Wow, this is a touchy subject and everyone has opinions. So here is mine. I agree with what so many others have said. Trap the cat and send it to a shelter. For better or worse we live in a society where property rights are supreme. You have a right to your yard, and your neighbor's cat doesn't. Like many others, I pity the cat and abhor the owner, but the solution isn't for you and your son to tolerate your neighbor's callousness. If you feel feint at heart to do it, remember that the cat could also inect your son with many things it might be carrying if your son starts playing with it.

Another justification for trapping the cat is that the cat problems in the US will not abate until people take positive action. No tolerance for this sort of thing is what will eventually solve this problem. Start now, take control.

Irresponsible cat owners who allow there cats to roam unsupervised,do not care about the health and safety there cat causes within communitys, You can talk to neighbors and till you are blue in the face it don't matter,This is also what makes them irresponsibile individuals. They cant take the crying of there cats so they give in and let it roam placing the cat in jeopardy,since they don't care about neglecting there cat they sure wont care about you talking to them,therefore people are forced to take matters into there own hands.Cat deterrents do not work.Fencing does not 100 percent work either,they will still roam around it and find a way to get in eventually, The only thing that works is trapping them.Domesticated cats are not native to north America, therefore cats unbalance our eco system,killing billions of small mammals yearly as well as killing hundreds of millions of law protected songbirds yearly, owls and hawks are natural predators to rodents.Domesticated cats kill for sport, torture what they catch and sometimes walking away from it while it's suffering.It is in the best interest of everyone involved for health and safety issues that cats are kept supervised on your own property,keep it in the house where it belongs, and where it is also safe.Everytime you allow your cats to roam you are neglectful and irresponsibile and your neighbors have 0 tolerance for it,you then become a burden to society.Take responsibility for your cat if love and care for it period.

Why dig up old posts rather than just start a new thread for your rant? This is always a hot topic that the harm done by free roaming cats must be balanced with the good that they do by ridding neighborhoods of various rodents and in some areas providing food for the resident wildlife so that the big cats, cyotes and wolves will not feed on fido or any other food source such as humans.

I would leave an anonymous note on the neighbor's door warning them that if they don't keep their cat in their home I will trap it and take it to the shelter. If the person doesn't care enough about their cat to keep it inside, they shouldn't be surprised if it disappears.
I feel that cats do much more harm than good to the native ecosystem. I also feel that it is not humane to the cats to put them at risk of being killed by cars or coyotes (and coyotes are now very prevalent even in urban areas). I have read that studies have shown that doing things like putting bells on a cat's collar doesn't help the birds because the birds don't realize that a bell means danger.
I have two cats of my own, but I keep them inside. They're happy and safe inside.

many pet cats have been disappearing in my neighborhood lately and also a pet 'lap chicken.' (:

i'm trying to convince my closest neighbor to keep her 3 cats inside all the time but she insists that its "not fair to do that to them!" whatever wild animal that is eating pet cats is sticking around here because the pickings are so good and i figure that natural selection will eventually change the balance; the predator will go somewhere else when the neighborhood supply of "beloved' pets runs out.

how can people be so stupid?! min

I would have done gotten rid of the cat! I dont care wether the lady knows it or not!

Well, I'm going to jump in here at the risk of life and limb apparently. I can't tell you how my stomach has turned reading this thread. It is actually a shock to hear the opinions expressed here. The world is changing in ways that I don't recognize. I grew up in a time when all pets roamed freely. Cats and dogs. There was no such thing as a leash law. No one ever heard of an 'indoor' cat. And no one would ever think of 'trapping' a neighbor's pet.

I don't think people created any animal did they? Not a cat, dog, chipmunk or bird, etc. They exist on the earth. All of them. Why do some of you support the rights of some animals, like chipmunks, to roam the earth freely but not a cat? It seems like pure hypocrisy. I'm trying to imagine what reason you can use to try to justify this position. I assume it is because you don't want to see creatures killed, which is virtuous. But to me, it is very unrealistic. In the animal world, the natural world, of 'wild' life, there is killing and death. Do I like it? No. Do I understand why it has to be that way? No, I don't. But it does exist, always has and always will. Animals have to eat to live. Animals can't garden and become vegetarians. Why don't they all eat sunflower seeds? I don't know. I didn't make the rules. I suppose you don't like to accept that. You want to 'create' some kind of Eden, where all creatures are safe. I understand the urge, but the logic cannot escape anyone, that it's not possible to create such a world.

Since you didn't create the existing 'wild' world, you don't really understand it. You don't know why cats kill chipmunks etc. So when you decide that you are going to 'fix' the situation, you are doing so without understanding of what you are changing and what impact it will have.

You also are attempting to take away the right of a cat to exist outside of an 'unnatural' man made environment. Inside, cut off from the outside entirely. Some people might find this solution acceptable, but I believe there might be a few people who don't agree. What really astounds me, is that some of you won't accept the rights of others to disagree with you. You are bound and determined to take matters into your own hands and actually go so far as to 'trap' a person's pet. Angry at the neighbor and the cat. Not even caring evidently that the person whose cat you have trapped is stressed to find their cat missing and not know where it is.

You think you are absolutely in the right, but maybe you are not. Maybe YOU are in the wrong? As things stand now, who has the answer? No one does. We all have our opinions and our viewpoints. The world is impacted by humans in negative ways because it doesn't always occur to them that they need to understand the environment they live in just for one reason. But also because they still have to figure out how to live whether they understand it or not, it is often in conflict with what they need. Just like cats and chipmunks, we have to live on the earth in environments that don't provide for our needs by wishing. We need food and shelter and clothing too, and that's just the basics. So, I feel sorry for people, trying to figure it all out and survive from day to day, let alone find happiness. I feel bad for people in general and the struggle that living is more of the time then it should be.

I feel bad for chipmunks that get eaten by a cat, or cats that get eaten by a coyote and yes, I might think that if I love my cat, it might be worthwhile too keep the cat in the house for it's own protection, but that's me. I can also see where another cat owner, might feel comfortable to allow a cat access to the outdoors and the risks that go with it. After all, as people, we risk life and limb every time we go out the door and no one tells us we should stay in the house permanently. So, if a cat owner decides to do that, I don't immediately label them as 'irresponsible' because their viewpoint is different then mine. Maybe they are responsible in every other aspect of their pet's care.

And so you get all the cats to stay indoors and an owl comes along and swoops up the chipmunk anyway. *sigh* So you put all the cat owners on the hot seat and the cats on the chopping block, now what are you going to do, start a ban on owls?

Meanwhile, you may be starting a war, with what I view as more insensitivity and out and out hostility to people and cats than you would ever stand for toward your chipmunks, etc. It sounds like an 'I want what I want, period' mentality to me.

I am not a cat owner, or a dog owner. I care about the natural world. I wish there were better solutions. It would at least be reassuring to think that people were making an attempt to care about other people at least as much as the wild life.

That was an entirely unnecessary post that has been covered by both sides. There is no new info whatsoever. I suggest that you read the entire thread before you post.

@min3:
I really wish I knew what kind of animal is stalking your neighborhood. Stories like that and the one about the 'sounds like a woman screaming in the night' bird/frog mystery are as spooky as ghost stories.

As far as the topic of rampaging cats goes I do have some opinions though they are pretty loose and subject to change. The house I'm about to move away from has one of the largest yards in this town. The back yard is huge and surrounded by a 6' tall, no gaps, wooden privacy fence. I intended to get some nice quiet hens to build the fertility in this back yard and then make a glorious food garden. When a stray cat started killing off my chickens for entertainment I first tried to trap the cat with some nice juicy (store bought) chicken breasts. The cat must have had plenty of food from somewhere else because it ignored the food and kept right on ripping my chickens into pieces and leaving them. So... I bought a BB gun and a security camera (man also has the instinct to hunt and protect). Of course as soon as I opened the sliding door the cat ran away. It immediately learned not to come during the daytime and my camera didn't work in the dark. I gave up on trying to shoot at it, mostly because it's a very bad idea to shoot even a BB gun in a town. The problem was serious to me but silly compared to going to jail for a ricochet. The cat changed its behavior and started dragging the chickens up over the fence and into the neighbors lawn. It wasn't long after that that I got a letter from the town stating that chickens are now forbidden. Since then I've seen that cat's color pattern on several juvenile cats (it's actually a very attractive cat with black brown and white) and as I sit on the front porch at night small packs of dogs will wander past me. Some of the dogs even have collars.

What is nature but natural selection? Haven't we effectively selected cats and dogs to be our city wildlife? I consider a pet to be part of the ecosystem because eventually people will turn them loose into the ecosystem (as they now are) where they will grow in population and become the dominant species. I really don't like that situation and don't want to live around people that could let that happen.

I have chosen to move to a house on 10 acres. State law protects my right to raise any farm animal and to shoot nuisance animals if my land is over 5 acres. I am part of the ecosystem and I select my chickens to not be chewed up for the entertainment of cats. They will be inside of a chain-link fence this time so a cat can't claw its way up. I will leave alone a stray that does not harm my flock but god help the one that does.

Now I know many people will not see my side of it and that's ok. I won't tell you what to do with your pet but if it kills my chickens then it is now my pet. Really though, I am so opposed to participating in these kind of neighbor conflicts that that is why I've gotten such a large property. Even all of the borders of the property have 50-100 feet of trees so there should never be any conflicts like 'you poisoned my bush that grew on the property line' and stuff.

There are many houses and land for sale way out in the country and they are not priced all that bad compared to the in-town houses. Just think of the peace you can have if you currently suffer from neighbor trouble.

I sincerely doubt if you saw a cat kill your chickens. Eat them yes, kill no. Living in the country you should put an alarm on your chicken house. When I used to live on a farm racoons and possums would always break into the chicken house at least once a winter. Of course the topper was the screech owl that stuck his claws in a hen that was roosting in a tree and could not get them unstuck. With his body as cushion she probably would have lived except she broke her leg. Yes we had roast chicken and buried the owl. Now days it is more apt to be a coyote or bobcat but I would suggest you learn to recognize by the remains what has killed something. As a starter owls tend to go for the chest cavity where possums eat the guts first. Racoons seem to like to eat the head then start at the butt and eat toward the head.

Could you give me a description of an alarm that would announce a predator to a chicken house but not be triggered by the chickens? If I know anything about it I can build it as electronics was my major in college.

As a matter of fact I did not see the cat pounce on a chicken but it was there several times when I went out to check on them and found a dead one. When I opened the door it would race up the fence in the same spot each time. Later, the chickens found in the neighbors yard were just over the fence in the same spot. Of the chicken parts I did find there would sometimes be a piece unaccounted for but for the most part all of the chicken would be there, just in pieces.

Had I been able to see the cat distracted with chicken for more than a moment after I opened the door I wouldn't have given up so quickly on the BB gun.

To give a little more description on these chickens, my first batch was buff orphingtons. They were ripped apart one per day without fail until they got too big I guess. I ended up with 3 of them out of 25 making it to adulthood and I built a better pen and bought a set of cornish x rock chicks. The predation restarted on them, one per day. The cat was generally at the scene of the crime though I never saw it in the act. I kept the grass a bit long so that the chickens could graze so even though the cat would flee from the area where a corps was discovered I didn't see it with a face full of chick.

I am generally awake late at night and have never heard an owl around here (I haven't moved to that rural property, that will be next week). I won't shoot an owl though. They are indigenous to the area and are generally protected species. They belong there and I understand them taking what they need to survive. Feral pets and pests that are killing my flock and are marked as ok to cull by the Department of Natural Resources will not be tolerated though.

I do intend to build a full chicken house with an automatic door that closes at sundown this time though. That should reduce the potential to loose my birds. I will have to figure out how to train them to use it though as the one I made for this suburban house they didn't use and just huddled by my door as if to say 'let us in, there's a cat out here'.

There are several types of alarms that you could use. Any type that sounds a bell or busser when the circuit is broken. Attach to all doors and windows. Most wildlife will do their attempts at night other than snakes which can go through very small holes. In most cases the snakes will be after the eggs rather than the chickens. I have seen one black snake attempting to swallow a full grown hen so some do have delusions of grandeur. The best alarm is actually guinea fowl and geese. They will sound off when anything alarms them.

As far as getting the chickens to roost in the hen house if you sprinkle feed on the floor of the house just before you are ready to close it most of the chickens will be too busy to notice what you are doing. The quinea's will roost in any tree that is near by. A hen trying to set on a bunch of eggs will try to hide.

I hope you are aware that chickens are cannibals and if you see any signs of damage to combs or necks you should try to separate the damaged ones. All chickens have a pecking order than the lowest ones will receive the most damage. Many times if you add a protein source to the feed it will stop but not aways.

Good luck with your chickens. I keep hoping that the city here will allow chickens in neighborhoods. At my old house one of the neighbors was blind and had a rooster that she used as an alarm clock. Was sad when she died and the birds were removed.

Ok, I see now. Since the automatic door system I was looking at used a chain and gravity to move the door, a smart animal could work it back up in its track. A reed switch and magnet would work fine there. The rest of the house I am planning on building pretty tight except for closing vents since Michigan winters can be pretty chilly.

Although winters can be chilly summers can be very hot in a closed building even at night. Unless you allow for some ventilation the ammonia can build up enough that the air will become toxic to the chickens. Try and find an drawing or picture of an old, before 1950's chicken house. I can't sleep this evening so will see what I can find. At one time you could tell what the farm buildings were for by their design. If you were raising chickens of eggs the outside look would be different than if you were raising chickens to eat.

I linked a video of a guy that has a chicken coop that I would really like to copy. The only things I think I would change are probably adding a way to close most of the top ventilation in the winter and maybe add a closeable low ventilation to get some airflow. His way of keeping the ammonia down is by building the coop to be easily cleaned and I have about 5 acres of woods that will probably have plenty of fallen branches and leaves to run through the chipper shredder for bedding.

I feel for you. I have the same experience. I also work very hard to create a refuge for wildlife and one of my neighbors lets their cat(s) room and so do the nearby neighbors so it's often that I see a cat on my property at night and a wild animal corpse the next day. The days also leave their fecal matter all over.

I would call animal control and tell them that you found a "feral" cat. Or trap it yourself and turn it in to animal control as a "feral". After it gets trapped, and returned to your neighbor, and hopefully your neighbors have to pay for this service, maybe they'll think twice before letting it outside again.

It's considered rude for dog owners to let dogs wander around on other people's property but a lot of people don't seem to feel the same way when it comes to cats apparently. I, however, think it's rude and your neighbor needs to stop putting their property (which is what a pet is considered under law) on your property. Maybe you could also look into trespassing laws and this may be covered. Or at least call your county animal control and ask for their opinion and if anything can be done. Good luck.

And I totally agree with what Jeans says, "Hmm, more than that. Wildlife should be able to enjoy their lives without domestic animals getting into the hunting business. I believe in the food chain for wildlife, but domestic cats eat store bought food. If the cat needs to play, 'dear neighbor' should get it some cat toys, and keep it inside!!)."

It's so true. Yes, part of wildlife is predation but those are native predators. Wildlife has not had time to co-evolve with the domestic cat invader, therefore, it's not a natural or fair match. They are an invasive and alien species and people are incredibly irresponsible to unleash them on the wildlife like this. And I don't care what anyone says, a cat can live inside if the owner can be bothered to make the indoors agreeable to the cat. If they want to take it outside, get it a leash or build an escape proof enclosure.

My problem is my neighbor's wildlife refuge. Since he moved in 4 years ago, I spend my time trapping the chipmunks that are all over the place, and wanting to live under my house. I relocate them constantly (moving them far away to a country woods) and in no time, some new chirpy little family is trying to move back in. They are destructive to my property and she is over there practically running a chipmunk factory. I think they are the cutest little things but I kinda like my house and it's foundation.

Never mind, the original post was from 2005.

I wish the neighbors cat would come and take care of the chipmunks in my yard! They are getting into our crawl spaces, causing structural damage, going to cost us a ton of money. When we first moved here, I thought they were adorable, until they started getting into our house. I do not wish to kill them, just deter them from my house. I have tried every humane solution suggested, we have buttoned up every exterior entry point, they are still finding their way in!! My cat has started peeing on a towel in front of her box to mark her territory, because she can hear them in the wall. I am going to try placing that towel outside near where we think they might be getting in to see if it works. There is a reason that there is no law protecting these pesky varmints!

People who complain about cats that are actually doing natural cat things should consider getting their kids a pet hamster or something, we can't get upset at cats for doing cat things.

The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has done the world a great service by sponsoring studies on damage done by free-roaming cats and by providing education on ABC's website. You will be amazed at the information. This is a issue that requires a simple change of habit by the public to protect wildlife and also the cats themselves. People need to keep their cats safe either indoors or in an indoor/outdoor enclosed play yard (there are wonderful enclosed outdoor or indoor/outdoor play yards for cats on the Internet). An eminent biologist, Dr. Peter Marra, has recently written a seminal book on the subject that you can find in public library systems or on amazon.

https://abcbirds.org/cat-wars-issues-call-to-action-for-birds/

Responsible and considerate cat owners increasingly are not allowing their cats to roam. No other domestic animal is allowed to roam at will and prey on wildlife. It is illogical for cat owners to continue this outdated and very harmful practice.

Keep trying to educate and enlighten your neighbor and consider putting up a protective "cat fence out" addition to your garden's fence in the meantime. Look up "cat fence out" products and ideas on the Internet. ABC has lots of ideas on what to do to protect wildlife from domestic cats.

Mowmowgreen. There are ways to hang your bird feeders to deter the squirrels. I live in upper Michigan with an abundance of wildlife. I even have a cat outside. Look up the creative ways of hanging feeders. Fun and humane.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at all of the haters and know-it-alls. I love animals. Domestics and wildlife. I got to this site because we are having a problem. My daughter has a cat, that she kept indoors all of the time. Her cat stands at the door and cries and cries to go out. We used to live in a neighborhood with many outdoor cats, and when we would take her dog for a walk, the cat would follow along with us. It was the neatest thing. People would stop us and ask us if it was our cat walking with us. We would walk round trip a mile, and the cat stayed with us. Then my daughter moved. She has a fabulous backyard with all sorts of wildlife -- deer come through in groups of 8 or 10. Sometimes right up to the window. There are rabbits, moles, chipmunks, a large variety of birds and probably other critters that we still haven't seen. My daughter and her fiance also worried about the coyotes (they heard that they had been seen) catching the cat. So the cat lived indoors for 5 months, but more and more the cat wanted out. They took her on walks once again, and she would stay right with them. Then the cat began crying at the door, which could last 30 minutes at a time, and reoccur a half dozen times a day. My daughter and her fiance felt so terrible about penning her in. Finally they bought her a bell for her collar, and let her out to wander. After a couple of weeks, she showed up with her first gift, a mouse. Of course, they tried to reprimand her, and worried about the birds. Next came a few moles. So mice and moles can become terrible pests and so they thought of it as acceptable. Last weekend she caught and killed a chipmunk. Everyone feels awful. And then her second chipmunk. Fortunately still no birds.

That brings me to the reason for coming to this site. I was trying to find ideas, or if it is even possible to do any behavior modification to stop and/or reduce the number of catches. None of us are cold hearted. None of us are stupid. We all are trying to be responsible. But we aren't sure if its possible to change the cat's behavior. Now there... that may be a silly question, but I hoped maybe someone had found a way that we could try.

Most of what I see here are cruel suggestions about getting rid of the cat in some sneaky or devious way. Some of you suggest talking with the neighbors. And I saw some cat deterrents. Of course that works if we don't want the cat in some area of our lawn.

We want to stop this killing behavior, and indeed it is possible that the only way to do it would be to make her stay indoors. This is not a happy solution for this cat.

If anyone knows of a way to train the cat (I hear how silly that might be, but who knows?) or another idea that would be happy for both the wildlife and the cat, it would be so nice of you to share.

I have the idea of an outdoor closed in yard that includes plants, and climbers, etc. for the cat, but this could be costly and time consuming, and right now my daughter and her fiance don't have the resources.

Help if you can.

And please try to assume that most people aren't bad, stupid, or unkind as many of you imply, before jumping to the hateful conclusions and mean solutions. Next, try working it our peaceably if you can.

Thanks for considering this point of view.

Hoping to find a neighborly solution to a difficult problem.

I don't have a problem with you letting the cat out. It's unnatural for any animal to be kept in a house without being able to go outside. I can see how having the cat at the door crying 6x a day would be unacceptable. I feel bad for all of you, because you must love the cat and there seems no easy solution. It must be stressful letting her outdoors knowing there are coyotes.

My son has 3 cats and they have never really been outdoors since they were born. If you try to take them outside, they get scared. So, a cat who has been brought up to know what it's like to go outside, I can see how they wouldn't be satisfied being indoors all the time. I can't imagine never being able to go outside. I love being outside more than inside. It would be like jail.

I think where a lot of people make a wrong turn, is in thinking they need to or should try to control things in an unnatural way. Actually, if you think about it, feeding birds and attracting them all to the same place in large numbers is more unnatural than letting a cat outdoors. So, if you see that you are feeding birds and it is attracting a lot of birds which are then attracting a natural predator, the cat, then the obvious solution is to stop feeding the birds and give the birds a fair chance.

As for a cat killing mice and moles, that is what cats do and it's a natural control so that mice and moles and chipmunks don't become overpopulated. It's entirely possible that because so many cats are being kept indoors, that these populations are already too numerous.

So, from my point of view, it is a case of needing to accept what is and what you don't have control over. Aside from keeping the cat in the house, I can't see that you can "train" a cat not to kill mice and moles, etc. It is the circle of life. At some point, in another life to come, the Bible promises that the lion will lie down with the lamb. That's not how things work in this life. All we can do is care for animals and try to provide what they need, but we can't impose our own ideas of what they are supposed to do onto them.

Actually, if you think about it, feeding birds and attracting them all to the same place in large numbers is more unnatural than letting a cat outdoors. So, if you see that you are feeding birds and it is attracting a lot of birds which are then attracting a natural predator, the cat, then the obvious solution is to stop feeding the birds and give the birds a fair chance

Or people could stop letting an introduced species into an ecosystem which is the textbook definition of unnatural. Let's see.....which is more unnatural? You can justify it all you want letting your little murdering beasts out, but don't try to call it natural.

Frank, I'm sure you mean well, that's about all I can say to your comment.

I am sure that you mean well too in some horribly misguided way.

I realize that this is a zombie thread that just will not die, but reading it in its entirety put a lot on my mind. I had to speak up to say that I agree with what was so eloquently stated earlier about considering people and human relationships first. After all, conservation efforts begin and end with PEOPLE. I am with Prairiemoon in that I feel alienated by a society that prioritizes the "me first, gimme, gimme" mentality...which sadly seems to even pervade conservation efforts. I love nature. I hate the fact that others in my neighborhood don't feel the same way (lots of rampant herbicide spraying and habitat destruction here in my particular neck of the 'burbs). I do what I can, but I am not perfect. I hope I set a good example in certain ways for my neighbors, but I try to avoid presuming to know better than the next person how to manage his/her property. I agree that roaming domestic animals create a sticky issue between neighbors. But trapping (or killing) another's pet, or doing some other vindictive activity that would inflict physical or emotional harm on another person is WRONG. Anyone who doesn't get that concept probably should not be living in proximity to other human beings.

FWIW, in ten years of living at my current house, my front (glass) door has killed more birds than my three cats ever have. (Shall we ban glass doors? Or shoot them out with BBs, since I guess that would be more in the spirit of some of the more shocking posts on this thread?). I am not in denial that my cats are carnivores that would, if the opportunity presented, take another animal's life. But I have ensured that my feeders and birdbath are as safe for visiting birds as possible--granted, I took these measures largely on account of the hawks, but it works for the cat issue too--and I've finally solved the issue with my bird-killing door. I am comfortable with my efforts to co-exist with all the creatures in my life--wild, domestic, and Homo sapien.

By the way, unless anyone one this thread happens to be a member of the First Nations, we are all of us here introduced invasive undesirables to this continent. And the long-since-driven-to-extinction mammoths, for example, would no doubt state that even those first "native" Americans were a pretty raw deal. So much for self-righteousness. Anyway, even if we all kept our cats indoors, banned glass doors, traded in our cars for bikes, and ceased using lawn chemicals, nothing would change the fact that the houses and subdivisions in which we reside permanently eliminated the habitat of the birds that were here before. All that's left is to try to responsibly coexist, to compromise when possible, and accept that we are not the sole arbiters of earthly existence.

I wish people would stop trying to justify their irresponsible behavior. You have absolutely no idea how many birds that your 3 outdoor cats have killed. There is no reason to let a cat outdoors, none. They have been domesticated long enough that they can live a perfectly lovely life inside. Studies have shown in fact that cats that live outdoors live considerably shorter lives than ones who stay in the house. If you place less emphasis on nature than you do your companion animals, just admit it. Don't try to justify it in the Wildlife Garden forum though.

I think Frank, that you apparently believe that your opinion is the only opinion that matters. And it would seem that you have little respect for opinions you don't agree with or the people who hold them. I get the impression that you would love to force your opinion on the rest of us. You call it irresponsible behavior and I don't. It's simply a different perspective based on different beliefs and values than yours. We've all had the opportunity to express our opinions and at this point, what makes sense is to just agree - to disagree.

There are very effective ways to greatly diminish the KILLING OF BIRDS AND SMALL MAMMALS BY CATS. People can provide a rich and safe life for their cats indoors or in a completely enclosed outdoor cat play yard. Some of the latter outdoor structures allow a cat to go in and out into a completely enclosed outdoor area.

BIRDS HITTING WINDOWS is another problem that has solutions. The American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has excellent information on how to prevent bird-window collisions.

www.abcbirds.org

In addition to offering suggestions on preventing bird-window collisions ABC also researches and rates the various kinds of bird-safe glass currently available. Glass windows of residences, commercial buildings, and public buildings are increasing in size. Birds see the reflection of trees and sky in windows and collide with the glass. It's up to us to require that our communities use bird-safe glass in new and remodeled buildings. ABC and other organizations that protect birds can provide information and assistance to those who advocate for bird-safe glass in their communities. Our decisions affect birds and other critters. It's their world, too.

See, I find your point of view, makes no sense to me. You want to require building with bird safe glass?! I'm a senior citizen, I've lived in over a dozen communities, and homes and in all my years, I've only seen a bird hit a window one time.. Once. That's it. I can't remember a neighbor or a friend, telling me any experiences they've had with birds flying into their windows. Maybe it's those homes, that again, are feeding the birds, that are creating an environment where there is too large a population of birds in one area, and congestion leading to accidents. Maybe we should outlaw feeders. That makes about as much sense as requiring everyone in the country to build with bird safe glass.

Well then you must not read through entire posts in order to "like" them because you "liked" a post above that said more birds die from window strikes (ridiculous) than by cats. I cannot really expect you to get that though. You seem very set in your ways and opinions.

Frank, this is a public forum, where people express opinions. Most people feel pretty solid in the opinions that they hold, including you, clearly. As for 'set in my ways'? You don't know me from Adam and have no way of knowing what my 'ways' are or if I'm set in them or not. If you look over all the comments you've made to me, you've strayed from talking about the topic and made personal comments directed at me. A sure fire way to get off topic and begin an argument. And now you are actually analyzing which comments I've liked and making judgments about why I liked them? [g].

And what good does that do you? I would think you might want to persuade people to your own point of view with facts and sharing your own perspective, not by insulting others and aggressively trying to force your opinion on others. That never gets you anywhere in my experience.

As I said, we've all had the opportunity to express our opinions and we disagree, that should be the end of it. And it is for me.

Well, I never. Excuse me as I flounce out of the room with righteous indignation.

You talk a good game about what you consider other people's irresponsibility and take no responsibility for your own behavior on the forum. Or for the way you alienate people instead of winning them over to your point of view.

Actually, Frank, I don't think you care any more about birds than you do about people. I think you just enjoy arguing.

Says the woman who can't seem to walk away without getting the last word. I know that there is no reason to even try to "win you over." You are a lost cause.

First try reasoning with the cat owner, presenting all the reasons that cats and wildlife benefit from keeping a cat safe indoors or in an outdoor all-enclosed area. Read the American Bird Conservancy's - www.abc.org - website for ideas. The Humane Society of the United States has a free booklet on responsible cat care that strongly endorses indoor cats. Maybe several neighbors together with the cat owner could have a friendly neighborly chat about it over coffee. The cat owner needs to know that she is greatly upsetting her neighbors as well as killing the wildlife by allowing her cat to prey freely upon neighborhood wildlife. She is also putting her cat at risk.

An indoor cat generally avoids numerous cat diseases; avoids getting in fights and having abscesses and resulting veterinary bills; avoids consuming poisons; avoids injury or death from vehicles; avoids attacks by dogs, coyotes, raccoons, and people; avoids being stolen; and avoids suffering from ticks, fleas, fungi, and worms.

Even older cats who have killed wildlife for years will eventually adjust to a safe life indoors or kept in an enclosed outdoor play yard. (One play yard I have seen and liked is at www.cdpets.com.) They may yowl for a while but WILL adjust in time. Ideally, you'll get the cat owner to agreeand take action through friendly, constant, and serious neighborhood pressure. Don't stop the pressure until the cat is contained.

If necessary, or if the owner begs poverty, neighbors can offer to pay, at least partially, for an all-enclosed outdoor play yard by taking up a collection.

Pet cats are NOT wild animals. They are domestic animals that were brought to this continent by colonists, and wild critters have suffered ever since.

It's a no-brainer. Kill the cat, save the chipmunks!

Get a dog!

Well I don’t see many chipmunks but I know they are very cute. You had 5 of them? And now you have zero. I think it’s rude of the owner of the cat to do nothing about it. As you can see on my profile picture I have a cat and he also Kills birds. In fact, I have saved numerous birds form him. If the lady won’t do anything about it I suggest that whenever your chipmunk goes outside you should go with him/her just to be safe, another option is keep your chipmunk more indoors than outside, yes I know he has to feel the nature but you should get it like some toys or like some nature in your house. The last one is get a large cage and put it outdoors, also make sure the cat can’t squeeze it or stretch the wires of the cage.

I have the same problem. We love the cat too but he keeps killing things. We are putting lavender oils around the house. Will report back if it works.

Y'all do realize the original post is from 2005. The cat is probably not around anymore.

I came across the post as I too am having the same very sad trouble you had 15 years ago. I wonder did you ever resolve it? I came across a magazine that sells BIG CAT POO! Which is meant to deter small house cats from your garden if you scatter it around. I haven't tried it yet. Did you ever find something to stop your neighbours cat?

Wow, such a long thread spanning years on a home design website and nobody is concerned about chipmunks destroying the garden and even the foundation of the house? Like potentially decrasing the value of your home?

Chipmunks are not pets, they may look cute, however the damage they can make can be expensive.

I’m all for keeping a cat indoor but mainly because they exterminate bird populations. Chipmunks on my property? I’m just looking at this time how to get rid of them

firecrackers. when I see one of the 4 cats that hunt my yard ( or know they may be hiding) I toss a firecracker, they definitely don't like it, have only returned once to test the area. They are nice cats I just want them to know they are not welcome here, it doesn't hurt them and the chipmunks have started to repopulate.

I have solidified my female cat hunter with a body bell, and restrict her to indoors, damn if she slips through outsides.

I swear, one more chipmunk, she is gone.

Love my kitties, but nature here is more vital.

Hate to say it, but one cat versus all the birds and critters here: no more krazee katz!

Next grrranimal will be a dog, no more cats.

Love my natural outsides and critters.

All the best to you, friends.

Love my cat, but one critter versus multiple others, no more cat. Ratio: 100:1. Fuggeddabbouddit: no more krazee katz, time for a dog.

I love dogs too.