So, I don’t really have a backyard, just an “out back,” so no fences or anything. I’ve had the feeder out for over a year and there’s been no issues, but recently, two cats have decided to make my feeder their hunting ground. I believe one of them was successful (I found a discarded wing). Any suggestions on how to keep the kitties away? I love cats, so I’m not looking to hurt them.
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Thank you!
You’re welcome. I’ve used citrus peel, but they have limited range, and ants love them.
Chili powder. Doesn’t bother birds but vermin and cats don’t enjoy it.
For anyone wondering about this, capsaicin (the stuff in hot peppers, etc. that makes them hot) was evolved by plants specifically so that birds could eat them and therefore spread their seeds over long distances while other animals, primarily mammals, would not.
Birds are 100% unaffected by the stuff. (So are most reptiles, for whatever it’s worth.) It does no harm to them to shake a perimeter of it around your feeder area or even mix it into your bird seed.
The regular kind in the market?
Yes
Maybe with some kind of water gun 😅
My neighbor’s cats were also stalking around the feeder in our garden, but luckily they seem to only be out occasionally.
That’s a good idea. Someone also posted about a sprinkler. Maybe I can get one that’s motion activated.
I have this tiny water pistol that i used to scare away an overtly aggressive pigeon that i did not want to hang around the balcony. I felt somewhat bad about it, but then again it’s just water, nobody gets harmed. It worked really well, nowadays when it shows up i just have to point the pistol at it and it leaves. I’m pretty sure that it knows i am only “dangerous” from a distance if i have the pistol in my hand.
I tried it on the cat from the balcony, but it’s too weak from that distance to make an impression. Might invest in a super soaker if they start hanging around there too much.
A water hose works wonders if you catch them in the act.
Ah yes, when the bird feeder becomes a cat feeder.
Not cats, but we’ve had a red-tail hawk on a large tree just above our feeder.
The squirrels and birds with courage scream bloody murder when he’s up there! 😮
But he may be more interested in the bunnies that frequent the neighbourhood 🫣
Same here. We once had a feeder. Cats killed all the birds or drove them off. In the end, bird feed rotted in the feeder, so I took it down.
Put the food up higher
