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Is there a way to keep a cat away from a bird feeder that is safe for both the cat and birds? My friend is having a hard time with the neighbor's cat killing the birds that visit her feeder. Please let me know if you know of anything that will help out.
Labmomma :)
KILLING BIRDS :eek:
Thats a big no no for any cat that does that around my house they would wish they never set paws near me again or god have mercy on them!
Well a bell can be put around the cats neck so the birds can hear that cat comming on its way and it shall have a low chance of getting any birds.
Also make shur this cat is well fed before its let outside!
Raise the bird feeders and move them away from bushes where they can't see the cats hidding behind but also make shur there is a tree above them to hide from hawks and such and plenty of water.
Or.....what I would do is scare the poop out of that cat by spraying it with cold water and bashing loud noises towards it. :p
If the bird feeder is in a tree or on a pole, put a metal cone around the tree or post, with the large part of the cone opening at the bottom. Like this:
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A bell on the cat would be nice, but it's a neighbor's cat. And I doubt if she wants to spend all day and night waiting for the cat to show up so it can be sprayed, although that would work.
Is this a workable solution?
We feed the birds on the patio...it's the ground feeders, especially the doves, that the cats prey on. If you have shrubbery or flowers near where they feed, where the cat can stalk the birds, put up an attractive garden fence as a barrier. If they can't spring on the birds from hiding, they have an extremely difficult time.
Or, do as Argranade said, and move it away from the hiding spot.
Good luck to you and thanks for caring about the birds.
We used to have lots of squirrels that would empty our feeders. We installed them far enough from trees so that squirrels could not jump to them, and then mounted them on metal poles. Not enough! We had to grease the poles with axle grease!!! Success - and a great source of amusement until the squirrels figured out that climbing was useless. Have you ever seen a squirrel sliding down a greased pole? I don't know what you would want to use on a cat that wouldn't harm it - since cats lick themselves clean - but there might be something - even Vaseline, I don't know.