This spring, I was so ready for the cold to leave and so when it started to actually warm up a bit, I decided to fill my front flower bed with pansies (they are winter flowers, after all) because I longed for color in my life.
I cleaned out the bed and went to the nursery and came home with 2 flats of beautiful pansies. I got all different types and colors. I planted the little plants in my front flower bed and stood back to admire their beauty. I was so pleased to see the bright colors in my flower bed.
Fast forward to the next week. I get up very early and like to go outside to drink my coffee and sit to look at the yard and such. I love listening to the birds early in the morning. They are so energetic and loud. So, I go outside, sit on my bench and start to drink my coffee when I look over and see that two of my pansy plants have been dug up and are now laying sideways beside the flower bed. I am not a happy camper. Where I once had a full, beautiful flower bed with gorgeous pansies, I now have a gaping hole in the middle of the flower bed where my lovely flowers used to be!
Well, down the "rabbit hole" I went again looking for ways to deter these cats from my garden without hurting them. I found numerous articles online, but they all basically say the same thing.
1. Make sure there is no food available nearby for the cats.
2. Be sure all cracks and holes are covered so as not to provide them a place to hide.
3. Use some type of deterrent, with the most common listed is citrus peels (since cats cannot stand the smell of them). There are other things listed like rue, lavender, and pennyroyal that you can grow in the garden alongside your flowers. Cats also cannot stand the smell of those plants.
4. Use some type of prickly ground cover on your flower beds. Pine cone needles, bark, or mesh grocery bags spread out and pinned down. Another suggestion was to use chicken wire across the bed--your plants can get through it but it is uncomfortable to the cats feet.
5. Get some type of deterrent such as a motion activated ultra sonic device that emits a noise that the cats can hear but you cannot. Also, try to add flashing lights or motion activated water sprays to deter those pesky cats.
6. Finally, try TNR to help reduce the number of cats available to use your garden for their personal potty. I have done TNR when I lived in Austin, TX and I know that it works to reduce community cat populations. Eventually, there are no more cats in the community.
7. As a last resort, trap and take them to a rescue or shelter. I personally do not accept this one because I know for a fact that if you do this, that cat will be put down almost immediately because they are not adoptable. I cannot be a part of ending the life of a perfectly healthy animal just because it is doing what it is programmed to do. I believe it is my responsibility to find a way to coexist pleasantly with feral or wild animals.
Now that I have researched my problem, I am off to the store to get some oranges and lemons to peel and then put those peels in my flower bed. I'll wait a while to see if this works. If not, I will move on down this list (but I will never use #7).
Here are a few of the articles I found if you want to check them out for yourself:
- https://www.neighborhoodcats.org/how-to-tnr/colony-care/keeping-cats-out-of-gardens-and-yards-2#:~:text=You%20can%20try%20orange%20and,%2C%20peppermint%2C%20eucalyptus%20and%20mustard.
- https://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/humane-deterrents/
- https://www.thespruce.com/cat-repellents-to-keep-cats-out-of-your-yard-2132573
- https://www.imustgarden.com/repel-cats
