Looking out for my baby robins.....

[fortyshooter]

Robin built a nest under a roof over hang in a good secure spot. 3 little babies in it and will very soon be taking first flight out of nest.
I step out this morning on the deck and see one of those feral cats hanging around on the deck awaiting easy bird pickin's when the little
ones decide to leave the nest on their short hops.
Can't stand feral cats in my yard or when messin with my robins!
So got one of my Co2 BB pistols hot and ready to light up some wildcat butt!!

Of course when Buster is out in the yard he takes care of running off those critters too!

[Redthies]

I have a Beretta 92 BB pistol that does full auto. If we had feral cats I might try it out. The coyotes around hear keep the cat population in check;)

[Mags]

There is a Jasmine bush on a lattice outside our front door. There is a Robin nest in it. Every time we go in and out the door the Robin bolts out of the nest.

Separately, a few years ago, my daughter and her husband were terrorized by a feral cat. Cat would come around every so often and unexpectedly launch and attach itself to a screen over an open window with all kinds of terrible cats howls and hissing. The suddenness of it would startle and give a good adrenaline rush. That ended the last time with a Co2 pellet.

[BigAl52]

We have a hawk that pays visits to our yard when the babys are jumping out of the nest. With my wife home all the time now she chases him off. I have issues with the grackles leaving unwanted white droppings on my vehicles. I dont have a pellet rifle yet. But Im sure thinking about one.

[Mistered]

I can appreciate the love of 'your' birds - I live in a rural environment and understand this. I have many wild animals around me including a large population of cougars.
I also do not care for feral cats either but they do perform a useful function by keeping the mouse population in check.
Unfortunately feral cats have become a part of the 'natural' order of things and your 'BB' gun is not going to keep them away, and like the pythons and iguanas in Florida they are nearly impossible to eliminate.
Quite frankly your BB gun could wound a cat with the possibility if it dying a long and painful death later. You might also be shooting at a neighbors' domestic cat as well as their appetite for rodents and birds does go away just because they are a pet, and if are an outside animal.
I happen to have a pet cat who spends most of her time outside and drops everything off at my door.
If you must however try to 'eliminate' them use something that will kill them quickly and positively, or consider trapping them and taking them to a facility that takes them in.
Bottom line is we cannot just 'pick and choose' what we want to protect in nature. Everything is food for something else.
Heck I had to jump a neighbors azz the other day after he told me he was shooting at Stellar Jays in his trees with a .22 because they 'were eating 'his' Silver Gray squirrel food' he puts out. Not only was he shooting at a protected species (the Jays) he was shooting in the air with a .22! This guy however is a cantankerous, self-righteous older man who cares about little in life but thats another story.

[markiver54]

We also have a couple Ferrell cats that frequent the yard. We also ( especially the wife ) enjoy the birds. No current Robin nests that I have seen, even though the Robins, along with many other varieties are always in the yard. The only thing I have seen the cats attack are the Chipmunks. Cute as they are, that doesn't bother me because we are overrun with them. We do have Bluebird houses that are occupied and they are my wifes' favorite. Have to keep an eye on that.
I do bring out the Sheridan Pump for Starlings, Grackles and highly destructive Eastern Grey squirrels though! More food for those wild cats! They always clean up.

[North Country Gal]

My philosophy is along the line of Mistered's. I have spent a lifetime in the woods and on the prairies and I have degrees in biological sciences. Even in the field of science, though, there has been a long history of failures when we step in to "manage" a population of plant and/or animals. When we do, the law of unintended consequences steps in and rears its ugly head. When we take "action" on behalf of one species, we do so a the cost of another species and, sometimes, we actually make things worse for the species we are trying to save. The road to hell is truly paved with good intentions.

Case in point, those feral cats. Sorry, guys, shooting the one or two cats that have found your yard to be a good place to hunt isn't going to save many birds. Cats, as with most predators, are a territorial species. When you remove that problem cat, you create an opening that will be quickly filled with another cat. Even if you should succeed in reducing a significant number of those feral cats in an area (an all but impossible task, by the way), the cat population will respond with larger litters to fill those openings. In the meantime, those birds you are trying to protect just become a more accessible food item on a different predator's menu.

We enjoy having birds in our yard, too. We feed them in the winter and plant shrubs for them. We've even had Robins make a nest on the outside sill of our bedroom window and watched them raise their young. I feel, strongly, though, that when our feeders attract predatory hawks like the occasional Copper's Hawk, it's not my place to interfere. I know full well that Cooper's Hawks are attracted to bird feeders because of the high concentration of small birds upon which they prey. Cooper's Hawks are just being Cooper's Hawks. They can't be anything else. If I don't want Cooper Hawks eating birds, I shouldn't be attracting them in the first place. Same for those Starlings and Grackles and all those other species which we humans have judged to be pests. We humans created the very habit that has enabled them to reach that "pest" status. They are there because our suburban environment is ideal habitat for them.

And that is an especially good point on being responsible to make clean kills if you feel you must take action. If you must kill something the size of a cat, please use more than a BB gun.

[CT_Shooter]

I'm fortunate to have a wide and beautiful assortment of birds that live and breed here. Of course, the wildlife habitat we made also attracts predators, like hawks. I've often watched as they've had a successful hunt within feet of my house and deck. One such hawk became trapped in a Trumpet vine after chasing a small bird in my backyard a few years ago. I freed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0rixYaNxkg

We enjoy having birds in our yard, too. We feed them in the winter and plant shrubs for them. We've even had Robins make a nest on the outside sill of our bedroom window and watched them raise their young. I feel, strongly, though, that when our feeders attract predatory hawks like the occasional Copper's Hawk, it's not my place to interfere. I know full well that Cooper's Hawks are attracted to bird feeders because of the high concentration of small birds upon which they prey. Cooper's Hawks are just being Cooper's Hawks. They can't be anything else. If I don't want Cooper Hawks eating birds, I shouldn't be attracting them in the first place. Same for those Starlings and Grackles and all those other species which we humans have judged to be pests. We humans created the very habit that has enabled them to reach that "pest" status. They are there because our suburban environment is ideal habitat for them.

[Mistered]

Thank you NCG for explaining it more eloquently and scientifically.
i would have taken the time to do it myself but I was a bit 'sidetracked' by the mention of shooting at cats with a BB gun.
The bottom line is with most 'pest' animals is if you must - kill it or let it be.

[cooperhawk]

As you may already know we live in a dense patch of forest about half a mile from a major highway on a lake. People
think it is a great place to ditch their unwanted pets so every so often we see a dog or a cat that is left for us.
It used to be the dairy farmer up the road would take them and let them live in the barn and feed them left over
milk when the rinsed out the milkers, but the new barn has no hay mow so that day is gone. I hate to shoot them
but sometimes it has to be done. If they're tame enough I try to find homes for them and have been successful a
few times. Unfortunately for them, none is equipped to survive our winters and they perish.

My Wife likes cats and twice has adopted young kittens. This last one, (after the first one died), is a real character.
When we first took her in we rarely saw her, but she used the litter box and ate the cat food right away. Now she's
part of the family but not a lap cat. She is however a clown. In the evening she does a summer sault in front of me
and then crouches down and meows which means she want to play Laser. She is a hoot. She got neutered and she
hates the vet.

About 25 years ago I came home from work and driving in I saw a white rabbit. That was strange. Then I saw
about twenty more. Someone had dumped a whole bunch of them on me. We rounded them up with nets, built
a cage, and finally found someone who wanted them. Probably to eat.

I wish people would stop doing that.

[Old Syko]

As you may already know we live in a dense patch of forest about half a mile from a major highway on a lake. People
think it is a great place to ditch their unwanted pets so every so often we see a dog or a cat that is left for us.
It used to be the dairy farmer up the road would take them and let them live in the barn and feed them left over
milk when the rinsed out the milkers, but the new barn has no hay mow so that day is gone. I hate to shoot them
but sometimes it has to be done. If they're tame enough I try to find homes for them and have been successful a
few times. Unfortunately for them, none is equipped to survive our winters and they perish.

My Wife likes cats and twice has adopted young kittens. This last one, (after the first one died), is a real character.
When we first took her in we rarely saw her, but she used the litter box and ate the cat food right away. Now she's
part of the family but not a lap cat. She is however a clown. In the evening she does a summer sault in front of me
and then crouches down and meows which means she want to play Laser. She is a hoot. She got neutered and she
hates the vet.

About 25 years ago I came home from work and driving in I saw a white rabbit. That was strange. Then I saw
about twenty more. Someone had dumped a whole bunch of them on me. We rounded them up with nets, built
a cage, and finally found someone who wanted them. Probably to eat.

I wish people would stop doing that.

We're in a rural area also and I have to say that over the years the best dogs we ever had were dumped on us. Still miss some of them terribly.

The older I get the less I want to harm critters but there comes a time when there is no other option. Had a really big feral cat not long ago who thought he had to mark my back door at every opportunity. The smell was unreal and things like ammonia and other treatments didn't do the job but my Springfield 45 did. Feed the birds, squirrels, cats, possums, and everything else regularly. Live and let live is our present motto and take a lot of pictures. If you have to eliminate them make it definitive and clean which was something I was taught as a kid when it was time to butcher. Had a grandpa that couldn't make it clean so dad got mad and gave me the job at the age of 6. Not once was there ever so much as a squeak after the shot.

[Mags]

We also live rural, well off the main road. People often drop off their unwanted cats. We leave'em be. Subdivision cats have no experience with vehicle traffic on rural roads. After a few days they are usually road kill.

We solved the problem with cats getting at birds on our feeders. We set up our old cyclone fence dog kennel with the feeders inside. Medium to large birds fly in and out through the open top. Small birds fly right through the cyclone mesh. We have hawks drop in every so often and make off with a dove.

Non-native squirrels are a problem as are the nutria. They are regularly culled.

Currently don't have problem here with feral cats. But any feral cat that tried to attack us through a screened open window would be culled as well.

[Mistered]

But any feral cat that tried to attack us through a screened open window would be culled as well

Cat attack through a screened open window?
Where did this come from?
Are you writing a script for a B rate sci fi movie ?
Sorry but this is funny.

[fortyshooter]

Well the baby robins have all left the nest and I saw the last one take flight. I still run the cat off everytime me or the dog sees him.
We supposedly have a few coyotes running around the city limits and our neighborhood but I guess they haven't discovered cat yet!

[markiver54]

Well the baby robins have all left the nest and I saw the last one take flight. I still run the cat off everytime me or the dog sees him.
We supposedly have a few coyotes running around the city limits and our neighborhood but I guess they haven't discovered cat yet!

As you probably already know forty; coyotes are open game in your state, even w/o a hunting license.
Residents are encouraged to shoot them.
They are also open game year round here in NC, but you must have the license.

[Mags]

.
It happened for real. Story above. http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 55#p102627

But any feral cat that tried to attack us through a screened open window would be culled as well

Cat attack through a screened open window?
Where did this come from?
Are you writing a script for a B rate sci fi movie ?
Sorry but this is funny.

[Mistered]

I missed that part.