one killers of wildlife in the United States and worldwide.

"So Many Cats, So Few Recipes" — that’s where Wisconsinite Mark Smith made his mistake when he attempted to get Wisconsin lawmakers to list feral housecats as an unprotected species, shoot able year round. Instead, he should have petitioned to have them declared game animals with daily bag limits and liberal season dates, then tried to convince people they were good to eat. He’d have had a better chance that way, than by trying to convince weak kneed politicians who rule by emotion and a lack of common sense, that the innocent looking tabby cats were raising havoc with the state’s wildlife populations.

Cats are the number one killers of wildlife in the United States and worldwide, a fact proven by numerous scientific studies in cat infested countries everywhere. Feral cats are cats gone wild or born wild, while free roaming cats (a feel good term for cats on the hunt, looking for something to kill), live in a house or farm building, but are free to roam at will.

Their population in the U.S. is upwards of 60 MILLION domestic cats and another 60 MILLION feral cats. A single female cat could add 420,000 cats to the population over a seven-year period if there were no limiting factors. The average number of kittens produced by a female cat per year is 15.

Predation by cats in not a new phenomenon. One astute scientist in Australia in 1863, (142 years ago), considered cats an "unmitigated curse and terrible scourge." Since then cats have decimated bird and small mammal populations in that country. On some of the surrounding islands, cats have extincterized several species of birds and mammals.

All cats, domestic and feral, have the instinct and means to be efficient, deadly killers whether they live in a major city or farm country. Cats are NOT a natural part of the ecosystem, and they compete with and affect native prey species and predators alike.

Study Numbers Boggle The Mind
A five-year study of Wisconsin’s 2 million cats showed they might be killing as many as 219 million birds per year. In parts of rural Wisconsin, cat density is up to 114 cats per square mile. This is more than the combination of all mid-sized predators such as fox, coons, mink, weasels and possums combined. This is not only true in Wisconsin, but many other states as well. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the impact free roaming cats have on other predatory animals and birds.

A single rural Wisconsin cat monitored in the study killed 1,690 animals and birds in 18 months. In Great Britain, where cats are overrunning the country, it is estimated that cats kill 75 million birds and 135 million animals per year!

Naturally, cat lovers (30% of the households in America "own" cats) take adamant exception to these studies, but as of yet haven’t come up with any data to prove that cats aren’t a serious predator on America’s wildlife. If you or I went out and killed a small portion of the protected birds and animals a single cat kills each year, we’d get fined and lose our hunting privileges. A cat owner whose precious little pussycat kills wantonly for the fun of it doesn’t get a slap on the wrist, and gets irate as hell when anyone insinuates their cat is a hunter and killer by nature. Go figure.

TNR or FTB?
Under certain conditions, cats form colonies, usually around dumps, factories, housing developments and other protected areas near a food supply. According to some researchers, simply killing cats in these colonies leaves a "vacuum" quickly filled by other cats. A practice tried in a few areas is to trap, neuter, and release (TNR), the cats back into the colony where eventually it’s hoped the colony will die of old age. This theory fails to take into account that new, un-neutered cats will be joining the colony at will.

In Dane county Wisconsin, 2,045 feral cats were TNRed at a cost of $62,000 provided by a Cat-Lover grant. This raised the ire of many locals who knew it was a total waste of money to let the cats go back to their killing fields. Neutered or not, they still kill to eat.

There’s no way TNR would help in rural areas where feral and free roaming cats are the major problem. As far as I’m concerned, the most effective, cheapest and surest way to neuter a feral or free roaming cat is with a fast traveling bullet (the never-fail FTB method).

Cat Myths and Mumbo Jumbo
Myth 1.) Feral cats are worse predators than free roaming or domestic cats.

Wrong! Feeding doesn’t suppress the cat’s instinct to hunt and kill in the slightest. In one study, six domestic cats were given their favorite cat food, and while they were eating, a mouse was released nearby. All six cats stopped eating, killed the mouse and went back to eating.

A feral cat hunts, makes a kill, eats the kill and then rests up for the next hunt, while a domestic cat hunts, kills, leaves the kill and continues hunting.

Myth 2.) Belling a cat solves the problem.

Studies have shown that belled cats are just as deadly as un-belled cats. Because of the cats’ sneaky stalking, by the time its victim hears the tiny bell, it’s already too late to escape.

Myth 3.) Shooting feral cats and free roaming cats does not work.

Hogwash! When I was growing up in the farm country of Minnesota, there was a farmer with a half-section of Soil Bank (similar to today’s CRP land), and a shelterbelt loaded with pheasants, rabbits, squirrels and a host of non-game birds. They were abundant because he was adamant about shooting or trapping every cat in the area. Another farmer had a similar piece of Soil Bank and shelterbelt but resided half a mile from the local dump with its colony of feral cats. Consequently, his farmstead was overrun with cats. He didn’t hunt nor allow hunting, but his farm was still an ecological wasteland without a pheasant, rabbit, squirrel or songbird to be found, because of the killer cats.

Cats are not a natural part of the environment and have no business outside the house or out of the farmyard. Killing a single native bird or animal in my estimation is ample reason to run up the S.O.S. flag on them, which in the case of feral or critter-hunting cats, means shoot on Sight.

[JohnL751]

SSS helps birds, rabbits and other things!

[wally]

The metal band around your tree should solve the problem with how to keep your cat out of the trees. We live 4 miles from a 50k size town and those stupid city people are always dumping cats and dogs around here because they are not wanting the animal anymore thinking that some farmer will adopt them and make a good home for them...To bad that they make me take care of the issue when they lack the morals to find another home for them first. As much as I do not like to shoot them it simply must be done or we would have hundreds of cats and dogs by now

[seagullplayer]

Couldn't resist...

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

as to your cat specificaly , i think the responsable thing to do is tie it out or put it in a caged area , the metal bands may work but hat only coveres your yard trees

cats wander much farther than that so maybe if you have the only 5 trees in a 1/2 mile it is a good solution otherwise i think restraining the cat is the responsable thing to do.



as for the SSS crowd we should be more politicaly correct DCS dispatch compost silence

[ponyboy123]

This natural cat behavior. If you are going to have a cat, expect it to act like a cat.......

[TSYORK]

A bullet is about the cheapest way I can think of to go.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by soulsurvivor

We have a cat that does its cat thing and keeps us free from the field mice, voles, moles, etc.

But same cat loves songbird babies. She's already got all the nests staked out and will raid these nests soon after the babies hatch out of their eggs. We deal with this every year by keeping the cat locked in the shop day after day until the bird babies, mostly robins, get old enough to fly and leave the nest. That's a long confinement for the cat, which allows the pest population to go unattended.

What I'm wondering is this - is there some type of tree guard that I could put on the trunk of the bird nest trees that would keep the cat from climbing these?

I know there are other more pressing problems in the world, but for today, this is my big problem. Any help or suggestions appreciated.

We have a similar problem. Not much we can do with thousands of trees. We do discourage her. She has moved the hunt down to the bottom of the property where spring has unveiled dozens of varmints in the abandoned farmhouse and goat poop filled barn.