| |||||||
| Weeds, Pests and Diseases Ridding your plot of harmful insects and disorders |
Visit our sponsors for all your gardening and growing needs! |
 |
| | LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
04-11-2007, 10:32 PM
| ||||
| ||||
 Help! - Cats are destroying my polytunnel Hi everyone, I hope you can help me. Living next door to me I have the cats from hell. They have taken a liking to my raised beds and particularly my polytunnel. They climb up the sides and run around on the top, ripping the polythene cover as they do so. My tunnel is less than 1 year old and now has approx 40 patches on it! I have tried locating spikey sticks, cat repellant powder and "scardy cat" plants around the tunnel but to no avail. Short of surrounding it with an electric fence or sitting watch with a shot gun, I am running out of ideas as to what to do!! Any advice most welcome. Cheers
__________________ Jon       |
|
04-11-2007, 10:37 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Hi, Jon, and welcome to the vine! Sorry to hear about your cat problem - tricky one. Suggest you spray the ridge on the top with (say) cooking oil or similar as they won't want to walk on that. Also suggest you invest in a super soaker water gun thingy. Try to hide and splat them with it when they don;t know that it is you. Lots of grapes have had cat problems - if you do a search in the green bar at the top, you'll find other advice... Also, they don't like walking on foil - perhaps a temporary strip along the top?
__________________ Hazel www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com update Sat 15/11/2008......there's gold in them thar...compost bins!...... Last edited by Hazel at the Hill; 04-11-2007 at 10:39 PM. Reason: thought of something else! |
|
04-11-2007, 10:39 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Have a quiet (  ) word with your neighbour - explain the problem and the cost of recovering and that you tried various remedies without success. If they can't control their pets, then the electric fence is the humane option - wire it up to a car battery. Me - I would shoot the little *****rs - fill in your own blanks to suit the mood.PS - OBVIOUSLY i WOULDN'T SHOOT THEM (not whilst they were on the roof - the pellets might damage the polythene more than they have already)
__________________ Rat British by birth Scottish by the Grace of God  Blog updated Wednesday November 13th |
|
04-11-2007, 10:43 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Ah - but in your case, Rat, would the cats not be catching the inevitable mice? Pest control...? 
__________________ Hazel www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com update Sat 15/11/2008......there's gold in them thar...compost bins!...... |
|
05-11-2007, 09:24 AM
| ||||
| ||||
| I have been told a small amount of strong amonia in bottle tops placed where the cats enter does the trick I have not done this myself as I don't have a "cat" problem. Anyway we have two cats ourselves.
__________________ I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food. W. C. Fields |
|
05-11-2007, 09:33 AM
| ||||
| ||||
| Or a twelve bore will do the trick? 
__________________ I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food. W. C. Fields |
|
05-11-2007, 11:54 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Hazel, there aren't enough cats in Ross-shire to control the mice in my field - or the rabbits, or the pheasants, hares, partridges, pigeons......and anyway, I'm allergic to the critters.
__________________ Rat British by birth Scottish by the Grace of God Blog updated Wednesday November 13th |
|
06-11-2007, 12:35 AM
| ||||
| ||||
| Jon, as sewer rat says, get an electric fence, the smallest you can get will be deterrent enough for anything on four legs and they are not expensive compared to a new poly sheet. I've used mine for dogs,cats, foxes and I'm working on a system for deterring moles this winter. |
|
13-11-2007, 09:41 PM
| |||
| |||
| My father recently put a black cat silhouet on his back lawn (typical small suburban garden, enclosed on all sides by shed, house and two fences) it's been there for several months and no cat has gone into the garden, probably won't be much use in big or open gardens, but might be useful in combination with other things Carl |
|
14-11-2007, 10:08 AM
| ||||
| ||||
| Quote:
__________________ Veni, Vidi, Velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around. |
|
14-11-2007, 11:36 AM
| ||||
| ||||
| We had a problem with cats pooing on our lawn!!! I thought cats were supposed to be clean animals and bury their poo, but no, big steaming piles left on the lawn every day! Tried all sorts and finally found that "silent roar" did the trick, it's granuals soaked in lion urine which you scatter around and about this seems have done the trick for 6 months or so, however discovered a cat poo this morning so it must be time for another application.
__________________ Imagination is everything, it is a preview of what is to become. |
|
14-11-2007, 02:06 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Hi, I heard they can't stand the smell of ...is it menthol....... the stuff in those deep heat sprays for sore backs. Apparently it can be sprayed on to tea bags and left in garden. Maybe it could be sprayed to part of your polytunnel or something attached to it of your choice where it can't be rained off or harm your plants. Hope you find something that works. Beth |
|
14-11-2007, 02:22 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Lainey - are you sure your problem is cats and not foxes? We had a similar problem, I blamed my own cat for a while thinking she was getting lazy in her old age (she's always been very fastidious) but it turned out to be a fox. Terrier/Rat - would an electric fence work against rabbits, and how harmful would it be? Jon - my cat hates the smell of chilli or anything similar, the minty/mentholy stuff that they're supposed to hate doesn't faze her at all - I guess it's all trial and error. Good luck, come back and let us know how you get on.
__________________ Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance  |
|
14-11-2007, 03:26 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| sure it,s cats moggsue there are dozens round here and with out being too crude cat and fox poo smell totally different!
__________________ Imagination is everything, it is a preview of what is to become. |
|
14-11-2007, 04:40 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Haha, I'll take your word for that Lainey, don't fancy getting close enough to fox poo to find out! In that case, hope the silent roar works again for you. Might be something a few others on here would be interested in as well, there have been others suffering with cat problems.
__________________ Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance |
|
14-11-2007, 10:26 PM
| |||
| |||
| Hi all - i hate to say i have found the soliution! But i have. The sonic cat scarers that i have been dubious of in the past actually work. I bought one from b and q, and as long as i move it frequently, it totally puts the cats off. I would like to hear if anyone else has had any success/failure with them...
__________________ Vegmonkey and the Mrs. - vegetable gardening in a small space in Cheltenham at www.vegmonkey.co.uk |
|
16-11-2007, 03:40 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Quote:
__________________ Imagination is everything, it is a preview of what is to become. |
|
05-12-2007, 07:38 PM
| |||
| |||
| Cats are destroying my garden too untill recently i didnt have a problem with cats in my garden or the veg patch,but now i have ,the diffrence between now and then is i had to have my own black and white moggy put to sleep due to his illness,Marmite(you either love him or hate him)would not allow another cat in,and didnt leave any problems,maybe if you get a cat the others would leave,regards Carrottop |
|
05-12-2007, 07:44 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Hello carrottop - I'm sorry to hear about your cat, and about your subsequent cat probs on your veg plot - but welcome to the Vine.
__________________ Hazel www.hazelandjanesallotment.blogspot.com update Sat 15/11/2008......there's gold in them thar...compost bins!...... |
|
05-12-2007, 07:51 PM
| ||||
| ||||
| Hi and welcome to the vine carrottop. Sorry to hear about your loss. Our cat problem is our own cat - I have the only cultivated garden in the vicinity and he just loves it!!! I have promised that next year we will build a special cat corner with sand dug into the soil and some catmint planted around it in the hope that it will stop him digging up my veggies |
