Birth of a forest

[igor_kavinski]

Plus, only the skinny raccoons would be able to fit.

I bet @Red Squirrel could help you create an OpenCV based raccoon detector and deterrent gizmo

 

[Charmonium]

Easier solution: put smelly food in the box and place it a bit higher where only a cat would be able to jump and reach inside while the fox would just go around in circles in absolute misery

Yup. Should have done that long ago but putting the bowl on the porch means I don't have to actually go outside.

It seems that a foot locker/trunk is what I need. I'm just not in any shape at the moment to handle any sort of project - hopefully in a couple of months though.

I bet @Red Squirrel could help you create an OpenCV based raccoon detector and deterrent gizmo

That could be fun. I did teach myself Python a few years ago and i'll bet they have a Python library. It would tons of fun to screw with the raccoons.

 

[lxskllr]

I feed my cats in the morning only, so the food's gone by afternoon. If the fox comes around looking for food, Spot usually chases it off. My place has become Spot's de facto home. She's almost always close by, though she occasionally disappears for a day or two at a time. Probably just trying to get me wound up worrying about her. I'd love to know where she goes. A month or so ago she vanished for three days. I was literally on the SPCA site seeing if she was in jail when she showed up late for breakfast.

 

[Charmonium]

I feed my cats in the morning only, so the food's gone by afternoon. If the fox comes around looking for food, Spot usually chases it off. My place has become Spot's de facto home. She's almost always close by, though she occasionally disappears for a day or two at a time. Probably just trying to get me wound up worrying about her. I'd love to know where she goes. A month or so ago she vanished for three days. I was literally on the SPCA site seeing if she was in jail when she showed up late for breakfast.

My guess is that she's out hunting. Either that or looking for a Tom to make some whoopee - unless she's fixed.

I've had a lot of ferals since say 2018 but there's only one from the original 'crop' - the solid black one. I used to watch him on the cams being very aggressive before he was fixed. He's still the dux domus though (head of household). I've never really kept track of them so no idea where they all went.

I'm pretty sure that there's one local moma cat that's been the source of the kittens and we seem to get a new batch around October.

 

[lxskllr]

She does her hunting around here, and almost always brings me her prizes to showoff. She's very proud of herself. She then eats them, and the possum get whatever's left over. She loves me. If I'm outside and she knows it, I'll hear meowing coming from the other side of the property, and she comes over for attention. But only in the backyard. If I'm in the frontyard, it weirds her out, and she goes around back. Cats are strange... She's fixed, and afaik, I'm the only one she's friendly with. It took a lot of time to gain her confidence. Can't even remember when she showed up. It's been a few years now.

There's another black one(Blackie) that showed up the same time as she did. They used to be inseparable, but now they do their own thing. He goes somewhere else during the day. Not friendly at all. He's scared of everything. If I open the door, he runs away.

 

[Charmonium]

She does her hunting around here, and almost always brings me her prizes to showoff. She's very proud of herself. She then eats them, and the possum get whatever's left over. She loves me. If I'm outside and she knows it, I'll hear meowing coming from the other side of the property, and she comes over for attention. But only in the backyard. If I'm in the frontyard, it weirds her out, and she goes around back. Cats are strange... She's fixed, and afaik, I'm the only one she's friendly with. It took a lot of time to gain her confidence. Can't even remember when she showed up. It's been a few years now.

There's another black one(Blackie) that showed up the same time as she did. They used to be inseparable, but now they do their own thing. He goes somewhere else during the day. Not friendly at all. He's scared of everything. If I open the door, he runs away.

I had a chance to make friends with the kittens early on. They would run towards me then away, over and over again. I probably could have bridged the gap with food or treats but I just wasn't up for it.

When Booger (the kitten with the weird nose pigmentation) was staying in the basement, I got a couple of Feliway atomizers to help her calm down, but I guess she missed her family. The spray really does work though. Get the spray bottle form and saturate an area where you normally feed or pet her and you'll probably see a change in her behavior.

The effect is transient though, hence the atomizers. It's also nontoxic. Booger chewed open the spray bottle at one point and is no worse for the wear.

@lxskllr - you know, we're in danger of being called the old cat ladies. From my perspective a cat lady lives with her cats. We're more like park rangers. Like you though, I do intend to get my own indoor cat at some point - maybe a bonded pair. It depends on how energetic I am at the time.

 

[lxskllr]

I have two inside cats. I've thought about bringing Spot in, but this house already has a queen, and she's lived her whole life outside. If she came in, she'd never leave again. and I don't know that she'd be happy with that situation. They're either in or out. They can't be both. When it's really cold out, she tries to invite herself in, and I have to decline. I feel bad about it, but what are you gonna do? I have a shelter setup for her when it's cold. Dunno where she sleeps in warm weather, but she overnights in the shelter in winter.

This video gave me some ideas for passive heating(and cooling for me). I have recycled thermal bubble wrap in her cooler shelter, but it isn't fully lined. Trying to think of ways to keep her warmer without burning energy.

 

[skyking]

I have two inside cats. I've thought about bringing Spot in, but this house already has a queen, and she's lived her whole life outside. If she came in, she'd never leave again. and I don't know that she'd be happy with that situation. They're either in or out. They can't be both. When it's really cold out, she tries to invite herself in, and I have to decline. I feel bad about it, but what are you gonna do? I have a shelter setup for her when it's cold. Dunno where she sleeps in warm weather, but she overnights in the shelter in winter.

This video gave me some ideas for passive heating(and cooling for me). I have recycled thermal bubble wrap in her cooler shelter, but it isn't fully lined. Trying to think of ways to keep her warmer without burning energy.

I built a big dog house on a pallet with 2" xps foam on top of the pallet and 1/4" ply on that with a wood edge around for a nailer. It positively reflected the dog's heat back at him. That was snug warm.
I made the top removeable for easy cleaning and transport. (It was getting heavy like a brick shithouse.)

 

[Charmonium]

I used to order frozen vegan meals that would come packed in dry ice and styrofoam. The styro boxes are about the overall size of a small dog house on the outside. Much less inside.

Some of the kitties use those all year round.

I have heated mats out in the shed for the winter but disconnect them in April when the lawn guy starts cutting. And then I have a very large mat next to one of the garage doors that I run all year round for the black feral. It's just under 20" by 30" with 2 power settings 30 watts and 55 watts. At the higher rating, that's only 482 kwhr per year running it 24/7. And even at that, it only costs me about $100/year at 20 cents per kilowatt hour.

It would only cost you a third of that since you'd only need it from late October to late March.

edit - BTW, just put it on a 12 hour timer if you don't want to run it 24/7.

Amazon.com

 

[lxskllr]

I've thought about putting an incandescent bulb in the enclosure and covering it with a tin can. I have a few 70W-100W lamps I acquired /somewhere/. They were too bright anyway, and they're energy hogs. Would be a decent way to get rid of them. I prefer zero energy, but that's an option.