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Snowy

Keeping Cats away

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Anyone got any bright ideas for how to keep cats off my new raised veggie beds?

I seem to have placed my beds by the one stretch of fence that the neighbours cat uses to access our garden. I keep finding footprints in the soil and this morning one of the marigolds had been pulled out! The area is surrrounded by chicken wire but it's dropping into the beds from the fence then jumping over the chicken wire and away. The only thing I can think of is to put some fine netting all over the beds - but I can picture it using that as a trampoline! I just hope it doesn't start using the beds as a giant litter tray :shock:

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! I just hope it doesn't start using the beds as a giant litter tray :shock:

 

I'm afraid they might Snowy....I found a couple if unpleasant surprises on my raised bed a while back I rigged up a sort of lid arrangement with Chicken wire.....it did the trick.

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Apparently Lion poo will keep them away as they think there is one hell of a big cat around somewhere.......sure you could find some somewhere :shock::?:lol:

 

My parents have tried sprinkling chili powder to deter cats and that has had some, but not complete, success.

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sorry, I don't think ANYTHING will keep cats away - except possibly another cat. One of mine is too posh to use the garden, but the other one will not use a litter tray under any circumstances. However, he doesn't like to use his own garden, naturally he goes and uses the neighbours'! :oops:

 

They have defined territories and paths, and it sounds as if you've built your veg bed in his pathway - best thing is to find a way of making it more difficult/less pleasant to take this route over the fence, until he adopts a new track. Not sure how you do that - shiny, rattly, things might put him off? In my experience (and that of my former next-door neighbours :roll: ) no amount of pepper, chilli, onion, lemon etc made any difference!

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I bought some things that I think were called Cat Away or similar from B&Q. They were little balls of sort of moth ball stuff that you put on the surface of the soil. I only used them once and they did the trick - they stopped the neighbours cats from using my veg plot as a litter tray. :D

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You can try pushing sticks into the soil, too. It stops kitty being able to squat to leave nasty messages.

 

If you are left a present, try and mask the smell when you remove it - coffee grounds are good and so is something citrusy - as they identify their areas by smell and will go there again if it pongs.

 

I resorted to an electronic cat scarer - it runs on a battery and sends out ultrasonic pulses when the sensor picks up movement. it seemed to do the trick and it doesn't bother the chickens.

 

But then I also put up a 6 foot fence all round the garden so there are far fewer access points for neighbourhood cats which are less than athletic :lol:

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Thanks for all your replies! 8)

The beds are by a 6' fence but the neighbours shed is the other side and I think that it is the cats route across the shed roof, down into our garden and from there to his night time stomping grounds :roll: No nasty presents yet, just plenty of footprints. I have a piece of netting that was originally intended as a pond cover and never got used - will give it a try. :)

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If you put something unstable on top of your fencing, like a foot high piece of fine netting or wire held in place with sticks, the cats won't be able to walk along the fence to drop down into your garden. However, you may need to offer an alternative 'crossing point' for them to get to the other side of your garden. I have a shed at the bottom of my garden that I allow cats to walk on to cross to other gardens, there is netting and wire along the front of the top of the shed to stop them coming in to my garden. I have been virtually cat free for many years now!

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