I manage a feral cat colony, spay and neuter the ones i can catch. I host 9-12 cats at any one given time. Some Come and go, Some stay, Some die of disease. I cannot control that and do not wish to. They are Free to Live in Peace and i get all the lovies as payment…Recently, Over the last 2-3 months, Ive lost the Matriarch (oldest) and a new male who was slowly acclimating. I live in old growth swamp so…it could be a bird of prey like an Owl? but i suspect it to be Coyotes given the way they died and just my overall experience with cats and coyotes as two species.

What would be the best way to keep them away. Wolf Urine? Trap Cameras with Spook lights or sound? They are like ghosts so hunting or waiting around for one is an effort in futility.

But i know if i don’t do something they are gonna get more and more comfortable eating ‘my’ cats.

What would be a good solution without, hopefully, interrupting the other wild life?

  • yenahmik@beehaw.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    1 year ago

    The Humane Society has some suggestions for how to protect feral cat colonies from coyotes. Not sure if you’ve already tried all of these or if they would even work for your location, but it seems worth considering.

    • ColorcodedResistor@lemm.eeOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      The Humane Society has good suggestions and I’ve ticked all the boxes except elevating the food and water. I figured it would of acted as an easy target vs a cat but now i see that its having the opposite effect, it’s luring them in and giving them dessert. I’m also going to have to get more accurate with how much i feed them. Some days i am unable to make it to the colony so i try not to leave them without if I can’t be there…i have plenty of trees and elevation to utilize. Bitches about to get a swiss family robinson tree house and possibly a Battery powered feed timer if there are any decent outdoor ones.