Walk away...its a fight you cant win..if you are ever exposed as the mastermind behind any elimination of the cats, you will only expose you and your dog to possible harm

 

You pose a difficult question. It's ages old, however. Even the person named A Nony Moose found them to be a mystery when he penned that famous statement, now made into a bumper sticker..."So many cats, so few recipes.";-)

UB

 

I have some good recipe's. The only problem is I just can't decide which whine to serve, or would one serve Scotch or Bourbon with feline???

Steve

 

Agree with bon its not your property, if the city has issue with it they will take care of it, they must not so they havent.

 

Agree with both, don't like the situation for you either. Ever thought of helping feed them with "something" special in the food. We all know if they made it to the Humane Society they could never be placed and would be put down.

 

the best thing that could happen (other than total annihilation) is for a cat rescue group to come in, live trap as many as possible over a period of time, and have them spayed and neutered so they don't make more cats.

I know... seems like a waste of resources, but there are many, many other feral cat "communities" like these and folks have wasted hours and hours of time fighting over them.....

 

I think catching a feral cat would be one heck of thing to see I have seen some barn cats that are pretty wild and tear up some what I thought were some tuff dogs. It looks like a lose lose for you. Prehaps write an editorial about the damages of feral cats and people letting their cats roam free at night. You wll most certainly stir up some conversation about it. Or ask the local pet control officer for help but my thoughts on that are they are not very helpful.

 

I think catching a feral cat would be one heck of thing to see I have seen some barn cats that are pretty wild and tear up some what I thought were some tuff dogs....

When I was around 10 years old, I saved up my lawn mowin' money and bought a live trap. The first critter I caught in it was a big ol' ornery tom cat.

I didn't realize it was also totally feral. We had house cats at the time and in my infinite wisdom only possessed by a 10 year old, I opened the trap in the living room.

Talk about opening "Pandora's Box"!

I was able to get the thing out of the house and clean up the mess before my Parents found out. I should have gone to the Doctor for Rabies shots, but I didn't want anybody to know how remarkably stupid I really was, so I hid my wounds.

 

Controversial topics & you seem to go together. Hmmm

However I am not a cat fan.

Joe

 

I heard a great quote that fits.

"If you aint livin on the edge, your taking up to much space"

Fluffies rule
Steve

 

I've developed a pretty good technique for live-trapping the nuisance cats around my property.... then S-S-S.....

I have a tin the size of a cat-food can strapped above the live trap treadle just high enough that a cat has to lift it's head up a bit to get the food inside... probably 4 inches off the bottom of the trap.

I pre-bait the trap with the doors open for 2 days, then set it the third. Pretty much 100% efficient.. Before, when I just put the food in a can on the trap bottom, the cats seemed very adept at avoiding the treadle. With the can right above the treadle so they have to lift their head up a bit.... they have to step on it.

anyway... that's off topic a bit...

 

Since it is a PUBLIC park I would contact your local animal control officer and let them deal with it.

 

Putting out any type of poison on property not owned by you (or even property owned by you) should not be done. How would you feel if a dog or a child happened to get into whatever you had put out?

Not a good situation and I'm surprised that the local animal control has not interceded at least to live trap, give Rabies vaccine and then release.

 

Our neighbor has a cat seen stalking our Migratory Waterfowl - I sent them a letter, CC'd to the Police Chief, informing them that my next contact would be the Feds.

 

Glad my DD (german wire hair) does not live there or the cats would be in trouble!!! When he gets in contact with a cat its over in less the a minute..A real pain in the ass, but what can you do.....

 

I would TRY contacting authorities, you might be surprised that they don't know anything about it. I find it hard to believe they would allow someone to attract and shelter a bunch of feral cats on public property. It strikes me as being like enabling an animal hoarder.

I know you would be castigated as heartless for being against helping homeless cats, but I think any reasonable person could see how supporting a wild cat colony would be detrimental to the health and safety of the rest of the community, human and wildlife.

 

You could try contacting Animal Ark Rescue in Hastings. A while back they were getting a lot of recognition for their trap, neuter/spay and release (TNR) program for feral cats. It won't necessarily solve the immediate problem, but might help in the long run to reduce their population.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I think the best I can do is try to get the DNR involved. If they get rid of the cats great! If not, I will just have to accept them..

I do train in nearby fields and my goldens have "flushed" a few cats. I am glad my dogs are well trained, and sit on the whistle. I really dont want my dogs getting scratched!

Steve

 

Getting the DNR involved is probably your best bet. If they don't remove the cats, they can pressure the city to do so. Feral domestic cats do not belong in the natural environment. Depending upon the city you're in, they may even ticket the person or persons feeding the cats for allowing "their" pets to run at large.

 

There are groups out there that will take care of the breeding issue as stated before. Trust me we have about 15 running around our house and this lady keeps stopping and poking around the house. Last time she was there I pulled in the drive and surprised her. Told her that If I want assistance I will contact her. They help keep control of the mice and other critters I don't want around. I would get ahold of one of the local groups and they will approach the city to take care of the issue.

 

One of the biggest problem with feral cats is that they are territorial. So even if you remove these cats - most likely new ones being born or those with less favorable territories will move into this cozy set up. There are several studies that have been done on the TNR philosophy (Trap, Neuter, Release) and it has been shown to be the most effective in long term reduction of cat populations. The cats that live there already tolerate each other but will not accept new members - even when their numbers are reduced.

The second issue is the feeding problem. Of course the cats stay put - they have a great home and all the food they want. Feral cats should NOT be fed and you should object to the park board. They might have said yes only because no one objected. Voice your objection to their feeding the cats. Object the the cat houses. If you are the only voice, get a petition going to stop feeing the cats and represent it to the park board. What about all that cat poo? Object to the park board about the amount of feces left by all the cats. Call the local newspaper and let them report on this. The group that is feeding them is in effect supporting the unwanted population growth of feral cats and the level of cat poo that is ruining the park for all the other members of the community.

We live in the country and have 2 outdoor cats - both fixed. The neighbor likes to feed the feral cats but ours will drive off all the other cats that dare to step on our property. In the beginning it was fun to watch them chase the intruders off. Now we do not see any other cats but our own sleeping on the porch.

 

they look really cool coming out of a Zinger Winger Z3...that's all I'm sayin.

 

Isn't the number of small birds (we call them tweety birds) taken by cats, feral or otherwise, estimated in the millions? I would think the Audubon Society would take an interest in getting rid of them.

I believe Wisconsin has passed a law allowing hunters to shoot feral cats, but of course, you cannot do that within city limits. But then again, if you don't get caught, are you breaking the law?

 

Yes, Wisconsin did pass such a law but several people have caused quite a stir from time to time by actually shooting the cats and not keeping quiet. The papers love to make a fuss over it and there was talk of a repeal.

No one seems to care when the cats die of disease, starvation, predation or autos but god forbid that anyone shoot them.

 

tie to bumpers and your dog will learn to mark real well with all that screeching when you throw em