how to stop cats from digging in my neighbours garden?

Discussion in 'Garden Pest Management and Identification' started by rebekkahm, May 27, 2008.

  1. rebekkahm

    rebekkahm Active Member

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    I have four cats and live in a rural area. They love roaming outside but unfortunately, two of them have taken to digging up the new plants in my neighbours garden. Is the a safe way to discourage my cats from wrecking her vegetable plants without harming my cats or contaminating her veggies?
     
  2. jeanneaxler

    jeanneaxler Active Member

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    I have solved this problem by putting some chicken wire on the ground. If the cats can't scratch they won't like the bathroom. And the cats may be upset but unharmed.
     
  3. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    If in a hot summer climate (or not warm season vegetables like tomato plants or beans) soil does not need to be exposed to and warmed by the sun - in which case the exposed soil around the plants could be mulched with cobbles (river rock) or other stones that aren't easily pawed aside to get at the soil. Flattish ones like these would also be easier to walk on.

    What they really go for is flour-like dry soil, although they will sometimes also use loose dry mulch or even turf. If upper part of the plot there has been pulverized into a dust by years of cultivation or hoeing then it has become highly attractive to them for that reason. In addition to making the bed attractive to cats grinding the soil into a finer texture is undesirable because the roots of the plants grow better in a more porous soil consisting of somewhat larger particles - roots actually grow in the air spaces between soil particles rather than the soil itself.
     
  4. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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  5. rebekkahm

    rebekkahm Active Member

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  6. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    There are also ScatMats, which work on the same principle as chicken wire.

    But the Scarecrow (motion-activated sprinkler) will break them of the habit in about a day. If you want a cheaper alternative, you can use a water gun and just squirt 'em every time they go into the neighbor's beds. That worked well to train my cats out of the beds.
     
  7. Kimlick

    Kimlick Member

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    I had similar issues last year and to be frank, I needed a solution that wouldn't break the bank. I bought wood BBQ Skewers (100 @ $2.99) and broke them into 6 inch pieces. I sank them into the garden soil point up, with about 1-2 inches showing. It may sound awful, but I truly love my cats and they were more than smart enough to check out the new garden addition and thereafter avoid the area. It also stopped them from rolling in my herb garden too.
     
  8. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

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    Great idea! We have three cats and they are mostly fine but they love to lay in the wood mulch and it would be great protection for the younger plants that get rolled over.

    I just wanted to add that the only time our cats dig in the mulch is if there are mice or voles living in it and we are very happy they do that because voles are very destructive to many plants because they eat the roots so to the original poster your cats *might* be doing your neighbor a favor.
     
  9. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

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    Michael keeping a cat inside is probably good advice for an urban or suburban dweller but we live on 3 acres and our cats are *working* cats as are many others in rural areas so it must be taken with a grain of salt.

    If it weren't for our cats we would be overrun by mice, voles and rabbits (which are not native to this area but were released by well meaning pet owners and have gone feral and are becoming a major problem).
     
  10. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Bear in mind that cats are also not native to your area; introducing one ecologically damaging invasive species to control another, is not good practice. Far better to encourage local native predators to deal with the rabbits.
     
  11. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

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    I love how the british are living in what is probably one of the most unnatural and man altered, landscapes on earth but are full of advice for everyone else. ;)

    I can walk from my house to places where you would be hard pressed to find any evidence that a human being has *ever* stood in that place before. I can go to hundreds of thousands of these places in a day or less. Just because you guys devastated your natural environment over centuries doesn't mean we have plans on doing the same thing.

    If we take your argument to it's logical conclusion the best thing would be for all human beings to suicide right now.

    I won't debate you on this because clearly we come from different areas of the world with completely different experiences in which there can be no convincing the other and internet message board debates are tedious but I'll just say what makes sense in the UK may be viewed as slightly crazy elsewhere.
     
  12. Michael F

    Michael F Paragon of Plants Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    That's a bit of a strongly worded xenophobic diatribe there! . . . just three points:

    1. The site I posted is American, not British.

    2. Isn't it best to learn from other peoples' mistakes? Those who have made the worst mistakes are in the best position to warn others to avoid the same mistakes. Though actually, America (or the USA at least) is way ahead of Britain in its cat care and advice as offered on that website. I'd love to see that website and its principles given far more promotion in Britain.

    3. As pointed out by the site, outdoors is not a safe place for cats either. If you like your cats, you don't want them killed or injured by coyote, skunk, bear, eagle, whatever, nor infected by any of the diseases cited.
     
  13. JCardina

    JCardina Active Member

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    I apologize if I was curt with you. As I pointed out our cats are *working* cats. They provide a valuable service to us. I love my cats but they have a job to do and as with any job there is inherent risk. We mitigate that risk as much as possible: they get all their shots and innoculations on schedule see the vet if there is any problem, and are in general treated like a valuable member of our family. They are in excellent health and clearly enjoy their "jobs".

    What you are promoting makes perfect sense in an urban or suburban environment and I agree wholeheartedly, when I lived in those environments my cat was an inside cat; it's just not applicable or even realistic under rural circumstances to try to promote that idea and the original poster is in *rural* location.
     
  14. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Well I see this issue brings up some strong feelings. I think it is good for people in most areas to consider keeping cats indoors. Many pet owners may not realize that it is even an option or just how many dangers lurk outdoors. But cats do like to hunt and in some cases this a service. In other cases there seems to be such a strong 'urge to the wild' in certain cats that it is hard to imagine keeping them contained. The indoors only policy seems to work best when started from the beginning.
     

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