Kozmo loves loves loves to chew on daylily foliage. Does anybody have a
Kitty with that annoying habit. I took this pic while making a couple of stern statements so he's petting me to appease me. He knows exactly what he did
This message was edited Oct 5, 2014 10:34 AM
My Daylilies are a mess. The stinker also likes chomping on tomato stems. This summer I had the most beautiful container tomato which he promptly killed by chewing at the base.
Kizmo is adorable! Sorry, he's playing In your garden. In his defense, Daylily foliage moves in the wind and invites him to play. We have to find a Kizmo deterrent.
You could try Ivory soap shavings around the plants he's deemed toys. Just take a bar of Ivory soap and a old grater and make shavings. Then sprinkle the shavings around the tasty plants. He shouldn't care for the soap taste and will find a better toy. Ivory soap doesn't contain deodorant and other perfumes that might harm Gizmo or your gardens. I hang it in pantyhose to deter deer from my Hosta and daylilies.
If you want a great toy for Kizmo, take a fishing pole and tie a kitty toy to the end. You and Kizmo will have a blast.
Please, keep us updated on Kizmo and your garden. If Ivory doesn't work we'll find another safe deterent for Kizmo.
Vossner, all I can say is bad kitty!!
My kitty's name is Kozmo, I guess I was so mad at him I couldn't spell straight. He doesn't do it all the time and as Taylor said the dancing foliage might seem like an invitation to play. You won't believe how lovey-dovey he's being--as if he knows he's in the dog house. He even let DH apply his monthly flea med w/o protestation. He's really laying it thick, lol.
Still surprised nobody else seems to have a DL chomping cat
That Kozmo is a mess
I have DL chomping chipmunks. Does that count? :-) I'll trade you the chipmunks for Kozmo. Kozmo is way cuter!
No trading, I luv my devilish kitty.
One of my two cats chews the dl foliage, too. The other one isn't the least bit interested.
I agree with taylordaylily that the movement of the foliage (because of the wind) intrigues them.
Try some quick bursts with the hose when you see him doing it.
Maybe provide him with some of that cat grass ?
I'd rather deal with one pesky kitten than a herd of 8 raccoons !
JD how in the world are you. He has no interest whatsoever in grasses that trad appeal to kitties or does he care for the crazy weed kitties like-- can't rembet name right now .
Good to see you.
This message was edited Oct 6, 2014 7:04 PM
I was able to discourage cats from doing their business in my hosta garden by using Milorganite. They do not like the smell. It is a slow release fertilizer and is great for hostas, daylilies, and vegetables. It is approved for use on vegetables or food crops.
http://www.milorganite.com/Gardening/Vegetables-and-Fruit
I get lots of the neighborhood cats in my yard but they never bother my daylilies. I too use Milorganite. I also have a clump of catnip and all the cats focus on the catnip so that could be the reason they don't bother my daylilies.
Our cats never chomped on the daylilies but 2 we had loved climbing in and sleeping in the Carex Ice Dance. It spent all summer squashed flat. Sadly, both kitties have passed on.
Kozmo is way too cute to get too angry with!
I agree with kwanjin...he IS a cutie !
Besides, he'll probably grow out of the chewing if you persist on discouraging the behavior.
You know I'm kidding, I love him dearly. I was raised in a family that hated and was afraid of cats. Yrs later DH suggested I get a baby cat and I lost most of my fear. I don't go hugging every kitty in sight but I do feel very comfy w Kozmo and we are def. connected.
2 years ago I posted a thread about his disappearance and my suspicion of a neighbor who believed she loved cats better than anybody else I'm the world. He mysteriously reappeared and has not left my side, unless to chomp on tomatoes or DLs.
Kwanjin KoZmo also naps and flattens grass
I remember that. A very strange mystery.
I have heard that too.
Rascal is at it again
I'm sure he thinks I planted these for his personal wnjoyment
He's helping!
Just had a thought: today I was fertilizing veggies with fish emulsion and I watered the nearby DLs with a little bit I had left in the watering can. Could the stench entice my kitty into chewing them to get a taste of fish?
We will find out soon. LOL!
Yesterday the rascal wad following me and pawing me endlessly. Me thinks I've yet to discover another chewed up clump....
Just came across this and got a good laugh from the thread :) Love that pretty kitty of yours! Is he still up to his DL chewing??
For rabbits, I get this foul smelling stuff from my local garden center (can't remember the name of the stuff right now - I'll edit when I do lol. Deer Away?? hmmm.. gotta think about it) Anyway, it's organic - made from rotten eggs and it makes me gag when mixing it. The rabbits (and deer if you have them) stay away, so I wonder if it'd help with the kitty problem too? :)
I forgot to mention that the Milorganite only works on the cats and rabbits. The dogs love it and will roll all in it and might even be digging in the bed. Yikes!
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vossner, you are so very funny with your cat problems. lol.
I was going to say that my dogs love milorganite! I can't use it in the back yard at all. And my dogs do chew on the daylily foliage, too. Must taste good.
It taste like poo. I had one dog that ate poo but she was just always hungry. lol. It is made from human waste in Chicago. At least they are being creative with the stuff. I found that my hostas love it and so do the daylilies. I have a fenced yard out back but I don't use much in the front. Lots of people walk their dogs in the summer so I do not want to attract them to my yard. I hate stepping in poo. :( lol!!
The rabbits around here are immune to Milorganite.
Had I not seen Kozmo chomping, I wouldn't hv thought about cats. having said that, I do have deer that are munching like crazy. I have a young and beautiful Lemon Glow magnolia, full of buds, and yesterday morning I have nothing but a stick. I know that is deer deed. My Persimmon, pretty gone. Young hybrid pecans, messed up, but they might survive. My dream of a self sufficient orchard are quickly dissipating. With the $ I've spent on replacements and deer deterrent stuff, I could have bought a warehouse full of fruit! This project is def. not for economic reasons, but I digress.....
I just bought some fancy soap from Gardeners supply to hang on precious plants. It is not offensive like Deer Away. But I haven't made time to hang it yet as deciding which precious plant deserves a soap. Anybody used the product.
Vossner you are definitely going thru a lot with those pesky critters. I have never tried the soap.
Deer no no, 85+ sodium salts and fatty acids. Smells like lemons and citronella to me. Bars are small, 6 for $30, desperate Ouch!
My area was the sticks but now you can sometimes see deer at dusk jumping really close to superhighways. They have nowhere to go.
I live in Deer Hell! I can't believe how many deer there are on this tiny little island. I have had good luck with Bobbex, a spray that is a smell and taste deterrent, and by using Contech Motion Activated Sprinklers. But they are eating things that they should never eat. Cast Iron plant, loquat trees, and lantana. Good luck!
Cast iron plant?!?! Wow. I forgot we have a couple of motion detectors but can't tell how helpful or not they are. I'll ck bobbex out
Vossner, Happytail I believe is talking about the one that attaches to a garden hose and sprays water back and forth when motion is detected. Here is a link to a short video It also includes a deer.
https://youtu.be/7jHYV6nJksw
oh, I don't have access the hose in certain areas but the one I have beeps loudy and hopefully equally startling.
Yes, it is hooked to poly pipe, and any motion makes it spray water. Contech makes one that is linkable, so one hose can do all three.
I heard that the noise it makes is more scary than the spray of water. LOL.
I am so glad I do not have deer, you all must really love gardening a lot more than me because I would not garden if I had to deal with deer. I had a friend on Long Island, NY who said there were so many deer that the state hired an Archery Club to kill 2000 of them last summer. They are organizing another kill for this year plus I found this article about a sharpshooter program to kill 1000 deer on the east end. I think they got driven out of the city and have become a real curse to long island, they have thousands of them there. The killers will donate the meat to clubs, homeless shelters, and food banks.
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/towns/east-end-deer-kill-reduced-to-1-000-animals-1.6913884
What I really wish is that the island would allow someone to come in and administer a birth control shot for a few years. That would allow the population to diminish, and give us some relief. There was one dead on the side of the road this morning as we went to the grocery store.
Well that would be a first. LOL. One would think to invite more hunters to the area but bullets can be deadly in a place where so many people are living.
Yikes, road kill. What happens to the deer when it gets hit by a car? Evidently no one got out of the car to retrieve it. LOL. That could have been dinner for a month. Do you have a city truck that collects dead animals?
You can hunt here, during hunting season, but no one does. Too many tree huggers. Usually the buzzards make short work of any dead animals on the road, but there is a county service that will pick them up, if not.
