Goddamned Feral Cat

The BBQ Pit
121

[QUOTE=Glinda The GOOD Witch]
So, Broomstick… I get that you’re broke, and don’t have a credit card, but if you HAVE savings, could you not dip into that for the $60 (refundable, if I understand correctly) deposit to get a trap for one day and give it a try?
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My husband’s double-toothache, which erupted after that post, and the rising cost of his medications have eaten rather deeply into those savings. At least we escaped him having two root canals, but dental work with no insurance is not cheap.

We might qualify for food stamps at this point, I’ll have to plow through the qualifications and rules again.

I have spent all of $11 for the garden so far. That’s it. A LOT of hours of work, though.

I, too, love animals. I’ve had several pet cats in my lifetime which I care about. For that matter, my landlord is also a cat fancier. But feral animals that destroy food and property, which may or may not carry disease, which breed more of their kind, aren’t any different than large rats. I have exerted considerable effort to avoid killing, and I would NOT resort to anti-freeze poisoning as one person suggested. That said, I am capable of doing exactly that - killing a pest animal. Rest assured, though, that if ever I have a reason to kill any animal, now or in the future, domestic or wild, I will exert every effort to make that death as quick and suffering-free as possible. I can’t promise anything other than that.

I do not have $60 in hand right now with which to make the deposit. I’m sorry if this is difficult for people to grasp. IF I had $60 I could set aside for a week I would certainly look into such a rental arrangement knowing I’d get the vast majority of the money back but I do not, repeat, do not have $60 in cash with which to do this at this time. Since these places will not accept a depost of $20 or $25 (which I could conceivably manage) I am shit out of luck. The minimum I could find is $50, and no one is willing to negotiate. Hence, I am pursing the idea of either borrowing one outright, or trading/bartering labor or something else reasonable in exchange for the use of one.

122

[QUOTE=Shayna]
I lashed out in anger because she hurt me. I’ve now apologized.
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Folks, she apologized. Misunderstandings occur on the internet. My vitriol is mainly about my situation, but while some people took it that way Shayna apparently did not. I am sorry if I unintentionally hurt her - and any personal hurt was unintentional.

Now that we have both apologized the rest of ya’ll drop it, OK? If I am still pissed at her I am quite capable of expressing it myself. Since I haven’t expressed such, just assume I’m not.

123

Yay Broomstick and Shayna!

Now kiss and make up. And send me pictures.

124

Just pick one of these up. I think it will solve all of your problems.

http://anonymouslawstudent.com/catcarrier.jpg

125

There is a plant, whose name escapes me, my neighbour calls it a “skunk plant” which is exactly what it smells like. But it keeps the cats away and doesn’t take up much space. You may want to check with your local garden centre…and it isn’t unattractive.

126

Plectranthus caninus. It’s a naturalized weed in Oz. You probably don’t wanna introduce a global weed into NW Indiana. :smiley:

[“Member of the mint family” = secret gardening code word for “invasive”]

127

Does anybody have a dog you could borrow? :wink:

Hee… I’m sorry broomstick. I wish I had suggestions for you. I wish you luck – I’ve had this problem before, and man, it took all my might not to just shoot the little bastard or pull out the chemicals and play CSI: Kitteh

128

[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose]
<snip>
[“Member of the mint family” = secret gardening code word for “invasive”]
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Ain’t that the truth. Actually, if you did want to plant it without it taking over your yard, mints can be planted in plant pots to contain them. I’m learning that this is something you should probably do with raspberries, too - yeah, they have lovely berries, but they’re going to take over my yard! Back to the skunk weed - I’ve also heard of planting catnip for problem cats - you plant it in an out of the way corner of the garden so they go mess around over there, and leave your beds alone.

129

[QUOTE=featherlou]
Ain’t that the truth. Actually, if you did want to plant it without it taking over your yard, mints can be planted in plant pots to contain them. I’m learning that this is something you should probably do with raspberries, too - yeah, they have lovely berries, but they’re going to take over my yard! Back to the skunk weed - I’ve also heard of planting catnip for problem cats - you plant it in an out of the way corner of the garden so they go mess around over there, and leave your beds alone.
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Just remember that catnip is also a member of the mint family.

130

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
My husband’s double-toothache, which erupted after that post, and the rising cost of his medications have eaten rather deeply into those savings. At least we escaped him having two root canals, but dental work with no insurance is not cheap.
[/QUOTE]
Oy. My dentist wants me to get four more crowns, which means I also need four more root canals, none of which are covered by my insurance.

131

[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher]
Oy. My dentist wants me to get four more crowns, which means I also need four more root canals, none of which are covered by my insurance.
[/QUOTE]

How would straight up extraction compare at this point?
[/hijack]

132

[QUOTE=Pullet]
How would straight up extraction compare at this point?
[/hijack]
[/QUOTE]
Thought about that but haven’t explored it. The ones she wants to crown were first damaged over a decade ago; three of the four have been filled by other dentists. None of them have been causing any problem.

There had been a fifth, that one she did crown for a total of about a grand.

133

I’ve got a groundhog problem. This is probably the most devious wild animal EVER.
He won’t go NEAR the live trap. He KNOWS when you’re coming and how a whistle pig that big can move fast enough to dodge a 22 magnum I’ll never understand. I can’t bring myself to try poison YET.

If I were near you Broomstick I’d put a cap in that cats head for you.

And take you and your husband out to dinner.
somewhere nice.
maybe Denny’s. :wink:

CedricR.

134

[QUOTE=Omegaman]
Where’s that Crafterman when you need him. I’ll bet he could float a round into a cat at a 100 yards. Probably use a 30 30. Sounds about right.
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Lately I’ve been using .308 incendiary rounds on 'em. Kills and cooks them at the same time. :cool:

135

[QUOTE=cedman]
I’ve got a groundhog problem. This is probably the most devious wild animal EVER.
He won’t go NEAR the live trap. He KNOWS when you’re coming and how a whistle pig that big can move fast enough to dodge a 22 magnum I’ll never understand. I can’t bring myself to try poison YET.

If I were near you Broomstick I’d put a cap in that cats head for you.

And take you and your husband out to dinner.
somewhere nice.
maybe Denny’s. :wink:

CedricR.
[/QUOTE]

By contrast, there is a groundhog living at the rear of my yard who is, apparently, retarded. My daughter and I amuse ourselves by stalking him. When he puts his head down to eat, we creep a little closer. I’ve got close enough to him to kill him with a baseball bat if I’d a mind to. To date, he’s not been a pest and he does provide amusement, so I let him go.

136

No money doesn’t mean lack of resource.
There are hordes of feral cats here, plus an abundance of cats who own people.
They will crap in uncovered, loose ( ala freshly tilled ) soil.
But they won’t in mulched soil. Think leaves and grass clippings, straw.Wood chips work too but IMO need to be removed before working dirt again. The mulch has both benefit and drawback. Since you are web-able, I won’t elaborate.
All free. You should keep your eyes peeled for used screening or chicken wire as fencing, which keep out whistle pigs too.

137

I’ve had luck using smashed-up moth balls to deter cats and dogs from my (freshly planted) garden. One whiff of the moth balls and they never come back, and it doesn’t take very much to deter them.

I don’t know if you could adapt this for a vegetable garden - maybe scatter some close to the garden perimeter? The animals really do seem to hate it.

138

[QUOTE=Silver Tyger Girl]
People don’t get that they’re not doing the cats any favors. Unless they’re doing catch & release and fixing the damn things, there’s just going to be more and more cats. And none of them are going to be healthy or happy.
snip
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I sent Cat #16 away this morning and told the animal control officer who picked it up about the food behind the wall. He speculated that it’s probably the people at PetSmart in the shopping complex back there–either someone who works in the store or someone who frequents it; this person has a “rescue” mentality but obviously only thinks about the cats’ short-term needs and not at all about the people around here. Apparently this is pretty common behavior.
He advised me to keep trapping.