If there's one thing that turns my stomach, it's cat poo on the lawn before mowing

[T i m]

Nope. ;-)

It was funny last night ... but first I'll take you back a few years ...

We used to have some sh1te neighbours, trouble from the moment they moved in (not directly to me for some reason ) but would be blasting up and down the road on quad bikes, no TAX, insurance or protective gear, often with young child (just wearing shorts) sitting on the tank etc. Old bill rarely in sight.

I rode our daughters 125cc scooter 100 yards down the road with daughter on the back (but still displaying her L plates) and 50 yds into the journey (to collect my bike, didn't fancy walking with all my gear on) come face to face with a traffic car that puts the blues on and blocks my path. I drew alongside, he lowered his window, I briefly explained the situation (in a 'Would you believe it' type tone) and he drove off. ;-)

Back to last night ... waited for it to get dark and was trying a solar LED light out on the front of the house with the Mrs. We had been out there for about 30 seconds when we hear from behind us, 'Can I help you Sir?'. We look round and in the road was a patrol car and a Policeman 'checking out' what we were up to (which obviously did look a bit suspicious). ;-)

30 seconds into a 2 minute experiment and a cop comes past *and* stops. If only they were that vigilant or present all the time ... ;-(

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

Ok. ;-)

Thanks for those. Very substantial and I can see how most could be climbed by animals.

Not quite so easy with 6' of vertical panel plus 2' of trellis, as is the norm round here.

Cheers, T i m

[Richard]

They know who the trouble makers are because their undercover cat squad patrols the area 24/7.

[MM]

Good idea! I'll just pop to the snake shop right now...

MM

[MM]

Good one!

MM

[MM]

I have also heard that they ~may~ be effective. But other people have said that the visitor cats soon realise that the "dead" cat is in fact dead, despite the glittering eyes, and then ignore it from then on.

MM

[MM]

Just use the sleeve of your jacket. It's not rocket sicence!

MM

[MM]

No, it's not. Sometimes it could be five or six. And they are not usually turds, but *piles*. It's not the same thing at all. If they were turds I could get a picker-upper/grabber specifically for cat poo, but they're not. They are little piles of watery cat shit. (I'm delberately trying to make it sound as disgusting as possible for you, because I fear you may not have been brought up with sufficient regard to hygiene. Cat poo IS revolting, and to pooh-pooh it as something on a par with the door handles in public conveniences is rather silly.)

MM

[MM]

If it was the neigbour's dog I could complain to the council, couldn't I? Dogs must be chipped as of a few days ago.

But even so, dog poo is slightly more amenable to being "rolled" on to a shovel, whereas cat poo, mostly a sticky mess, cannot. You have to

*scrape* it on to the shovel.

MM

[MM]

It's situations like this where I can understand Americans' propensity for being armed.

MM

[MM]

Interesting. What's the make and model?

MM

[PeterC]

OK until they get elsewhere. At one time I used a push mower, no grass box and the rear deflector had rusted off (I soon replaced that!). Hitting cat shit that's somewhat hidden by the grass[1] could be a bit unfortunate.

As in another post, keeping the grass short seems to help; leaving the clippings on also seems to deter cats.

[MM]

I've now followed the links and also found the Pestbye product on Amazon.co.uk for £14.99 (although the eBay offer is selling TWO for £24.99). Don't know whether I'd need two for quite a small lawn (6m x

6m approx).

But what struck me was the number of customer reviews on the Amazon page: 2,793!

Also, the product is listed as "#1 Best Seller in Pet & Wild Animal Control".

Looks highly likely I'll try one. However, the manufacturer reckons that batteries should last for 3 - 4 months.

The walk testing thingie also sounds as if the company knows what it's doing, because that would have been my next question: How to tell.

MM

[MM]

Thankfully, this is one area in which my old, decrepit body excels, as my hearing is crap. The NHS hearing aids whistle like one of Pete Waterman's trains, so I only wear them at Christmas.

MM

[MM]

Well, I suppose I could try that, too. The cats nearly always "go" in the same place. What does work is the deterrent granules (not the lemon pepper stuff, which is useless, or the Wilko spray deterrent, also useless), but that is ruddy expensive.

MM

[Mike Barnes]

Not much use if you aren't wearing a jacket.

I'd like to see hand sanitiser sprays installed outside. They'd be easy to site because there'd no need to hide them from the gaze of other-sex-people or passer-by.

[Bob Eager]

Our cats' poo (which is either in the litter tray or buried in the garden) [1] is much more solid then that. I think it depends on diet - ours get mainly dry cat food.

[1] Yes, I'm sure. One cat is scared to go out after she got lost a while ago. The other is old and doesn't leave the garden.

[Chris Hogg]

Cat poo is not inherently messy. In principle it should be no different to dog poo. Certainly, when we had cats, they produced solid turds just like dog turds but smaller. Much depends on what they eat. Giving a cat milk to drink instead of water can give it diarrhoea (its a common myth that cats should be given milk, and many people do it). Even dog poo can be messy if they're fed the wrong diet.

But that's no consolation for you...

[Chris Hogg]

BTDT. Too much feedback. Either the little plastic tube from the amplifier (the bit that goes behind your ear) is too short, tending to pull the ear-moulding out of your ear slightly and causing a gap around it for amplified sound to escape, or you need new ear mouldings as they no longer fit snugly into your ear. When did you last have a hearing check? Quite a while ago, would be my guess. Arrange one, and mention it.

[Bob Minchin]

Based on my experience, one will be sufficient for your needs. I chose on the basis that it had controls for pulse type and volume. In practice mid range and full volume (why not?) seems to have worked.