Hello all,
I wanted to give an update on my attempts to thwart a neighborhood cat from killing birds under my feeders.

We collected branches from our pruned apple trees and the nearby forest and placed them in a ring underneath our feeders so that they are in a big tangle, but with open space for the birds to still eat on the ground.   I also placed them at the base of our maple tree where I have suet hanging and where woodpeckers, nuthatches, and brown creepers are constantly scaling the entire trunk.  I placed them like a tee-pee around the base of the tree.   I am happy to report that this has been very effective!  Even though it also seemed to attract birds to the ground and branches, I have yet to see neighbor cat have success catching anything at all.  It even protects the squirrels.  Neighbor cat pounces towards, and is stopped by, the branches.   He doesn’t go into them, but always walks around.   Even if it doesn’t end up being 100% effective, it has been very effective so far.

I hope some of you find this useful!

Amy


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