Ugh.. Bear vs father-in-law's cats.

B

bored2deth

Joined
Feb 27, 2011
Messages
1,020
Hey peoples,

So...my father-in-law's wife has been feeding stray cats, right? Well, it's also drawing the attention of wild life. Not to mention that those cats have made lil'
mewling balls of fur (kittens). Now, I've been a Woodsman since I could lift and swing an axe, and I've been all over the forests and hills of my area. I can honestly say I've never heard of a bear eating a cat (although, I'm sure one would...if it could catch it.) What would be a good solution here? Personally, I've told him several times, "Get rid of those cats before the bears find them." Or should my in-laws just leave the cats to themselves? My concern is the same as
last year:If she keeps throwing food and scraps to those cats, those bears might just get curious and see what's inside the house itself!! I HAVE heard of/seen
cases of bears eating dogs..but not cats..weird.

I just don't want my in-laws waking up one night to the sounds of cats/kittens being eaten by a hungry bear. That would just be sickening, and his wife is very
attatched to them already.
 
If you've warned them what more could you do? They're adults. They will make their own decision and they'll have to live with the consequences.
 
That's true. I just hope I don't have to hear them tell me about it. I also hope I'm not there if/when the bears get after those cats.
 
I love cats ,I have ONE inside. But rest assured feeding feral cats around your house is not a good thing. They reproduce about every 5 min. Soon 2 becomes 25. Forget the Bear , the Cats themselves will destroy the property.Tell them to stop feeding them now.Ive been thru it myself before.
 
I have 5 cats all except 1 from feral parents. Indoor mostly but outdoor on the weekends. All are fixed. They've dodged marauding coyote for years and I can't imagine that bear would be better suited to cat killing than a pack of coyotes. Regardless, fix the cats and stop feeding them.
 
In my daughter's neighborhood, one woman used to feed the cats Out for a walk one night, I saw a few of them surrounding the cans of food together with a bigger one -- a skunk. Putting out food is putting out bait.
 
Feeding strays is stupid for a number of reasons, (and you should do everything you can to get your in-laws to stop,) but bears eating the cats is something you don't have to worry about.
 
Feral cats kill more songbirds than bears kill cats. No offense, but your in-laws are not very smart feeding those cats. They need to trap the cats and get them sterilized so they quit reproducing.
I'm no fan of any cat that is free to roam outdoors and don't feel bad at all when they end up becoming coyote meals. I had a next door neighbor who constantly lost cats to coyotes and just never "got it" she always got another cat and let it roam outdoors.
In your case I wouldn't worry too much about bears but more about 'yotes.
 
Oh, I know..my wife and I never keep cats around, which is likely why our front/backyards are home to so many songbirds. :-) Ya, chances are, considering where they live, that those putty-tats will be number one of the coyote menu. My father-in-law dislikes the cats but tolerates them for his wife. It's funny in a way--we keep telling her, "Stop throwing out scraps! Gonna draw visitors you don't want!"
 
Offer to watch the house when they go out of town. Box of .22 and a rifle. Just sayin. Feral cats are a big problem.
 
LOL!! Is that even legal!? Well, I'm sure the moment my father-in-law sees a scratch on his truck or car, he'll find the means to get rid of them. I had thought of trying to catch them and take them to a shelter....but then a 'lil voice in my head said, "What're you...NUTS!?" Hehe. Seriously, though, I recalled reports of rabies, feline aids, and other saliva transmited problems--one bite equals alot of troubles..

The problem with feral cats, as I see it, is that they breed. Feral A plus Feral B equals many more ferals. Children can assume these to be like the oh-so-friendly and cuddley
fat house cat (which is hardly the same thing) and be scratched to pieces and bitten. They can carry and transmit diseases, parasites, and bacteria. They get into chicken and
other domestic bird pens. Rabbit hutches. Song birds get wiped out, especially the fledgelings. I've had cats for pets when I was younger, and they were sweet animals (but they were fixed.). Of course the same can be said for feral dogs..
 
I had lots of feral cats round my property and they managed not to get eaten by the local wildlife(bear,wolf,coyote,ect.)
Didn't mind them much till I saw one stalking a grouse, then later trying to take out a duck in my pond.
Found out they were making a mess in my crawlspace too.

Now the cats tend to get lead poisoning when they come around my property.;)

The irony is I throw the carcasses in the woods and the crows and eagles usually eat them.
Not often you see a bird eating a cat.:D
 
Sounds like the obvious answer has been stated.. :)

I had a friend that had trouble with his dogs being eaten by a local black bear. After failing to kill it during season and losing 3 dogs to the bear(dogs inside fence and wooden houses)- he poured a small slab of concrete and used cinder blocks to build the walls of a dog house, filled blocks with concrete. At top of walls he insterted rebar to stick up a couple of inches, cut plywood to just cover the inside egdges of cinder blocks and poured a concrete roof. Left openings just big enough for dog on three sides and had built an elevated platform in the middle for dogs to lay on.
Bear did tear down afence a few more times but dogs were safe inside his "Super Doggy Bunker". Right much trouble to go to but gave him some satisfaction by denying the bear.

Culvert pipe burried might work as well.

Bill
 
everything said above is true. My neighbors all do it. Then they wonder why teh 350lb black bear tips their trash cans and is residing on their back porch some mornings. Unfortunately the Coyotes only seem to get the fat ones that the neighbor accidentally let out and not the lil wild B@stards...
 
A Texas taxidermist once told me a story about a guy from the NE that brought in a feral cat he shot to have it mounted. Turns out he paid a guide several hundred dollars to hunt an ocelot and he was not only upset to find out he'd been taken but was also upset to be told that he couldn't get it mounted. I'm not suggesting that you run a craigslist ad in a big city and make some coin off of this feral cat problem, it just reminded me of that funny story so I thought I would share.
 
*Cinematic narrator's voice"

They look like normal, run of the mill house-cats. Fluffy. Mr.Pooper. Sprinkles. Little purring furballs. A childhood friend and companion. But looks can be deceiving. Some become wild, feral.. Neighborhood dogs begin disappearing..at first it's the froo-froos, then the lap-dogs, and even then the larger breeds. One..by..one. Is it a rogue dog-catcher on the loose? Coyotes? Wolves? No one knows..no one believes. What..or WHOM is next on the menu? They are coming..they are coming....mew..mew...
Coming SOON to a theatre near YOU... Be afraid.. Be very afraid.. Lock your doors, bolt your windows! Bring in your dog, and throw out your cat! They are coming..mew..mew.. Be sure to get your popcorn, candies, and sodas in the lobby before the start of the movie!!

Hehe :-)
 
I had a Persian cat when I was younger--he was one seriously mean little cat.. Had a habit on jumping into laps and digging himself a spot to lay down, and constantly wanted to swat and scratch as a means of play. Worst of all--he was a gassy little cat, and a mean lil' snothead too. He learned, somehow, that people didn't like his raunchy
anal emations, and came to find it amusing to hop up onto peoples shoulders or to get in their faces (then aiming his rear) and turning loose. Those farts were loud, long-lasting, highly-potent, and he could fart like a freight-train.....repeatedly. His name was Mr.Poopers.

R.I.P. Mr.Poopers. You are missed..................................................sort of.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top