Someone obviously was annoyed by Pepper (#03220). The new mother was homeless and perhaps got into someone’s yard to hunt or had her kittens tucked away in their shed. Whatever she was doing, the property owner decided they had had enough and sprayed her with commercial pepper spray.
While homemade pepper repellants are okay for keeping unwanted animals away from your garden, commercial sprays could have fatal consequences. “Commercial pepper spray is made for self-defense from personal injury – not when you are bothered by a neighbor’s pet,” said Nancy Hill, Regional Director of SCRAPS. “There are a lot of other tools, including homemade repellants that are effective and safe for animals.”
Using pepper spray irresponsibly can incur criminal or civil liability. SCRAPS has a list of animal-safe deterrents for homeowners on their website under Pet Care. These include motion activated sprinklers, citrus peels and even fork fences.
Here are some old and new ideas for stopping unwanted guests.
Motion-Activated Sprinklers
When a cat enters the sprinkler’s infrared field, the sprinkler shoots out a stream of water in the cat’s direction to frighten it away.
Ultrasonic Sound
Many devices employ a motion sensor then emit a high-frequency sound alarm. The sound is startling to cats but virtually inaudible to humans.
Scent Repellents
Well known to gardeners for detracting deer, can also be helpful in deterring cats. Many store-bought repellents rely on capsaicin, the chemical that makes chili peppers hot. Some repellent use the scent of predators’ urine to scare away cats. With any scent repellent, you will need to reapply it every seven to 10 days or after a heavy rain.
Home remedies
They might take a little time, but they cost next to nothing. One recipe calls for two parts cayenne pepper, three parts dry mustard, and five parts flour. Simply mix the ingredients together and sprinkle over your flowerbeds. Cats don’t like the smell of citrus, so putting down peels or citrus oils may make cats think twice about digging in your garden. Coleus canina, otherwise known as scaredy cat plant, is reported to deter cats, as do rue and lavender.
Dangerous Deterrents
Placing mothballs around plants, an old method of keeping cats and rabbits at bay, might be effective, but they are toxic to humans and animals and should never be used in the garden.
Pepper recovered at SCRAPS after the incident. Her litter of kittens was not brought in with her.
SOURCE – SCRAPS press release, May 20152015
