A problem may have moved in next door.

[folgers]

My name is Misty, my husband is Clarence, and our life partner Linda all live here in Tennessee where we have a small 90 acre farm that we keep in about 10 miniature cattle, a rescue lamma. three fallow deer and two hogs on. We also have approximately 50ish feral cats in two colonies that we are the caretakers of as well as 3 house cats Clara, Bobbie, and Sam.

We have a new neighbor on the next place and I took a pie to welcome him to the neighborhood. We were talking about his new place and he said he was going to raise cattle, birds and reptiles for the pet trade. He then asked if there were many cats out and about his property as he had to trap as many as possible as they would kill and harass his birds. I told him that we had three in the family but nothing about our "wild cats". He said that they should be safe, laughed then smirked "kittens make good snake food."

What should I do about protecting our cats while not upsetting the new neighbors? Should we stay quiet about our cats that I know will visit him or should we tell him about it and ask for his cooperation? It could be a ticklish situation because our access to our property is via a shared driveway.

Thanks for your help, I wish my hello forum was not like this. I will try to get some pictures of our babies up soon.

 

[midnightkitty]

I would tell him about the cats on your property and explain the situation.  Hopefully by telling him, he will tell you about any problems the cats are causing so you can handle the problem instead of letting him handling it his way.  If you let him take care of he sees as a problem, you wont have any cats left.  I would also have a conversation with your local police department to find out what can be done if your neighbor causes any problems with your cats.  Always better to find out if you have backup before you need it.

 

[ondine]

I agree with Midnightkitty.  This is tricky as he seems to be very anti-cat.  Maybe you should talk to the police and town/county government first.  That way, you know what the local ordinances say and whether they support your position.  Good luck!

 

[cat nap]

As Ondine, and midnightkitty, wrote, you have to find out what the laws in your area are first. And the rights you have under them.

Then:

Definitely, ask for his "co-operation".  If he knows you are the caretakers of these feral colonies, he may look at things differently.  His birds and reptiles are not going to fly around loose or be out of cages, (unless he is training birds of prey).

But if he is "anti-cat" as Ondine mentioned, then you have to find out where you stand.

   And you may have to build some sort of "safe houses or sheds" for your ferals, for protection, but as @midnightkitty  said, try to get as much info on the laws as pertain to cats, birds, reptiles so that you can better make a plan.

Also, even though he made that insensitve and cruel comment about the kittens, don't hold it against him just yet.  Why he would say that to someone who owns cats, is beyond me, but he may have just not been thinking how cruel that is.  I don't think you live in an area where that would be legally permissible anyway.  So find out what the animal cruelty laws are as well, and who you can call.

I think it is good that you first brought over that pie, because neighbours are good to know, even if  you don't like each other later.

 

[asherdash]

I agree with cat nap, I think I would start building something right away. The neighbors comments are so upsetting. Problems with neighbors ranks as my biggest fear for not buying a house. Wishing you good luck!

 

[folgers]

Thank you for all the responses. I am going to check on the local laws first thing Monday. I am also going to seek advice from the local shelter. I will keep you posted as how it is going. We also plan to be very friendly neighbors for now. I am going to have my husband offer to plow and disc a garden for him.

 

[msaimee]

I had a hostile next door neighbor who, two years ago,  threatened to "take action" against me for feeding my one feral cat, Muffin, on MY PORCH. She was upset because one day she saw a baby groundhog on my porch, and was worried that wildlife would start coming on her property. We live on a dead end suburban street with some woods around us, so there are raccoons, opossum, rabbits, groundhogs, and occasionally deer in the area. She would not say what kind of "action" she would take, only that I was being "forewarned." I spoke with my local police, and they told me I had the right to feed the cat on my property, and she could do nothing about it. Also, if she harmed the cat in any way, she would be in trouble with the law. Legally, I believe Muffin is considered my cat because he's received veterinarian care in my name, so if she hurt him, I would have sued her, as well. I learned by making numerous phone calls that the worse she could do is hire someone to trap Muffin--but Muffin has been trapped before and will not go into a trap--and animal control does not bother with cats anymore in my area. To make a long story short (too late, I guess), EVERYONE on my block knows Muffin and that I am his caregiver, and several know of the threats she made against me. I made sure that they did. They all took my side and have looked out for Muffin. Two years have passed, and this woman finally understands how much I love this cat, she does not make threats against me, and she even allows him to hang out on her property. We are civil to each other. When Muffin brought kittens around our block last summer, my other neighbor and I trapped and adopted them, and I let her know about it. The point I'm trying to make is that you have to communicate with your neighbor--there is absolutely no getting around it. If your cats are well fed, they likely won't be harming the neighbor's birds (Muffin doesn't--they nest above my porch and fly around his head). If your neighbor is at all civil, he will work with you, not against you, but if you don't communicate to him that you are caregiver to these cats, he will feel free to shoot or trap and dispose of them.

 

[Willowy]

Are the feral cats spayed/neutered and vaccinated? If not, I wouldn't blame him to feeling like something has to be done. The population can get out of control very quickly if unspayed females are around, and tomcats can be quite obnoxious. Plus the disease risk if they aren't vaccinated. If they are fixed and vaccinated and all that, tell him that they are your well-cared-for farm cats and you would prefer he not kill any without checking with you first. And make good-faith attempts to protect his birds.

Unfortunately it is legal for him to kill cats on his own property (though there may be laws about HOW they're killed) so I don't think you'll find much legal recourse. Just try to handle it in a good-neighbor kind of way.

 

[msaimee]

It must depend on the state because it is definitely not legal to shoot cats where I live

 

[Willowy]

It is legal to shoot domestic animals as "euthanasia" in all 50 states. There may be laws about how long you must hold a stray and look for its owners before disposing of it. Do familiarize yourself with the local laws so you know what recourse you have. But generally, in farming states, a farmer has more rights than the average citizen, and full rights to "protect his livestock" through any means necessary.

 

[red top rescue]

That comment about kittens being good snake food is not new, it is a known fact.  We continue to try to warn people who put out "Free To Good Home" signs that they should always charge an adoption fee of a little bit more than a pet store charges for a rat.  It is heartbreaking, but it's true.  I have no doubt that if your neighbor found a litter of kittens, he would indeed turn them into snake food, so if your ferals aren't spayed, their kittens are in danger if they don't hide them well.

 

[angelinacat]

Where in Tennessee are you? 

My BIL is in Morristown  Tennessee, on Cherokee Drive.  BIL married a sweet-seeming member of one of these families, thinking he had found a love of his life, but no. The people, other than BIL, are VERY close-minded to new ideas, or  people.  If you have one of these Neanderthals living next to you, there is almost nothing you can do to change the mind-set.

I wish you the best....

 

[msaimee]

Willowy, I'm not at all talking about shelters performing euthanasia, and I didn't think that's was you were referring to, either. I know that during the past few years, a neighbor on my block shot 2 rabid raccoons that were on our block and approaching people in the daylight with teeth bared, and last summer he also shot a wounded opossum that charged at his daughter. The police threatened to cite and fine him if he ever shoots another animal again, because only the police and game commissioner are allowed to shoot wildlife--even if the wildlife are on our properties and posing a danger. The police also informed me that if my (formerly) hostile neighbor killed my feral cat, they would press charges against that person for animal cruelty. I live in a suburb with woods surrounding my block. I was not aware that the laws are that different in farming states. The best approach is to try to talk with one's neighbors and see if there is a way to peacefully co-exist without having to worry about one's cats getting shot--I guess that's the point I was trying to make.

 

[random gemini]

I agree with cat nap, I think I would start building something right away. The neighbors comments are so upsetting. Problems with neighbors ranks as my biggest fear for not buying a house. Wishing you good luck!

I would think this would be the number one reason TO buy a house. 

When you own, your landlord can't kick you out for some arbitrary reason, and when you rent, you still have to deal with neighbors and landscaping and all of the other stuff. You're just paying someone else's mortgage. Renting isn't a good deal, not financially. 

You can, and the neighbor in this scenario should have done this, go talk to the neighbors before you move in. Ask about any concerns you have with the neighborhood. We had a couple of dogs across the street that were constant barkers, I found out before I moved in, because I talked to my neighbors. This didn't bother me, but the next guy that came along looking to buy a house nearby was bothered by that and I told him, "This is a very dog friendly neighborhood. There are coyotes that live nearby. If you're not a fan of barking dogs or the sounds of nature, you might want to look elsewhere." He passed on the house and some wonderful dog owners moved in down the street. 

Just research the house you're looking at, BEFORE you make an offer. Go talk to the neighbors about where they live. Most are happy to talk to you about the neighborhood and the community. 

 

[lrosewiles]

Without any experience on this particular situation but having one neighbor who professed to "hate cats" (when we have 5 rescues) I can't emphasize enough the talk to your neighbor approach.  My  first victory was introducing our hostile neighbor to one of our rescue cats, Mr. Patches, who is a very sociable guy ..  he has a collar and after meeting him and being somewhat won over by him, our cat-hating neighbor said ok, when I see that blue collar I know that's your cat Patches and he's ok.  That was the start of a slow conversion from cat -hater to "ok with cats".  The key is to get the nasty neighbor to see your cats as individuals and not snake food.  Clearly with ferals collars for all is not an option, but can you get one or two collared to get a start?  Show him that they are someone's treasures and not strays up for grabs?  It's a matter of introducing a different mind set ...

 

[angelinacat]

 
Where in Tennessee are you? 

My BIL is in Morristown  Tennessee, on Cherokee Drive.  BIL married a sweet-seeming member of one of these families, thinking he had found a love of his life, but no. The people, other than BIL, are VERY close-minded to new ideas, or  people.  If you have one of these Neanderthals living next to you, there is almost nothing you can do to change the mind-set.

I wish you the best....

I should have added that the people living around BIL and SIL's house are related to her, and ALL of them are engaged in psychological warfare.  Whenever we visit, and we have Yorkie with us, both of them are cautioning us to not let him run around, as they (the neighbors) will shoot or set out poison for him.

 

[lrosewiles]

Oh, I see my friendly "talk to your neighbors" approach may be a non-starter here, and the legal aspect is the only way to go .. so sorry to see you in such a horrible situation

 

[jane11]

Yikes. You need to watch after your ferals. We have seen a situation where a snake owner put out traps baited with food to entice ferals onto his property. Then he proceeded to feed the unfortunate cats to his snake, Fortunately two of the neighborhood boys convinced him not to do that again.

Don't assume the law is on your side, though. In many states the law tends to ignore ferals.

 

[Norachan]

Is there any way you could build a cat-proof fence between your property and the neighbours? Or cat-proof any existing fences so that your cats don't go over to his place?

Making sure all the cats have been TNR'd goes a long way to keeping the neighbours happy, I've found. I always make a point of telling anyone who shows any interest that all the cats are fixed and that I'm caring for them.

I'm lucky because I live in rice and corn growing country and the cats are seen as a good way to protect the crops from mice. The only complaints I get are about tom cats fighting, but if you don't have any intact females around and your careful about not leaving food out that would attract new-comers, this won't be such a problem.

Good luck, I hope you and all your cats stay safe.

 

[folgers]

Yesterday we heard a shot and we thought that he had shot one of our babies. This morning he came by and said he hoped he didn't scare us with the shot last night and then he pointed to a dead coyote hanging on a pole.This might not be as bad as I thought.