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Both my cat and dog stay outside. I’ve got those big auto feeders that Wal-Mart has. Sort of like this http://tinyurl.com/cwfvu But not the electronic type and the ones I got were like $15. But wild birds, starlings I think, keep getting into them. So again back to Wal-Mart where I got an owl to scare them off. I even got the deluxe model with the revolving head ($20) instead of the plain model ($14). But the birds could care less. I guess if you’re not scared of a dog or cat laying on the porch, who just ignore the birds, then you’re not scared of much.
So any ideas? Something that won’t hurts the pets of course, but will get rid of the birds.
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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There are about 20 of them in the neighbors yard not 20 yards away. They seem to really like cat food. Plus I don’t want to feed them. I want them to go away!
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I was thinking that maybe one of those toys that has a motion sensor in it and makes noise. Don’t they have some sort of G.I. Joe thing that would do that? Might be an idea…..
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I have two dogs, we feed them only once each day. The birds only get to eat what the dogs dont eat, and since they are usually hungry, that isn't much.
Posts: 90 | Registered: May 2005
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Put some kind of cover over the food so that the birds can't see it/feed on it.
Here, it's ants in the cat food, and it don't matter what I do, the ants still make off with Oberon's food.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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That was funny Adam, maybe you get the birds some counseling? I would think something that makes noise would keep them away
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Boon
unregistered
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How to keep ants out of pet food: put their food dish inside another flat container, like a cake pan or a jelly-roll pan. Put some water in the "saucer" with a few drops of dish soap. No more ants in the food.
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Jay, do they have a cover on them? You could always rig some sort of netting over the feeders, so that it keep most of the birds away unless they go under it...and a lot of them won't do that, they might get trapped....
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Boon - yep, but my cat is just stupid enough to drink the water with dish soap or salt or anything else in it. Sigh. That fat cat is sooo dumb.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Cat food is very high in fat, everything likes it, we have to feed our cat on a table so my sheltie doesn't eat it (he's facing minor weight issues anyway). But to prevent birds you can't just do that, hmm I will not agree with Portobello though that's what my dad would do. Upside down pie pans might help, of course if your cat is anything like mine, he'll get rid of the pie pan.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Sorry, Jay. I have no answer for you, but quid, have you tried chalk? I guess ants won't cross a chalk line.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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See that statement above, the one where it says Oberon is dumb? Stoopid, in fact? When he eats, he takes a mouthful, walks a foot away from the dish, drops it on the floor, and munches from there. And drops it everywhere between. Okay, so really, he's dumb AND he's a slob.
But I'll try it. Just for the heck of it. And then I'll tell you how it didn't work.
Yeah, sometimes, it can be fun to be difficult, eh?
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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I doubt the snakes will work since the fake owl doesn't. Last year stuff animals work, but not this year. Plus a real dog and cat don't work either......
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I'm sorry Jay -- but I just don't see this as a problem.
I've had farm cats and dogs all my life. Always, the birds have eaten some of their food too. The dogs an cats don't seem to mind (it is usually after they have their fill anyway) -- so what exactly is the problem here?
You have something personal against feeding the birds too?
By the way -- turtles and skunks will also eat cat or dog food left out in the open. I guess I just don't see how you can choose to openly leave food out and not expect animals to do what their instincts tell them to do -- find food for their survival.
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Well….. it wouldn’t be so bad it they just ate a little. But they are relentless. I’m like buying three times the amount of cat food then I usually do. When I’m home I hear them out there nonstop. I feel like I’m at central park feeding the pigeons. Plus these things are ugly and noisy. I guess I could expect that on an open farm too, but I’m in the city. Sure there are trees around and woods up the hill, but still.
And besides my neighbors are feeding the birds. They have at least 10 bird feeders out. Plus some squirrel feeders. Which is great cause KC (my husky) is driven nuts by the squirrels and has yet to catch one that I know of. Now those walking critters KC loves to catch. She’s killed 4 skunks over the years. A number of possums too. She once has a skunk trapped under the porch and it was spraying up against the house. I was inside and had no clue what was going on until I literally couldn’t breath and had to get outside. Lovely. Why do we have pets again?
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Yeah - probably the reason you have skunks at all that close to your house (the porch) is because you leave food out. Your husky killing skunks is a huge health risk for her -- even with annual rabies shots -- they help, but don't guarantee no rabies -- and skunks are always carriers of rabies even when they don't actively have it.
I think you ought to at least bring the food in at night. But I know that wouldn't solve your bird problem.
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Yeah, maybe, but there aren't anymore skunks in the neighborhood!
There has to be something to scare off the birds. Wonder if there is some cheap toy that has those motion detectors in it. Hopefully something cool that makes a shooting sound!
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Why bother? Set a milk crate (plastic laundry basket / etc) upside-down on top of a single-layer "wall" of cinder blocks. Leave an opening in the "wall" and hang an old towel (piece of drapery / carpet section / etc) from the milk crate lip at the "wall"opening to act as a cat door. Then place the pet food inside. If your dog is too large for a laundry basket shelter, ya can improvise a frame outta 1by2s and cover the frame with chicken wire. Remembering to make a "doggie door" flap.
I have a problem with ants getting into the catfood too. I've never seen them carry it off, but the cat won't eat it once they get in there.
I got a bowl similar to this with a moat around it to fill with water. It works great, except my silly gato drinks the water a lot of the time.
Edit - before I bought the special dish, I just put a regular dish in a shallow pan filled with water, which worked fine for keeping the ants out, but was harder to keep clean with the messy cat tossing food about... in case you don't want to buy a special dish for your kitty.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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And that bowl looks designed well enough that stoopid Oberon wouldn't drink all the water. It's a definite consideration.
When he eats, he pushes the bowl this way and that, and sometimes, if it's on a step, it'll fall over and spill the food everywhere. I'm mean. I get entertained by his frustration.
Yes, when the ants come to visit, they're all over his food, a hundred of them or more. And they regularly walk away with his food. I usually catch it and spray the buggers (safe word to use in this context! ) but still, they're a persistent lot. And when they're all over his food, he cries and won't eat it either, which is how I usually catch them. Then it's up to bad, mean me to drive them off so he can continue filling his gaping maw. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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My cat pushes his water dish around before he'll drink out of it. He "digs" into the tile around the dish. I bought a smallish "fount" type waterer a few weeks ago that he can't move if it's full, and it doesn't splosh around when he does move it if it's less than full.
He's never pushed his food dish around, though. He takes his eating pretty seriously.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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Taking my feeding the animals only once a week thing to the extreme I have a large multi gallon metal dish on the back porch. I don’t think KC could push it around!
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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My cats and dog seem to do a fine job of keeping birds out of their own food, if the feathers I find scattered everywhere are any indication. Aloysius even climbs tress to catch birds, and succeeds.
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Hey, I fully admit that Oberon is a wussy wussy boy. Fat wussy wussy boy.
He's the biggest cat around, at least double or quadruple every other cat in the neighborhood, and he just lets them walk all over him.
He could be lying down a foot away from his cat food, and a neighborhood cat will come up and eat his food, and he'll just watch. He doesn't like the other cats, so don't be thinking it's a friendship thing. It ain't. He's just too scared to chase them off.
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I have one suggestion that might work. Why don't you put out one of those fake owls and see if that works. I would suggest putting out a fake snake, but the dog and cat might think that's a toy. The fake snake seems to work for us to keep them away from our merigolds.
Posts: 11 | Registered: May 2005
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The birds and squirrels (they love catfood too) will figure out the true risks of anything you try in time. The monster might work for a short time but soon they will realize it's not dangerous and keep eating, I expect.
My suggestions are:
1) Bring your cat indoors. Cats are much safer indoors, live much longer on average, and don't have the revolting parasites (fleas, roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, etc.) that outdoor cats are prone to.
2) Put out only the amount of food each morning that you want to make available for feeding all animals. Here the neighborhood cats eat their fill first, then the birds go at it all day, and by evening if there's anything left the racoons take a turn, followed by the possums late at night. This is how nature works. Food gets eaten.
3) Feed them in a shed, barn, basement, or outbuilding that the cats have access to through an opening above the ground. This will keep out the birds and possums, also animals that aren't tame are afraid to come inside human buildings, however, nothing will stop racoons. Those guys are as clever as little velociraptors. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Please don't make that comparison in front of Eve. Raccoon dinosaurs is not something she needs to contemplate. Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Just got Sulley in the mail today. How funny. His motion detector works great. Plus he not only yells but his arms fail around and head and eyes move too. I don’t think the birds will be coming around much now!!! Yes!
But I think Hannah will be a bit cautious eating for a while. That’s ok, she needs to loose a few pounds anyway. I’m anxious to hear my neighbors ask what the big “rahhhhhh” coming from my back porch is. Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Personally, I don't really see the point of owning pets if you keep them outside all the time and interact with them so little that you can't be bothered to feed them even once a day.
That you bought your auto-feeder at Walmart just seals the deal.
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Well, humph… the auto feeders are convent. Tried doing the daily feeding thing with KC, but she never seemed to eat much and her bowl (regular size) wouldn’t empty for 3 days. KC comes in every night and runs with me frequently. Hannah is the typical bratty cat and was pawned off on me. She pees everywhere inside so has been sentenced to an outside life. I guess now she’s more of a buddy for KC then anything. But yes, I do spend time with KC and get to spend more with her since I have more free time but not having to fill up their dishes all the time.
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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I was going to say a plastic owl or hawk sillouette often works they are available at most lawn and garden places... but it sounds like the monster is working fine.
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The birds don’t seem to be coming around now. Ha! I’ve got the senor angled so Hannah can still get to her food, but that the birds get roared at on the flight in. Cool. Technology rocks. My retired neighbors got a big kick out of it too. Score some points for the good guys.
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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My first thought was to get meaner, fowl loving cats and dogs. If the birds eat the cat food, the cat should eat the bird. Its called recycling.
However your techno terror is more entertaining.
As far as ants in the bowl, there was a show on Discovery about inventors. One inventor built a cat dish with two bands of copper around the bottom about 1/2 an ant width apart, connected to oppisitte nodes of a nine volt battery. When ever a climbing ant touched both bands while climbing--zap.
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Hey, I'd love to have that sort of thing pretty much everywhere. I hate ants, and I hate ant infestations. Ick!
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Inknow tha the birds will get use to it eventually though,,,,they even got use to the recording of teh owls that the mall uses here to get rid of birds. Now the recording just annoys shoppers!
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They have some sort of recording playing at Mountaineer Field. It’s so funny running over there in the evenings and you hear this loud squawking sound. Maybe it’s more like a squeal. But it’s loud and obnoxious, and it seems to keep the pigeons away. Not sure why that’s a big deal at a football stadium, but I guess it prevents messes from needing cleaned up and dive bombers to practicing football players. Not sure the birds will get used to this since he’s got a few different sayings and he flails his arms around. But I guess these darn birds are relentless so who knows.
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There was a show on Discovery (I think) a long time ago called "Daylight Robbery" about people trying to keep squirrels out of their bird feeders. It was hilarious. The squirrels kept winning in the end no matter what people tried. One shot I'll never forget showed a squirrel disappearing into the slot of an old fashioned vending machine (the type with the pull handles) and coming back out holding a Payday bar. <laughs>
I think racoons are even cleverer than squirrels. No garbage can lids can stop them! They are relentless. If only I could teach them good manners, then they would be welcome to as much of my garbage as they wanted. I'd leave the lid off for them if they only wouldn't spread the trash around for me to pick up. How could we communicate this to the racoons of the world? They're getting so tame I want to keep them for pets, except Dr. George says they harbor rabies, even the healthy ones, so it's not a good idea.
I dunno why but I always root for the animals in stuff like this. <laughs> Maybe it's just the pleasure of seeing the little guys succeed against all odds. So while I hope your monster works for a while, I suspect that they'll realize before too long and be back to eating again, and you'll be back to the drawing board.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Everyone is rooting against me…… I feel so alone. At least my neighbors, who hate the Starlings too, are for me! They like the nice birds.
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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But I think Hannah will be a bit cautious eating for a while. ![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
That’s ok, she needs to loose a few pounds anyway. ![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
I’m anxious to hear my neighbors ask what the big “rahhhhhh” ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
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