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Keeping Cats Out of The Garden - Cat Repellents
Cats are great at catching mice, but they can make a mess of your garden and your ponds.Cat & Garden Questions: How do I stop a cat from using my garden as a litterbox? How do I keep cats out of my garden, in general? Do cat repellents really work? These are common questions of concern to all gardeners. What should you do?The first line of defence is to ensure that your yard boundaries are secure. Gaps in your fence should be blocked to deny low level access. Of course, cats are good at climbing and jumping. Fix a taut wire or string some six inches above the top of your fence to deter this approach. Once inside your garden, many people declare that the best cat repellent is a dog! And most dogs do love to fend off feline invaders. But if you are not a dog owner then there are more passive methods you can to resort to. Cats like to lie on freshly dug soil. Lay mulch on your borders, so that no bare soil is left exposed. Seed beds can be covered with wire netting or with twigs arranged as a barrier. Protect your young trees with a plastic guards fitted around the trunk. This keep cats from using the tree as a scratching post. If you have a garden pond, cover it with netting to keep your fish safe.
Éngard: Cats are generally known to dislike water. If you are out in your garden and see a cat, a well aimed bucket of water or a squirt from the hose will certainly make an intruder run. After one or two dousings, most cats learn their lesson and stay away. To protect individual plants and borders both mothballs and citrus are said to be effective deterrents. Place mothballs, orange peel or lemon rind in the borders. Alternatively spray cloths with orange scented air freshener and place the cloths around the plants you wish to protect. Other known cat repellents are cayenne pepper, coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, lavender oil, lemon grass oil, citronella oil, eucalyptus oil and mustard oil. Certain herbs are said to deter cats. In particular, rue is thought to be useful. Rue is a bitter herb with astringent antiseptic properties, and is also said to deter fleas. It does well in the poorest of soils. Note: stay away from planting catmint for it contains the ingredient for catnip which drives cats nuts! Coleus canina is another possible cat repellent. An over all strategy is to treat your yard with a tonic made from chewing tobacco, urine, birth control pills, mouthwash, molasses, detergent and beer. Some gardeners have reported success using dried rabbit blood, but I think the tonic already methioned should be tried first.
If you prefer a more high tech method, check your local garden center or hardware store for electric water sprinklers and ultrasonic devices. You may also find assorted sprays and granules. Motion activated sprinklers act in the same way as burglar alarms that use an infra red detector. When the cat enters the area covered by the detector the sprinkler shoots out a jet of water. Even if the pest isn't hit directly,it will certainly scare the animal away. It is claimed that one or two encounters with the jet, will teach a cat to avoid the area. Ultrasonic devices emit a high frequency sound which is annoying to cats (and dogs), but is not audible to humans. There are various models available. Some operate continuously and others have an infra red detector and emit a pulse of sound only when the cat triggers the device. For these devices to be successful you need to ensure that the model is powerful enough to cover the area you wish to protect. In addition, make sure that the sound frequency is designed for larger animals. Some models are intended to repel insects and wold be of no use against cats. There are many commercial scent cat repellents. Those that use chemicals should be kept away from any food crops. Essential oil based granule varieties, on the other hand, act in the same way as orange and lemon peel do and are safer in your garden (READ THE LABELS). Another inteesting way to keep a cat out of the garden is a repellent evaporator. This consists of a container holding puffed rice which has been impregnated with essential oils. These are effective for three to four weeks and then need to be refilled. Another natural product which is said to keep cats away is lion's dung. You may need to visit your local zoo or wild animal park to obtain this. Some stores do stock zoo poo. The acrid scent of the loin's feces tells cats that a major predator is around - be warned! Another novel approach is used in Ontario, Canada. The local township provides a cat trap service. Once the animal enters the cage it cannot escape, but is completely unharmed. The owner has to pay to recover his pet and is thus encouraged not to let the cat stray in future. Although it appears that few owners bother to reclaim their cats, but just obtain another kitten. However this sounds like a good way of dealing with a cat that cannot be deterred by any other method. If there is no such scheme in your area, just buy your own trap. To summarize, the first priority is to secure your boundary fences. Then pick and choose from the selection of suggested cat repellents. These range from homemade recipes to expensive commercial gadgets. Try the orange peels and prickly twigs first. And if you are around when the intruder appears, try the bucket of water or hose. Even a miss, man shock the dcat come coming back. If these do not do the trick, then you may need to consider the commercial alternatives. About the author: Hugh Harris-Evans is the owner of The Garden Supplies Advisor.
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