Cat trouble on the line

[James from Devon]

Has anyone else encountered a local moggie who assumes that your railway is in fact the worlds most expensive cat litter tray??

I have a persistent visitor who has so far not been discouraged with the sonic alarms, repellent powder, water pistol, etc etc....

Short of installing 3rd rail electrification ....I wondered if anyone has found an effective (and legal) solution!

[tom_tom_go]

Get a dog

[James from Devon]

I'd love to do that!

[pippindoo]

Just sprinkle ordinary pepper around. Cats are very clean and always wash themselves after..... Itll soon learn that certain areas makes its paws taste yucky! A common trick with gardeners, and cheap!

[philipy]

Unfortunately NOTHING keeps filthy, evil, murdering cats out of the garden.
We have spent a smalll fotune on sonics, water sprays, pepper and other assorted remedies, and every morning we have to inspect the lawns and remove the filthy mess left overnight, and bird carcases at nesting time. I had to remove a huge pile from the station forecourt a few days ago.

If I had my way every cat in the land would be put down.

Sorry, rant over!

[LNR]

I'm right with you guys on this one, and in fact have installed my electric fence unit and connected it to invisible wire under the railway benchwork in order to avoid standing in the putrid mess they leave behind.
We banned horses in the street because of the mess they left, and you have to pick up after a dog, but cats are free to kill and mess where ever they please. As cats rarely use their own property, cat owners seem to expect others to clean up after them.
My rant over too,
Grant.

[markoteal]

Deffo agree with the chairman - its got to be a dog (well 2 in my case!) - Before the dogs, I tried all the commercially available anti cat products but nothing worked!

[invicta280]

A couple of years back I had a problem with cats persistently leaving their calling cards at the entrance to a lock up garage I was using. I tried commercial 'lion poo' repellent and then neat bleach. Not sure but I think it was the latter that gave them the message and the trouble ceased.
You may not want pure bleach on your trackwork but close by might do it.

[tuppenced]

My advice is to get a cat of your own - the cat-flap is the essence of Regular Territory Patrols. The benefit is that your cat will nip elsewhere with its own misdeeds, whereas even a dog small enough for a dog-flap still leaves you on Pooper Scooper duty.
David

[Peter Butler]

Unfortunately NOTHING keeps filthy, evil, murdering cats out of the garden.
If I had my way every cat in the land would be put down.

That's possibly a bit harsh! They give a lot of people much pleasure. I do agree though, the mess is something pungent. However, despite our three dogs we still get visits from the occasional ferrule cat, foxes, rabbits, field mice, rats, heron and moles.... of all of them, moles cause the most damage and would cause much disruption to the track if it was laid directly on the ground surface. I think the argument for the complete anhialation of all cats needs to be better balanced.

[tuppenced]

I think the argument . . . needs to be better balanced.

Shame that argument no longer works, Peter, either in Britain or America :-(

[robc_wa]

It is not only cats that can cause this kind of trouble.

See http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/abou ... highlight=
for a canine problem!

Rob

[Enginehouse]

Get a dog

Who will (known from personal experience) happily foul on almost anything and just scratch up or dig up the line. Itinerant cats can be a real pain but the problem can be cured. I actually saw our dopey cat derail a train when challenging it's right of way. She has never been back on the line, a raised section which fortunately was wide enough to hold the derailed units. The only damage was to the cats dignity.

A number of cats (about nine) have disappeared from our area of late, some found injured with air gun damage too. Fortunately our fat furry little creature never goes out of the garden.

[-steves-]

When we had this issue we got 2 water spray devices that went off in a pre determined pattern when they sensed movement, they work very well but only cover a limited area at a time so do need moving around a bit and it means having hose pipes out all the time. However it did work for us, just make sure you can turn them off when you want to go anywhere near them, or you get a proper soaking

[Sir Clothem Cap]

I hear that curry powder on the line is a deterrent but have not needed t try it.

[Soar Valley Light]

Hmmm, curried cat. That would solve the problem!