Barn Cats

[FabMan]

I need to find a way to feed them, but keep the raccoons and possums out of the feed.
Any ideas out there?

[daengmei]

I have the same problem. If I leave too much food out, the critters will get it. I try to make sure I don't overfeed so there is none for the raccoons. I periodically live trap and relocate the raccoons and possums. The law says I have to kill them, I won't do that. I know this don't help much.

[HWooldridge]

We have a battery powered feeder with 5 compartments for food. I installed a latch and crossbar across the top, which is easy for a human to move but the coons and possums haven't figured it out (yet).

I also leave a couple live traps set near the feeder - let the kitties go when they get caught but get rid of the other vermin. I even caught a big gray fox once - and released him...

[Hannibal]

Best suggestion I have is put the food away at dusk. If a racoon or opossum is out during daylight it most likely is diseased and needs a dose of Dr Winchester's Lead Sedative anyway.

Burning the carcass is a real good idea in such cases, too. To prevent the spread of whatever the offending critter had.

[waksupi]

When I was a kid, we had barn cats. Dozens of them. They got infected with rabies, then it was cat hunting time until we eliminated them all.

[FabMan]

The battery powered feeder with timer seems plausible.
Set to feed around noon and five. My raccoons can get into anything so will have to shield the feeder.

[Bmi48219]

Our barn cat was responsible for her own meals.

[TD1886]

I'm surprised many of you don't have problems with coyotes killing and eating your cats.

[Hannibal]

I'm surprised many of you don't have problems with coyotes killing and eating your cats.

When I lived in a rural area the cat population was something that ebbed and waned. I never knew if was the coyotes or the owls. Probably a bit of each. Anyway, the cat population never got out of hand.

I'd have never thought about owls except I had guineas for a while to work on the ticks. They roosted in a huge white oak behind the house. I'd loose one or 2 a week until all 30 were gone. Never found so much as a pile of feathers.

[HWooldridge]

I'm surprised many of you don't have problems with coyotes killing and eating your cats.

We have lost many cats to both coyotes and owls. We had a young, orange tabby that stayed under the deck most of the time - then she went out exploring one night and was gone forever by the next morning. I heard owls hooting that night but no coyotes howling...

[Electrod47]

I'v got 2 homeless cats I adopted and had fixed who live outside in and around our out buildings. Mother and son. She's small and he's huge. Both are feral from day one. I helped her raise the litter that was in her belly when she showed up. Found a home for some and some went their own way. Only the son remains, both jet black with amazing green eyes. They will not come in the house by choice. So, 5 years had the problem with coons and possums. I keep their food on an elevated bench in the carport only the cats can reach. Now and then a stray Tom will show up to feast, so bring in the chow for a couple nights and they move on. Haven't had a possum or coon get on that bench yet.

[Pipefitter]

Feed them in the morning and remove any leftovers before dark. Got one feral cat at the house, out of all the neighbors I am the only one that can touch her. (I suspect it is the invisible tattoo on my forehead that only cats can see that says "sucker for cats")

[higgins]

We have two 16-year old barn cats that are now "retired" and live around the house and in the garage at night, and one of them spends some time in the house. They're what remains of four sibling kittens our son and his wife got when they had the house. Don't know what became of the other two, they disappeared years ago. It's miraculous that these two, a neutered male and neutered female, survived all these years of coyotes, the occasional dog, and hay equipment. They're like old people; they just lay around napping and snacking. Since they're around the house we just set their food inside shortly after dark. Without fail if we left food out at night we had possums come around, which were live-trapped.

[Texas by God]

Feed them in the morning, they need to hunt at night.
I put my outdoor dogs in the barn at night so they won’t wake me up barking at deer, cattle, or whatever.
The cats are on their own.
I grew up on a dairy farm, and occasional thinning of the cat herd was a must.
The super mousers got a pass.


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[crandall crank]

Set out several "dog proof" raccoon traps. Get rid of "Ricky the raccoon".

[Hannibal]

Set out several "dog proof" raccoon traps. Get rid of "Ricky the raccoon".

Shoot. Where I was they seemed to breed like rabbits. Seemingly endless supply. Took the food in at dusk and the racoons went somewhere else. Good enough for me.

[porthos]

i have a feral at that i feed.it only comes on the back porch to eat after dark. i would like to befriend it to replace the one had that was killed. but this one is very elusive

[gwpercle]

If you feed cats outside ... the raccoons and possums will get wind of it and start coming around ... they love cat food .
I had to stop feeding our cats outside and demand that if they wanted food ... they had to come inside the house and eat ... no more dining Al Fresco (in the fresh air) .
They would hang around the back door , I would put food in bowl , show them the food , walk into the house and sit the bowl down ... if they were hungry they would come in and eat ... if not I shut the door .

A kitty door isn't an option ... it soon becomes a raccoon door ... I think the coons are smarter than the cats . We had one young coon that had that door all figured out in no time and would come and go all night long , he knew not to make a mess or make any noise and give himself away ... slip in , find a little something to eat and slip out ! He was slick !
Eating roasted peanuts on the sofa gave him away ...he couldn't hide the peanut shells !
Gary

[Mk42gunner]

I'm surprised many of you don't have problems with coyotes killing and eating your cats.

You cannot get too attached to cats in the country.

I think the idiots that drive fifty plus mph on gravel are worse on them than the coyotes, coons, owls and other predators.

I also believe that cats are better snake control than rodent control.

Robert

[contender1]

First off,, I work in animal damage control.

JUST BECAUSE YOU SEE A COON OR POSSUM OUT DURING DAYLIGHT DOES NOT MEAN IT'S DISEASED!!!!!

Ok, that's out of the way.

One thing I've suggested to many of my customers is to find a table that has a center pedestal. Set the table in a location where the cats can jump up to it,, BUT,,,,,, NOT,, NOT where a coon can leap across to it. Cats can leap upward easier & higher than a coon. A coon can leap across to stuff,, or even from a higher point down to a table. And if the pedestal for the table is wood or other easily gripped material,, a bit of axle grease,, or vasoline smeared on it to prevent ease of climbing.
And as noted often above,, feed in the mornings,,, and well before dark. Then pick up the food.

[Hannibal]

One other benefit I noticed about having cats around. Mine wouldn't dig out moles but they'd sit and stare at a mole run when one was active. I'd pick up my .44Mag, give the cat a special treat and send it on it's way and blast the mole when I saw it move.

I despise moles. Yes it was absolutely a ridiculous amount of overkill. But a smokin' hole with visible mole parts always made me smile.

[Good Cheer]

Bless her heart, ours likes to dig and pee in mole runs.
Must be a cat humor thing.

[firefly1957]

Not having a barn or farm animals I do not like having feral cats around at all they are often a problem and get some of that lead sedative cure all.
I have had three cats here that took up pooping on my porch I do not have a cat do have a smaller dog and the only thing makes sense is they are claiming my property as their territory?
In June I had a huge buried cat dropping in driveway 40 yards from the house as I walked the dog a neighbor stopped me and said he has a 40 pound bobcat watching him and his small dog in the morning . I am guessing that is what the large dropping was from but I have not seen the animal -yet . In almost 20 years here I have only had an issue with one bobcat it was old and had mange would not leave the yard and was growling at me . I have seen one Lynx though the DNR says they are not in the area and it never caused a problem it appeared to have been stalking a cat that was hanging around at the time.

Yesterday in the dirt road at the end of my driveway there was a large blood stain and a gut pile probably from a rabbit next to that was a large dropping I am wondering if it was from the bobcat ?

[daengmei]

but this one is very elusive

Porthos, I have at least 5 daily to feed outside, 1 of them will not let me touch it, but it wants to be friends. I have had many over the years come and go, one now took 3 months for me to touch it. Others have never quite adjusted, but I've heard purring and they kinda let you know they trust you, just not touchy.

[GONRA]

porthos - GONRA sez - keep befriending yer Resident Feral Kat! !!
PATIENCE is needed here. Most Loyal Pet Ever! !!

[elmacgyver0]

I have the same problem. If I leave too much food out, the critters will get it. I try to make sure I don't overfeed so there is none for the raccoons. I periodically live trap and relocate the raccoons and possums. The law says I have to kill them, I won't do that. I know this don't help much.

Just for fun you may want to spray a little paint on your varmits, you may find you are relocating the same ones.
Animals are good at finding their way back home.

[contender1]

"I periodically live trap and relocate the raccoons and possums. The law says I have to kill them, I won't do that. I know this don't help much."

daengmei,, I fully understand your sentiments. I'm a State Certified Animal Damage Control Agent. I deal with this stuff daily.

You may want to seriously re-think your trapping & relocation of raccoons. Not just because the laws says you must,, but consider the following;
Rabies is a very common disease in raccoons. While you may not realize it,, it can be in their system,, yet, DORMANT but still transferable to other animals AND humans. They may not show any "normal" signs of it,, but it can be there.
If you are relocating raccoons to Federal or State property,, you could be charged with a felony. Highly illegal to do that.
That leaves private property.
Do you want people dumping their problems upon your property? You are essentially doing the same if you take a raccoon to private property.
And as it was explained to me in one of my classes; Let's consider the following scenario.
You have a trapped & caged live raccoon. You are driving to a place to relocate it. You are involved in a traffic accident. Emergency personnel are trying to assist you & your injuries. They get bitten or scratched. Now YOU are liable for their medical treatment, as well as being charged with illegal transport of wildlife or other laws. Think lawsuits, possible jail, etc.

I will freely admit that having to dispatch animals as part of my job is the worst part. But I'd much rather do that,, than risk my livelihood, my health, my freedoms, and potentially financial ruin.

And since you haven't listed your state,, I'll throw in a few other things to consider. Here in NC,, you are required to get a Depredation permit PRIOR to trapping any wildlife out of season. The permit is FREE, as the State recognizes that people need to protect their property. And a few other laws; Traps must be of the legal type allowed by the State. All traps must have the owners name & address on them. Traps must be checked daily & any animals caught dealt with the same day. And relocation of any rabies vector species is forbidden.

I'm posting this,, NOT to upset you, nor chastise you in any way. I'm posting this so you can understand the potential problems you might encounter if something were to go wrong, and you get caught.

[Hannibal]

The 3 S's are always good to remember. The last one is what most people seem to have trouble with.

[uscra112]

Best suggestion I have is put the food away at dusk. If a racoon or opossum is out during daylight it most likely is diseased and needs a dose of Dr Winchester's Lead Sedative anyway.

That's what I do. I tried an automatic feeder but it was too unreliable. She feeds at my back door, so it's no trouble to pick it up at dark.

[WILCO]

Our barn cat was responsible for her own meals.

There's a couple of strays on my property.
I feed them from time to time, but not too often that they forget to hunt.
Table scraps are mostly what go out to them.
Meat grease with scraps is a bonus.
End of July was the last section 8 meal.

[warren5421]

For 20 years we had pest problems, cats, coon, and opossum. About 1995 the saddle back coyote moved in and most ground animals went away. In a 5 year time frame my son and I killed over 300 yotes. Today I put dry cat food out for our barn cat and if she doesn't eat it is still there the next day.

[ohen cepel]

I like cats.

I do not like feral cats as they do not belong there. Look at Australia and recent research on feral cats to see how bad they are for nature.

[Baltimoreed]

We were up to 14 yard cats for a while when a couple females had kittens. My big Weimaraner would kill a tom in a minute. Got a couple possums too. The cats would lay all over him on the deck. Then we started loosing them. My dad ran over 2 that were asleep on his tires when he went off to breakfast. One got in a fan belt. The wild kittens just vanished but we gave away the tame ones. Now I have no critters.

[alfadan]

One other benefit I noticed about having cats around. Mine wouldn't dig out moles but they'd sit and stare at a mole run when one was active. I'd pick up my .44Mag, give the cat a special treat and send it on it's way and blast the mole when I saw it move.

I despise moles. Yes it was absolutely a ridiculous amount of overkill. But a smokin' hole with visible mole parts always made me smile.

You can never have enough overkill!

[waksupi]

One other benefit I noticed about having cats around. Mine wouldn't dig out moles but they'd sit and stare at a mole run when one was active. I'd pick up my .44Mag, give the cat a special treat and send it on it's way and blast the mole when I saw it move.

I despise moles. Yes it was absolutely a ridiculous amount of overkill. But a smokin' hole with visible mole parts always made me smile.

Absolutely RUINED the hide!

[waksupi]

I like cats.

I do not like feral cats as they do not belong there. Look at Australia and recent research on feral cats to see how bad they are for nature.

When I keep the strays shot out, I have grouse and rabbits, if not, no grouse and rabbits.

[Polymath]

Put the food source on a post far enough for the cats to jump to, but the other critter can't.
A cat can jump a fair distance.

[fiberoptik]

Put the food source on a post far enough for the cats to jump to, but the other critter can't.
A cat can jump a fair distance.

My fat fixed male jumped 4 feet straight up from the middle of my bed, snatched & ate a bat [emoji1660] in less than a blink. They Can Jump!


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[5090SS]

i have a feral at that i feed.it only comes on the back porch to eat after dark. i would like to befriend it to replace the one had that was killed. but this one is very elusive

If you know somebody with a friendly cat that will loan it to you for a few nights then let this feral cat see you getting along with your friendly cat. I had a big feral cat visit who would not get closer than 50-60 feet no matter what I did. After two winters I had gotten nowhere. Then he saw me with my barn cat who was always underfoot. Now the feral cat is my buddy and always underfoot. Could be though he was never truly feral and was dumped off which is a growing problem for sure.

[MaryB]

My fat fixed male jumped 4 feet straight up from the middle of my bed, snatched & ate a bat [emoji1660] in less than a blink. They Can Jump!


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Tigger used to sit next to the cupboard then jump up to the top of the upper cabinets without touching the counter(forbidden!)... 7'! Granted he was 30 pounds of muscle... a no claws slap from him left bruises LOL

[Mr Peabody]

Our barn cat was responsible for her own meals.

Exactly