Must not kill the cat....must not kill the cat...

[DBJohnson]

I left on Monday for a LONG (distance and driving) trip for work. When I got home this evening I checked the fig babies before going inside. "Hmmm...why is there specks of dirt all over that Natalina on the lower shelf.... Culli cazzi!" (Not the actual verbiage....but you get the idea.)

With the cold snap, our yard cat (and maybe a friend) have been enjoying the warmth of the greenhouse. Since they've shown no interest in bothering tad plants, we've let them keep going in and out under the gap of the door zipper. Looks like a cat has been digging in the 3gallon buckets with my Bari and another next to it. The trees (newly rooted cuttings) seem a little loose but still in place.

Needless to say, there are now 2x4s around the perimeter to keep the cats out...but you don't know how close I came to going inside for the rifle....

Grrrrrr.....

[SarinaP]

Oh no!

[Jamie0507]

Ohhhhh geez!!! RUN KITTIES!!! Lol!

[Sarahkt]

A thread title like yours is such click bait, I had to look. Sorry to hear it! Yep, cats are heartless creatures who care nothing for your hobbies and activities that don't directly pertain to them, their food, toys, or petting them.

A few days ago I was outside with the cat, contentedly potting up cupped cuttings who were ready to be put in 1-gallon pots. I'd add a freshly made 1-gallon plant to a deck, then turn back to the wheelbarrow and do another one. Maybe 6 plants in, I noticed the plants in the 1-gallon group seemed less leafy than I remembered them being just a few minutes earlier. The cat had been sitting there just chewing off leaves of each plant after I set it down.

[DBJohnson]

Don't worry. I am quite cognizant of the fact that had I grabbed the rifle that I would be bereft of female affection for a very long time (possibly extending to eternity). Next best option is sealing the border.

[F. Bennett]

Ha! That made me laugh. Not worth it man!

[Blackfoot12]

I feel your pain Bryant. But believe me I have had far better reason to kill the deer that visit my property. I have literally spent thousands of dollars and huge amounts of time to thwart their efforts. In the end I have been mostly successful. although their was good period where they were winning. And even now if I let my guard down for even a day at the correct time they get their licks in. And it sets the plants back several weeks.

I have hunted deer and eaten deer. But so far I have found the restraint to refrain from killing them out of anger.

It is probably on their side that I do find them to be quite beautiful.

[DBJohnson]

I will likely be combatting deer this year, too. I will console myself during those setbacks that the deer that did it will end up in my freezer...and in mah belly!

[Blackfoot12]

When they eat all the spring flush buds off all your your berry bushes it's hard to find that warm fuzzy feeling. Shortly after this happened to me my dentist tells me I grind my teeth. I told him it is because of the deer. You should see the look he gave me.

[WillsC]

Bad kitty

[Taverna78]

I love "bad kitties" ahahahaha!

[smatthew]

Have they been fertilizing your cuttings as well?

[DBJohnson]

Will find out tomorrow...taking a box scooper out there to check.

[Taverna78]

Soak some cotton ball with citrus oil or Ebay $.000009 aspen cologne. Too strong for nose of cat.

[jmaler]

Cardboard gives piece of mind.

[Taverna78]

Apologize but must do it.....

[DBJohnson]

Roflmao!

[Gina]

Cats only do lovable things. Are you sure it wasn't the dog?

[Jamie0507]

Now that is TOO CUTE!! And soooo true!!! Lol!!totally HAD to be the dog 😉

[DBJohnson]

Lol!

[don_sanders]

You should thank him for fertilizing your pots for you. Saves you a bit of work 😉

[Rewton]

My two cats are a definite net positive for my fruit growing hobby because they help keep critters at bay. For example, I've never had rodent damage on a fig and the birds and squirrels aren't too comfortable congregating in mass in my yard.

[DBJohnson]

They're welcome in my yard, just not my greenhouse.

[Gina]

My cats don't do a thing to help keep the critters away from the fruit trees.
Of course they are indoor only.

[PA Figs]

We have a similar problem with neighbors who think it is ok to have "community cats". They leave their garage doors slightly open and provide food and water for them, however not the proper medical attention and it is very obvious some of them are diseased. There are pros and cons to the wild cats in the neighborhood in that they do keep the rodents at bay, however, they also kill the birds. We enjoyed watching and feeding the birds in the winter and we had put up with the wild cats up until we found dead song birds in our yard and almost no birds at the feeder. The cats have also taken to marking our back patio. Local animal control and SPCA will not do anything about the issue and talking to the neighbors about not having "community cats" has gotten me nowhere. We have a small dog, so we can't put anything out (such as scents) to deter the cats as it would also impact our dog. Our dog chases them away, but they come back as soon as he is back indoors. I consider myself an animal lover, but a wild pest is a pest, whether it is a mouse, deer, woodchuck, or cat and pests need to be dealt with.

[DBJohnson]

Agreed. Luckily, the foxes and coyotes have helped keep things in balance around here.

[Schroeder]

I feel your pain Bryant. But believe me I have had far better reason to kill the deer that visit my property. I have literally spent thousands of dollars and huge amounts of time to thwart their efforts. In the end I have been mostly successful. although their was good period where they were winning. And even now if I let my guard down for even a day at the correct time they get their licks in. And it sets the plants back several weeks.

I have hunted deer and eaten deer. But so far I have found the restraint to refrain from killing them out of anger.

It is probably on their side that I do find them to be quite beautiful.

Deer are a huge problem here in Iowa one of my friends has the best deterrent that I have seen yet ...it was a jet sprinkler hooked up to a motion detector , I don't remember the brand name but it works ...scared me to death , I walked by in the dark and scht scht scht ....that little bit of water goes a long way no pun intended.. good luck

[PA Figs]

haha that would scare the bejeezus out of me!

[Taverna78]

Ciao Bryant,

Because you cat lover I send you link to my vine page. Is some funny cat loop in it as well as some crazy people ahahaha!

Is very top link.

https://vine.co/u/1044784735207194624

Apologies is some bad words used

[jamierenae1]

That reminds me of my first two fig trees. I had brought them inside to avoid a freeze, they were small with only a few rusty leaves on them. I went to put them out when it had warmed up the following day to find the leaves gone without a trace.
I suspected our cat had snacked on the leaves because she loved her greens.
If I cooked fresh spinach she would cry for some and if I ignored her she would gently pat my legs with her paw, looking up hopefully.
She also loved melons and we would save her a little bit on the rind when we finished.
The joke at our house was the cat ate her vegetables better than our daughter.
I was careful to put plants up because she had a history of nibbling on african violets but she wasn't interested in most of the plants.
I guess I let it slide because it was late in the year and the leaves were going to drop anyway.

[DBJohnson]

I still have an outside cat but it's an even closer thing today. Despite my having put wood down around the outside of the greenhouse, they apparently found a way in and knocked an Atreano and the Panache off the shelf. Luckily, the Atreano took no apparent damage other than losing a bit of loose soil on top. The potting medium in the Panache pot was luckily fluffy and not packed. The whole pot of soil slid out but the fledgling root ball held together. I now have this plant in a 2g SIP. Hopefully that will be heavy enough that Tuxie and Poof can't/won't knock it off again.

[Blackfoot12]

Uh oh.

[WillsC]

Proof that cats are evil....

[GregMartin]

My cute little Lily (black and white cat) used to dig in one of my pots and scoop the dirt out onto the floor. I filled the pot with river rocks and she just scooped those out and then continued digging down and making a big hole in the soil. Finally I put bricks on the soil right in front of her, and right in front of me she tried scooping those out....couldn't manage it. She looked at me with an "I give up, you win" look and has never tried again, even though I took the bricks out. She's a good kitty!

[Sarahkt]

Aww, it's bending the dog's ears back. That cat is huge! Looks like it's trying to crush your dog's windpipe.

Proof that cats are evil....



[ATTACH=CONFIG]n78678[/ATTACH]

[WillsC]

and the look in that cats eye. Yes, he's a moose.

[lilfiggy]

ah love them kittys hate them deer.

[DBJohnson]

Deer tastes good. Cat, not so much (or so I've been told by friends who have lived in other parts of the world).

[kingoceanos]

Maybe they just didn't cook it right