Deterring Digging Cats in the Garden

I just spent waaaayyyy to much time reading that Mr. T thread... I didn't think it was possible but I'm feeling much better now about the rats that won't leave my squirrel-proof birdfeeder alone... despite the rat-b-gone powder I sprinkle around my patio and the chickenwire I've stuffed into every crevice in and under the fence...

Hey glasslady, you're the lady with ants in her pots right? That titmouse thread has been captivating many. It makes me feel better about a lot of things and is always good for a laugh. Her captions to the photos really make that thread.

Hey OF, Thanks for the visual. I could see that happening and you made my night. When my husband comes in from snow blowing, I am going to let him read what you wrote. He particularly loves a good laugh when something like this happens to somebody else's wife.

In addition to introduced predators and West Niles, we've got a few other challenges in my area. Nesting habits of many natives have been somewhat altered with the introduction of some species that afford considerably less protection from predation. Most notably Buckthorn is present here by the groves. Really sorry about your hurricane. From time to time the river basin floods and we lose all the eggs and nestlings at lower levels too.

Hey Dena, I can't find that forum. I checked the new alphabetized listing of forums and I don't see one for General Conversations any longer. I'm sure it's there but I usually only frequent a few forums here on a regular basis. I would have gone on over to take a peek to see what you wrote but I'm not all that computer literate. Rats, I wanted to take a peek in this thread you mentioned to see what was written about Albizia... the South African Silktree is not one of my most favorite plants mind you because I volunteer in natural areas removing the offspring of plants that escape from people's yards. After you remove a couple hundred of them and realize there are thousands left that germinated from seed originating from "specimen" plants in yards, it gets old.

Yes, I'll be around to chat. I lurk at a wetland scientists forum and I only read what they write to see if I can pick up anything that may help me with my wetlands here. I've wanted to post a few times over there to ask for help but they don't seem all that receptive to or patient with newcomers. I am also a member of a CP listserve and I read everything over there and have posted all of 5 times in 5 years because some of the folk there are a tad too into their research work and half the time I sit in front of my computer scratching my head wondering what the heck they are talking about. Nobody over there has a sense of humore either. I like it here at DG best, it's the people for me and the ability to always find common ground.

Say Dena, I just clicked on your user profile and you are a newbie to DG! So glad you joined. Now go run out and buy your kids a giant pet cockroach or something, misery loves company.

Lauren

Equil, the post I wanted you to read wasn't about the Albezia, but I had just finished being convinced that it was a BAD, BAD idea even though I kinda knew that to begin with. I had doen my home work as far as it being invasive was concerned, but wasn't sure if it would be trouble up here in chilly RI, anyway being a newbie I haven't figured out how to link you to my post but for all its worth I do know how to copy and paste.....


I have never belonged to a better group of people as I do now, here @ DG!
You have all been so great to me. Over the past week I have had a smorgasbord of questions answered, and to top it all off, yesterday was my birthday and I was showered with well wishes from people all over the place who share something I hold near and dear, the ability to look at a seed and see so many possibilities, a passion to share what they love and a wealth of knowledge that you can't just get from the internet or reading it from a book, so umm having said that, I realy thought you all should know how much you are all appreciated.

I look forward to being apart of Daves Garden and talking with all of you for a very long time.
Thank you all so much!

Dena



Sappy I know but its true, and when I wrote it I had your advise in mind,
I may not be the best at spelling, I'm not always the sharpest tool in the shed, but I love learning and have a deep respect for our Earth and the creatures on it, our planet is my god, and it kills me to see it being abused, the saddest thing to see is ignorance, and the unwillingness to learn about what is happening, ie global warming, deforestation, yadda yadda yadda. And worst of all when you talk to someone about it they don't want to hear what you have to say. Why? Because they might have to go out of their way to change what they are doing, work just a bit harder to do whats best, and I truely am greatful to and for anyone out there who gives a crap besides me! I want my great grand kids to have a world to live on and I'd like very much for it to still have wild places with wild things in in them. This ways heavily on me, and most folks think I have fallen off my rocker and possibly bumped my head.
Ok maybe I am crazy but I get the feeling YOU CARE VERY MUCH, and the thank you copied and pasted above was in fact written for you and some other folks who were just plain nice to the newbie.
wow that felt good, ok I'm finished.
Dena

Tee he, even my own Dad jiggles a piece of plastic in front of me with a twinkle in his eye tormenting me before he tosses it in the regular garbage. His community doesn't have curb side recycling and he won't drop it off at the local recycling center even when he goes into town but he sure did crab at us if we didn't turn off a light when we were growing up. I know what you mean.

For me, it's 100% about people and hence public health. There are quite a few introduced species out there that are blatantly injurious to public health. I have hundreds of plants here that aren't native and I will plant more. The vast majority of introduced species of plant or animal do not cause trouble and that is well documented. I've had radical native flora and fauna people who have come to my home and basically told me to euthanize my indoor cats & dogs and dig up my iris and everything else here that is not indigenous that I have planted. I did not join their organization because they are all or nothing and do not want to acknowledge that there is middle ground out there. My goal is to be 90% native here but no way no how do any of the mild mannered non-native plants that I have get dug up and I'm not going to humanely destroy my companion pets. Not going to happen. Bottom line is that here at Dave's Garden, the cottage rose garden people get along with the tallgrass prairie people. At least that's been my experience.

Here's what I believe-
"The tendency of man's nature to good is like the tendency of water to flow downward" -Meng Tse
“In the end, we preserve only what we love. We love only what we understand, and we understand only what we are taught.” -Lao Tzu

That being said, here's a toast to the newbies of DG such as yourself and orchidfancy (yup, she's a newbie too! I just looked at her user profile). Woo hoo!

Thanks Equil,
hey, sorry about the little rant, I realized how bad I needed to unload that as I clicked on the send button.
I reallllly have enjoyed DG, its worth the $15.

So, I am planning this trip to the pet store, we are going to get a big ol hissing cockroach, we will name him Ernie, I will knit him lil sweaters, and walk him on the cat leash. I'm gonna get him nuttered, and he'll have his tags, do you think he will need a rabies shot? should I pick him up a litter box?

he hee
Dena

Rants are healthy!

That might be the exact species of cockroach we had. Heads up, it lived about 4 years and the starter pack of food cost more than the cockroach. I don't remember what ours was named and nobody is up to tell me. They make a really funny sound if somebody they don't know picks them up. The other tip I can give you is that you might want to place "Ernie's" home on a heating pad set to low and he'll need moisture so maybe leaf debris and moss would be nice. We stuck a piece of cut off pvc in the cage to give him a place to cozy up and sleep. They like heat. Lemme see, it's been a while... now what else. Buy the food on line, it's cheaper. Give your little guy some sun. No need to neuter "Ernie" unless you give him a little Ernireenie. No need to accessorize "Ernie" by knitting him a sweater, he'd just crawl out of it. Please post photos. We owned ours before I had a digital camera.

Oh, no need for a litter box. They are sort of like a hamster in that they do their duty where ever and the do do goes out when you change the bedding material. See! Lucky you! No messy litter boxes to empty and bleach every week. "Ernie" will be the ideal pet. Please tell your husband to thank me for the suggestion. ;)

LOL
The Hubby will love you for this one...
and I'll be sure to tell him it was your idea.

I am glad to have met you Lauren, I look for your smart and funny posts when ever I come to DG, which is every chance I get, my Hubby called me a DG junkie last night, I told him if he had all the answers I wouldn't need DG so much but to tell you the truth, I'd be here anyway, I figure if I can't plant something I can at least talk and read about gardening! Geepers, who wouldn't want to be here?
How long till spring? I gotta go put together my new garden cart, so the kids and I can ride down the hill, I mean haul stuff around the yard.

toodles
Dena

How long till spring- too long.

My husband just told me to get out of this thread before you and orchidfancy came up with some pet suggestion that we haven't had already. He laughed about her having to round up all the praying mantids and said better them than us. I knew he would get a kick out of that.

The pet cockroach's name was "Piglet".

I think we are all DG junkies here! If you gotta go down, it's good to go down in good company!

Bye for now, Lauren

I love this thread!

Maybe someone out there can answer this question.

I have a couple of different types of monarda in the flowerbeds around the yard. The plants were all new to the yard last spring. I found that almost all of there were flattened a number of times throughout the spring and summer. Monarda is in the mint family, I think. (Square stems) Now the question...Could the culprit flattening the plantings be the neighborhood cats? The smaller Monardas were flattened to the ground. It looked like a crop circle everywhere there was a planting. The larger types had all of the canes broken off at ground level. A feline is the only thing I can think of that would cause damage like this.

If this is the cause, does anyone have a suggestion as to how I might be able to bring the plants to flower for the hummingbirds?

I have both catnip and monardas I never seen cats near the monardas . even the local strays that we would get once in a while. they usually beeline for the catnip. Cats are not found of it. nor are they pleased with regular mint. Mine avoid it.

Idahoan, I had a similar problem with some Peony. One night I heard a loud cat fight and the next AM the Peonies were flattened. This happened 2 nights later also. Cat fur here and there to verify my suspicions. That was when I started with the thorny twigs.
Andy P

You must have some of the finest garden gloves Sarah! LOL
: )
Dena

Leather

Thank you orchidfancy and Sarahskeeper.

I do have a number of thorny roses to cut back. I will follow the directions and see if I can't deter the neighborhood felines out of my flowerbeds.

Thanks again,

Idahoan

Equil,
On 1/20 you wrote, "Hey glasslady, you're the lady with ants in her pots right? "

That's me. Better ants in my pots than ants in my pants, right?

By the way, I haven't seen any rats lately but I'm sure they're just waiting. I'll be heading to the feed & seed this weekend for a RatZapper. People are raving about them at work. Thanks for the tip!



This message was edited Jan 24, 2006 5:15 PM

idahoan : The reason that I use the discarded rose branches is to keep my cat from going under my privacy fence . I want to keep him in the yard. I have a raised flower bed with a 6"space between the bed and the fence and I dont need him to go in somebody else's yard to get in trouble. It has worked well so far and he has not discovered other places to get out, so he stays in the yard and sun's himself when I am there. Every so often I have somebody's cat visiting and they just roll on the catnip and nap...

Orchidfancy, if all cat owners were as conscientious as you are, people like me wouldn't be asking the questions. I would like to keep our neighbor's cat out of my vegetable garden. In the morning, their door opens and here comes the cat right over the fence into my garden. Same thing happens all night.

I am planning on putting a 6 - 12 inch barrior around the garden out of the dried rose cuttings. I have a baby Father Hugo rose due to arrive in about a month to plant against the fence. It will be trained up along the top of the fence. Hopefully, the cat will get the message. I don't hate any animal, but our neighbor's cats can push the threshold of tolerance.

Father Hugo has some of the nastiest thorns I have ever run into. The birds used to love making nests in it because the cats and squirrels avoided it. That was in California, but frustration led me to order one for the Idaho garden.

Thanks for your input.

Idahoan

Here is what works for me.
I mentioned Blackberry canes above and they really work.
Not one cat in this flower bed in 2 weeks.
No chemicals or expensive gadgets.
Andy P

Little did I know when I started this thread it would grow to such proportions...from thorns to mantids to hissing cockroaches!!!! The "tinkle towel" thing is priceless!!!

Let's face it. Cats will ALWAYS outmaneuver us humans. They were put on this earth to drive us crazy and let us know who is in control. Just when I think I have solved the digging problem, they outsmart me. Various methods lose their effectiveness in time, and I am rapidly running out of alternatives...

There is no doubt in my mind that when I see a group of cats near my house, they are having a meeting to plot their next assault to thwart my plans. It is clear to me now that this is nothing short of feline terrorism !!!!!!!

I have indoor cats and I was just running down the stairs to switch loads of laundry when a few of mine zinged down the stairs with the speed of lightening. I grabbed for the hand rail and felt like my arm was going to get wrenched out of its socket. You'd think after all the years I have been a multiple cat household that I would have learned just exactly who is in control here because it certainly isn't me. Your comments about plotting assaults make sense. Mine can all be lounging around like slugs but the minute I turn that light switch on to go downstairs, something tells them to go and trip the master to see if they can knock the teeth out the back of my head.

About how this thread has been all over the place... I am still getting mileage out of orchidfancy's diningroom experience. When friends come over I pull up this thread and point and say, "Read this". Then I have them click on the Psycho Titmouse thread and watch them grab their ribs laughing out loud.

Even when my cat is loose in the garden he does not dig or scrach on anything , he has been raised as an indoor cat . When my son found him he was less than a month did not know how to eat , had lung infection and conjonctivitis. In another word a kitty in sad shape.We nursed him back to health but it took us 2 years before we could give him a complete rabie shot because his immune system was in such bad shape . Therefore we never let him out. My garden In Cambridge has a privacy fence, to keep the dog in and the neighboors cat out. Most people on my street keep their animals close to home. When I let my cat out he usually go for some of the grasses and the catnip and lay under some shrubs and watch me and anything else that attract his fancy. He is not too interested by the birds , at some points the squirrels were fun to chase but he gave that up because it would involve climbing up a pine tree and he does not like to climb anything bigger that a chair......He made it over the fence couple times when the cat next door taunted him and they had a major battle. Since then the cat next door moved with his owners. The fence is not very high on that side of the yard and not protected by rose anything. As a rule he does not go out unless I am out in the garden with him. I am at that house only on the week end . At my house in College Park he does not go out at all . the yard is fenced but not hight enought to keep him inside my property and i dont want to impose my cat on the neighboors.

Equilibrium I am glad that you are having a good laugh at my expenses RE:praying mantis invasion , I laugh about it every time that I think and talk about it. I am sure this story will be told to the grand children at some point to get a laugh out of the whole thing . Maybe I should be kind enought and provide a praying mantis sack to the kiddies so my son can enjoy the experience again. This would be a deja vu for him. On the other hand I cannot do that to my DIL she would go ballistic , no point getting her upset. She has to deal with my son that enought of a job LOL.
Regarding to the rat zapper please note you cannot use them if the ground is wet or damp or if it rains. I bought one and returned for that reason. Maybe I find a snake just in case . So far we have not seen any signs of the rodents. I can say that we are ratless. Now I am having a squirrel invasion . I caugh one the other day trying to make his way into my attic . I filled the hole with expanding foam , that teach him.
It seem like I am spending a lots of time on the roof doing things. like cleaning the gutters, sweeping the leaves off or getting rid of the twigs.
last fall after the roof was replaced on the den I decided to do my husband's den windows so I cleaned the inside but to clean the outside I had to climb out of the window onto the roof . So I slid down the screen so the cat would not come out. The dog came along saw me outside and jumped on the edge of the window and the screen slid down and locked. I didn't realise that when I slid the window down it locked also on the inside. So here I am at 9 AM in my jammies locked out on the roof not happy. I heard my husband come in but before I could get his attention he was inside of the house. My neighboor come's out and I tell her to call my husband ,so she calls , no answer. Finally about 10 minutes later I hear my husband letting the dog out , I had to scream at him to get his attention and he finally opened the window and let me in. Thus he said that I make a good roof decoration and maybe he should let me stay there for a while. Guess who does the windows the next time....LOL I wanted to put some plants on the roof but since we have a slight pitch that would not be a good thing . Tomatoes would do well there full sun ..... And bake before they reach the oven....small problem. Before I replaced the roofs I checked into green roofs. They are available in Canada in the US and in Europe . This was too involved and my husband was not ready to reframe the house in order to support the load from the roof and all that, but it was a nice idea very ecological in my book.

Hey orchidfancy! I am laughing with you not at you!

Not safe!

I've locked myself out of my own home more times than I care to admit but never out of my home on a roof. We have newer windows on our home and they are some brand that flips out and twists around so you can clean the outer windows from the inside. They are really wild and I didn't know they did that when we built this house. The architect must have done that. Glad he did as most of our ceilings are not a standard height so that makes this a very tall home which means I'd surely break my neck. I do have to admit that even with swing around windows I still call a service out to do them at least once a year. They've got hi-pressure nozzles and use some product that they hide from me and the windows come out looking better than when I do them with less streaks and it takes them half the time.

Those roofs you mentioned have pros and cons. Probably not cost effective for a private residence whether it is new construction or existing construction. They are engineering marvels. I don't think I want that type of a roof anyway. With my luck I'd end up with an entire flock of Canada Geese instead of the Turkey Vultures you get.

Equilibrium , I know that you were laughting with me.Yes I have the new windows that swing but my husband entertainment center block the corner so I cant swing the window on the inside. When I clean the windows I use the good old fashion amonia and water with a rag and dry it with with another towel this work quite well and no streaks. I cant count the number of times that I got looked out of the house usually wearing my worst get up like jammies, bathrobe in the snow , it is always in the morning for some reasons. At least this entertain my husband when he gets home he knows that I dont have a boring life. He never know what to expect.This morning the tenants(squirrels) are peaking out of their box it is cold and I am sure they are going to wait for a while before they come and get the bread that I put out for them. Meanwhile my husband saw the raccoon yesterday morning and the rabbits are still on the lawn at 4AM.
We get our fair share of geese trust me and every so often a stray wild turkey coming from the USDA which is only less than a mile from my house. We also have woods, streams less than a mile from the house and in some of my walk I have encountered black snakes, deers watering themselves at the creek, a lone fox marking his territory and completely oblivious of my presence , it was mating season.... also we have a fair number of beaversthat built their barrages up and down the creek and drive the people at the golf club crazy.... I dont golf but I have friends that go there. and so do the geese that decide that the golf course is a good place for foraging.....make's life interesting for the golfers... Now i got to go Dozzie is going crazy barking, maybe a leaf dropped and he does not like it....dogs....

Ah, so you've got the flip and twist windows too. Neat concept, shame you had that piece of furniture in the way! I say we all hire services with those hi-pressured whatever they are things and call it a day.

Locked out of a house in jammies... could be worse.

Interestingly enough we get stray partridge and quail around here. There are a few hunt clubs in the area and they escape from the hunting grounds. I don't so much mind them but the geese are an entirely different story. In the spring and fall the skies are loaded with V formations. There have got to be millions of them now. Golfing with geese must not be fun. Those animals can inflict some nasty injuries on humans if you provoke them. We have learned to stay away from them. Whole strings of cars have had to stop as they leisurely sauntered across road ways. They're pretty bold critters.

Another city relocated a fox family to my property. They were too far back for me to ever be able to get photgraphs but from time to time I could see little dots in the distance and I knew they were there which put a smile on my face. Other than that, I'm pretty much surrounded by wetlands and woods.

Well I am in the suburbs and I was surrounded by trees until we had the tornado in 2001 that cut thru the university of Maryland destroyed the forest along north paint branch one of the local stream, then turned and destroyed quite a bit of the houses in that area and turned into where I live and cut a path thru my backyard and all the neighboors in the next two streets. I could not go in my yard for a week, and when I did it was with the help of couple chain saws. It took us weeks to clear the yard and I am still burning the wood that was left from that tornado. and I probably have enought for the next season too. My yard has gone from complete shade to semi shade and now I have a portion of the back yard devoted to a veggie garden. I lost couple trees and millions of branches. My neighboors has a perfect spot for a swimming pool , his yard has been cleared completely. We see a lots of geese because they winter in Maryland.wehave fewer geese here than on the eastern shore but quite a few nevertheless. We can hear them honking and flying low going back and forth on the USDAproperties which are each side of US1. We are right in their path but no landing space . How did we go from cats to wildlife ? as they one thing leads to another. Equilibrium I enjoy reading your writing it let me know a bit more about other regions in this country. Well I will have to do windows I have company coming in a week and a party , my son is visiting with his family. then later my brother is coming from France with his wife and child for three weeks he has been here many time before , I think that my nefew is coming this summer also. It looks like the Williams are going to be busy with visitors this year...And I just ordered all my seeds for this year....imagine. Her is a picture of one section of my yard in College park

I WANT your yard.

Right now with all the rain we have had it is more like a swamp and I am expecting to find a gattor anytime , and if I go far enought in the yard I will sink in quickmudd LOL. Meanwhile I am enjoying the fragrance of the witch hazel it has started to bloom and it smell so wonderful.

OK...now I am thoroughly depressed after seeing your pictures. I want your yard as well.!
NOT FAIR ! NOT FAIR !!!!!

Swamp! Did somebody say swamp!
I'm not at all depressed at seeing her photos... just sort of a little green since I have so much darn swamp land around me. Swamps have a beauty all their own and you definitely can plant species that other people can't grow without going to great lengths to replicate the habitat but there is nothing better than a cottage garden feel to a yard.

Swamps we have plenty on the eastern shore , those I dont mind those, I like wildlife habitats not slosshy messes like in my back yard right now. I cant even get close to my veggie garden not that I can do anything with it it is covered with leaves that are composting with the wood ashes from the fireplace and some lime for spring.
Right now I like to cover it up with black plastic to make the compost cook faster. This year I want to be early to plant my veggies oposed to last year when I did my transplant is August...
The only good part about a wet back yard is that a month from now it will be covered with marsh marigold that looks pretty .When I moved in this house 34 years ago nothing grew. the yard was burried under couple feet of leaves that had not been raked for years. once raked I discovered that the soil was pure clay. so I made the best of it and planted azaleas. Most of the azaleas that I have I have propagated myself . I have a neighboor that had anice collection and he gave me some layerings . From there I made my own. here is a picture of some of my azaleas.

YOU HAVE THE COTTAGE GARDEN LOOK that I want around my house some day when I grow up! Azaleas are a little tough in my zone but there are some new introductions that are a tad hardier in the northern reaches that were compliments of Minnesota. They aren't all that available just yet but give them a few years.

The cottage garden look turned that way I didnt specifically tried for it. It is an easy yard to upkeep now, just mow the so called lawn rake the millions of leaves and much or compost it all . I have couple ponds there and it is very pleasant during the summer , but mostly in spring and in the fall.
today we are expecting 6 to 12 " of the white stuff (snow) Lets see what happens.....

Thank you Orchid fancy! We have loads of wild blackberry growing out in the rural area ditches. I'll try your solution and I'll bet it will work!

Hope you are all settled in for a long winter's night! We've been reading about the storm coming in. Looks like you're in for some snow.

Have a great weekend and thank you again for the suggestion.

IIdohan yes we have a snow storm all 10" of the white stuff. it looks beautiful the snow is heavy and a lot of my small trees are bending so I will have to go out and shake them so they dont' split or break. It is beautiful and yes it is a good way to recycle those nasty blackberry canes. Be careful they have teeth . When I tangled with canes that came from next door I got slightly shredded.
Here is a snow picture... time to enjoy a good cup of hot chocolate , tonight I will be having couple hot buttered rum by the fireplace.... a tradition in my house only available when it snow.....

Hi, Orchidfancy! I started reading the cat comments. But there were too many. Then I discovered your pictures: what a beautiful garden!! and had to smile when you already posted a picture of our snow. I am in NE DC, just a few miles from you. Isn't it glorious? By the way, have you gone to the Orchid exhibit a the Botamical Gardens?

I think that since I am in the backyard remodeling this year I am going to take advantage of things and cat proof my back yard in the process so this way Pusser can go out without me being worried about him jumping over the fence or go under . Yesterday he got out for 3 minutes , was easy to catch after running in the snow , he does not like snow nor cold a good thing. I dont think that he will be going outside for while the weather is not of his liking.

Thanks for the link to Ratzapper. I have one coming.
Sidney