What is the best way to harass free roaming cats that stalk our bird feeders? - eviltoast

In our backyard, we don’t have to worry about it because our backyard is fenced, and the dogs keep a tight perimeter. However, out front I’ve recently been spooking cats hiding in the bushes beneath our bird feeders.

I hate putting my dog on a long lead(she gets tangled), but I’m thinking that putting her on a lead out front occasionally could help train the cats to avoid the area. Otherwise, I’m considering trapping them and dropping them off at animal control. Id rather not do this because our city’s animal control is overwhelmed with stray cats and dogs, and I don’t want to add to their workload.

So if anyone has an effective way they like to deter or harass cats and it’s ethical, please let me know!

Thanks.

  • plistig@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    It seems that most amazon results for “ultrasound cat repellents” have around 90 but up to 120 db of acoustic pressure. (Interestingly enough I could find the 120db product only on German amazon, even though ultrasonic cat repellents are wildly illegal here.) Keep in mind that the repellents work by hurting cats’ ears when they come too close, not by simply annoying them with a “rather loud” sound.

    • june@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I lived in an apartment where someone set one of these up to keep dogs from pooping and peeing near their sliding door, except it went off every time you walked past it and scared my dog and annoyed me. Pissed me off to high heaven.