Putting sadness on hold for a moment, there are still cats here in need of help. When I went to feed this morning, I still had my camera that I had tucked in my pocket yesterday. This is one of the eight new strays that “magically” appeared all at once after my encounter with Karen. I shall call him Merlin, because if I even get close to this tomcat, he magically disappears. Once again, a trap-savvy cat- won’t even go close to our drop trap. So I had an idea.
George is coming today to build a new central feeder- the other was wrecked in the last storm. I am going to pick his brain to see if he can figure out a way to trap cats within the feeder–hmmmm maybe I might be onto something.
By the way, I heard a commercial the other night about new trash bags with mint scents that are supposed to keep racoons from raiding your trash. Sooo- I bought six fresh sprigs of mint and hung them by wire by the food bowls outside. Lo and behold, the next morning when I went out there was still food in the bowls! The water bowl wasn’t empty either. The coons stayed away! The mint isn’t going to last long- but there are a lot of strong scented mint products out there. I am going to experiment to see if I can find something-non-toxic that keeps the food around a bit longer. The cats don’t seem to mind the mint at all.
At any rate, this is the closest I have gotten to Merlin and here he is-
If the mint works, what about just planting some mint plants around?
@Emmett – mint is an aggressive plant that will quickly spread and crowd out everything else that grows! While I love mint, it must be contained or it will take over your entire lawn, flower beds and then will start on your neighbors’ lawns.
However, Mary Ann, please keep us informed about your experiments with mint against the raccoons — we have at least twenty raccoons and a dozen opossums that raid our food and water supplies every night and day. In bad weather I don’t begrudge them so much, but in good weather they should have plenty of other stuff to eat.
Merlin is a beautiful cat — hope you catch him!
Our outside cat food is popular with raccoons, possums, and at least one chubby neighborhood dog. If the mint works, even a little, we will likely start using that ourselves.
Merlin is quite striking. Unable to get that close to him- but here is look at how his face is split. Gotta love those tomcat jowls- LOL
wrigley’s mint gum sticks? candy canes? how about mint plants in a pot?