My neighborhood has a huge number of feral cats, there’s a lady a few doors down who feeds them (as well as squirrels, which we have a huge number of too) and then they wander around the neighborhood after getting their free dinner, causing trouble by yowling outside the window, crapping in the flowerbed, and leaving maimed birds and small animals around.
I’ve started shooting at them with an old BB gun, but it doesn’t seem to discourage them much - it’s one of those cheap one-pump deals. They jump and run away after you shoot them, but they come back the next day. I have been considering getting one that you can pump repeatedly for a higher muzzle velocity, and shoot them with penetrating pellets instead of BBs. I’ve even seen air rifles that fire 22 caliber pellets and am considering one of those. Would these be more effective? I’m a pretty good shot and I can consistently hit them in the head, so could a pellet from a strong air rifle consistently penetrate their skulls? If not, would there be a better place to aim?
I’m also considering a wrist-rocket type slingshot with steel shot, I know those can be pretty lethal to small animals but I’m not that good of an aim with one. Of course, a firearm would be ideal but I live in the middle of a city so that’s not an option.
Does anyone have any advice? Am I barking up the wrong tree and should I be trying traps?
First of all, shooting at an animal without intent and ability to kill it cleanly is rather ethically suspect if you ask me. And cats that limp can still breed. Therefore any method which at best will wound the animal is both cruel and no solution to your problem.
Next, the problem is never going to be resolved by picking off the animals one by one. Perhaps you’re aware that cats breed. In litters. You should speak to your local animal control agency to discuss your options. There are organizations that practice “trap, neuter and release” on adults + “trap, neuter, rehome” on the kittens - in this way the feral population will no longer increase and the adult population will die off.
I’m going to assume, T.O., that you have no animal control authority, or at least one that doesn’t mess around with piddling small change like feral cats. I’ve got to agree that just wounding them is a bad idea and cruel. I don’t know what the local discharge of fire arms rules are, either. Having said all that, your answer is a .410 shotgun with # 4 shot. Out to 20 yards it is more than sufficient to kill a cat where it stands. The alternative (as ghastly as it might sound) is a humane box trap followed by a quick execution in some distant location – a .22 cal between the eyes will do the trick and it’s hard to miss when the animal is still in the trap. Feral cats are a horrible scourge and ought not to be tolerated anywhere that rodent control is not a priority.
This will not work as long as the lady down the street is feeding them–you can’t catch all the strays, and even if you do, others will wander in. This system basically helps keep feral cats at their “natural” level–however many ferals the ecosystem can support. If they are having to eat only what they can catch, this is a fairly low level, but if there is basically unlimited food you will get basically unlimited cats.
Lady needs to quit feeding them. Everyone on the block needs to call animal control or the cops every day until they do something.
And there is no point in putting this in GQ, in any case. It’s headed straight to the pit.
Leaving aside any objections to this method, the OP said he lived in the middle of a city. Depending on his definition of city, I think he might find some people against him using a .410 in his backyard.
Yeesh, any reasons for this being in Cafe Society are *not * appealing.
With you living in a city, there should be some agency available to deal with this, and probably some regulation to use against the woman who is feeding the cats. You should work within the system.
You might be interested in this recent article from the New York Times Magazine.
Summary: A man who is a well-known Texas bird expert and the director of the Galveston Ornithological Society shoots one of a colony of feral cats living under a bridge that have been killing endangered birds. The shooting is witnessed by the toll taker, who likes cats and has been feeding the feral ones. He reports the birder to the police. The birder is arrested and prosecuted (although the case results in a hung jury and the case was dismissed). The article describes the debate between bird and cat lovers in some detail.
Animal control will only do anything if the animal is staying on your property, like when one of the feral cats snuck in our garage and had kittens in there. I’m hoping that the cats will learn to avoid my yard - we had a serious problem with squirrels but I spent a few hours every week shooting at the ones in our trees last year and this year there seems to be a lot less of them. I don’t think I ever killed any, either.
Yes. Stop. What you are doing, and what a few others are counselling you to do in this thread is illegal. From this site:
Emphasis mine. Shoot a cat with intent to kill (as you seem to be doing in talking about “penetrating pellets” and “hitting them in the head” and “lethality”), and you seem to be liable for a criminal offense.
Look into a “trap-neuter-release” program in your city. Hello Again has the right idea; and even if, as you claim, Animal Control will do nothing, they should have some information on how to get in touch with whoever looks after that program in your city.
Something more to chew on. Even if the State decides not to re-try and the Bird-Lover walks, imagine the thousands of dollars in legal fees he is out, not to mention days of sitting in court. And you can imagine the sheer volume of hate mail and death threats from cat lovers this poor bozo is now being subjected to.
All-in-all, it don’t seem worth it.
“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent” - Isaac Asimov Foundation
I am overcome with an urge to vomit. Sometimes I really wish that certain sub-species of humanity never made it past the evolutionary process. I hope to god I never meet you or anyone like you. [Addressed to the OP, who sickens me on every possible level.]
Second, since it’s about how to kill cats, that’s an illegal action in the U.S. and so this is being closed. T.O., please read the Registration Agreement:
We’re glad to have you here, T.O., but please read and play by the rules. OK?
[I’ve been asked to amend, that it’s not ALWAYS illegal to kill cats. I thought it was pretty obvious, we’re not talking about taking them to a vet to be euthanized here. However, I add the disclaimer. Basically, however, Straight Dope Staff have neither the time, resources, nor energy to fine-tune whether a thread discussing illegal activities in on the OK side of the line. So, I don’t know and don’t care whether this trhead “fosters or promotes” illegal cat-slaughter; it comes close enough for practical purposes. Hence, closed.]