Birds eating all of the cat food!

[leeann77]

I've been feeding a small group of ferals down by my woods for almost two years. They are not tame enough to come running when I put the food out. There is always a bowl of cat chow down there, so they come by at their leisure. I also put canned out when it's not too cold but now in the summer heat the flies are disgusting.

All of a sudden a roving gang of birds (either starlings or grackles) are coming by and emptying the bowl! Does anyone else have this problem? I feel horrible when the cats come by and the bowl is empty, but I can't keep paying to feed the birds cat chow. If it wasn't so hot, I could put canned out.

Any ideas would be welcome!!!!

Lee Ann

 

[astrayortwo]

Hi there!

I've heard that putting a lattice laundry basket over the cat food with a hole in it for the cat to go in and out works!
Hope this helps! xx

 

[ondine]

The laundry basket idea is good - if you attach it to a pallet, it won't blow away.  Any structure with a roof will keep the birds (at least most of them) away.

Can you try a whirlygig or two?  It might disrupt the cats at first but they will definitely scare the birds away.

 

[leeann77]

Thanks for the ideas! I did some reading last night and found an old thread from here, it doesn't look promising. People have tried everything! I am leaning towards some kind of covered box with a flap- we'll see if they use it. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[Norachan]

Have you tried looking up ways that gardeners keep birds off their plants? Things like a net suspended over the food bowls so that the cats can walk under it but the birds can't fly down and land. Or some old computer discs suspended on strings keep the birds away.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Here is an old thread not sure if it's the one you saw

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272648/...ing-starlings-from-devouring-feral-kitty-food

 

[msaimee]

http://www.outdoorpetfeeder.com/

This worked wonderfully for my outdoor feral--I never had a problem with the birds getting into his food again. I taped the flap up, for better ease for him to eat, and it still worked great.