Cats on the rooftop; cats on the tiles etc

[Gary47 (Gary)]

I have been there and done all of that. There is no solution to the problem because even if you remove or confine every cat in the neighborhood, other cats from outside will move in.
But I want to inject a note of caution here. Because we were known to object to other peoples cats on our property, when a neighbors cat disappeared we got the blame and a vindictive neighbor started a campaign of vandalism that has cost us thousands. Because the vandals were careful to keep their faces covered the police could not positively identify them and could not act. Their best advice was"You catch them and call us".
The moral of the story is think carefully about possible consequences before you take action, if the owner of the cat you trap is volatile you could be putting yourself at risk. There is no reasoning with some people. They (and their pets ) rights over ride everyone else.
On a positive note we did have some success with excluding cats by installing a couple of strands of light wire a couple of inches above the fence top all the way around the yard so the cats hit the wire as they try to jump the fence. Of course you need a fully enclosed yard and no overhanging branches.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Where is the camera located?

Show me a picture of a cat on your roof and I'll be convinced.

Peter, I do not feel any overwhelming need to convince you of anything. If I cannot do so by my own words, and you cannot accept those at face value, then I fear we have nothing further to say to each other on this or any other topic. I find your response insulting and offensive in the extreme.

Peter

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Peter, I do not feel any overwhelming need to convince you of anything. If I cannot do so by my own words, and you cannot accept those at face value, then I fear we have nothing further to say to each other on this or any other topic. I find your response insulting and offensive in the extreme.

Peter

Living opposite the bush, we have had many possums put on their boots and thump across our roof. We even feed them some fruit from our front balcony. But never in the 30 odd years we've been here have I seen a cat up there.

Felines have wandered into our yard from time to time, but I don't blame the cats. I blame their irresponsible owners. Hence I asked where your critter-cam was located, as an image of a cat chasing prey across a roof would be quite extraordinary. It certainly would change my world view on feline behaviour.

I am puzzled as to why you find that highly offensive. Sagan was fond of the expression: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Your experience may well be accurate, hence my query. I was not trying to be offensive, but, hey, I can be accomodating in that department if you wish it

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Anyone got any suggestions (legal ones only please) how to deter/discourage cats that owners fail/refuse to confine at night. I'm fed up with a couple of local cats that seem to have decided my driveway and everything on it are great places to download their dinner. And they have more recently decided that if they get onto my roof and patios, they can thunder up and down chasing early morning birds and the like.

I have a dog but she's deaf and snores louder than I. Her great huntress days are well and truly behind her. The cats are not intimidated by a snoring dog it seems.

Peter

Peter,

I can't help much, except to echo the despair of others at stopping cats. One question that does come to mind is how do the cats access the roof? If there is only one or two ways perhaps you could block them or make them unattractive.

[Gary47 (Gary)]

Peter I support your comments about cats on the roof. Cats can go anywhere a possum can go. Many years ago we had a pair of cats that went out at night and would deposit possums with their heads chewed off on our door mat. I borrowed some night vision bino's and watched them at work. One would climb a tree (Pine) and force a possum out onto a branch and hunt it out until the branch could not support its weight. The fall would usually leave the possum stunned and the second cat would be on it in a trice. If the possum tried to escape onto our roof the cat would follow, leaping from a flexing branch at least two meters to the roof. After that we kept the cats in at night.
Funny thing though, we found an orphaned baby possum and raised it and the cats never showed any interest in it, they would line up and eat their dinner side by side.

[luka]

Peter, I feel your pain.

Depending on how cats get to the roof, cat/possum spikes may help. They are not sharp and not designed for animals to get injured. They just make walking on them very uncomfortable.

We had a similar problem of cats partying on the roof (no possums here). They used a wall to get to the roof and after placing cat/possum spikes on the wall they moved somewhere else. I got the spikes from ebay but they are probably available elsewhere.

Also, not all councils deal with the cat problem the same way. Ring your local council and check.

@Peter Ward, not all cats are the same. I had 4 cats in the past and they all preferred sandy areas as toilets. But currently one of the neighbour's cats prefers to use grass as toilet. Seriously. Plenty of sand around but this one goes for grass. It is a real nuisance always having to check the grass before walking on it. Had to clean the lawn mower once as well.
If you don't believe me I can send you photos. Even have one taken this morning (I am collecting photographic evidence for the local council complaint).

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by pmrid

Anyone got any suggestions (legal ones only please) how to deter/discourage cats that owners fail/refuse to confine at night. I'm fed up with a couple of local cats that seem to have decided my driveway and everything on it are great places to download their dinner. And they have more recently decided that if they get onto my roof and patios, they can thunder up and down chasing early morning birds and the like.

I have a dog but she's deaf and snores louder than I. Her great huntress days are well and truly behind her. The cats are not intimidated by a snoring dog it seems.

Peter

Possum trap and 5 minutes of Carbon Monoxide would solve your problem in, well, six minutes. The *******s make excellent compost, and pretty good retreads... if you are fast enough...

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by Gary47

I have been there and done all of that. There is no solution to the problem because even if you remove or confine every cat in the neighborhood, other cats from outside will move in.
But I want to inject a note of caution here. Because we were known to object to other peoples cats on our property, when a neighbors cat disappeared we got the blame and a vindictive neighbor started a campaign of vandalism that has cost us thousands. Because the vandals were careful to keep their faces covered the police could not positively identify them and could not act. Their best advice was"You catch them and call us".
The moral of the story is think carefully about possible consequences before you take action, if the owner of the cat you trap is volatile you could be putting yourself at risk. There is no reasoning with some people. They (and their pets ) rights over ride everyone else.
On a positive note we did have some success with excluding cats by installing a couple of strands of light wire a couple of inches above the fence top all the way around the yard so the cats hit the wire as they try to jump the fence. Of course you need a fully enclosed yard and no overhanging branches.

Moral of the story is a motion sensing infrared trail camera.

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by el_draco

Moral of the story is a motion sensing infrared trail camera.

See post#5 re motion sensing Trail Camera
Cheers

[Huey (Michael)]

Not exactly new but this weeks New Scientist has an article about the Felixer grooming trap. Looks promising. Have a look here:
http://ecologicalhorizons.com/assets...ap-jan2015.pdf

Huey