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I suggest a live-trap--great investment. Over the years I have put up with the neighbor's cats taking out some of the sparrows from my feeder, but this year I realized I had to put an end to it. I'd been noticing that my hostas--six of them--were doing poorly this year. One day when I was watering them, the smell of ammonia came up from the ground, as strong as a spilled bottle. I looked under the foliage of the plants and discovered cat poop everywhere. Loads of it. I talked to the neighbors about it, who insisted that it couldn't have been their cats, and basically let me know they weren't going to do anything about it. I set out our trap (it's actually a raccoon trap) near the hostas and sure enough, first night, I caught one of their cats. My neighbors were furious with me. Keep in mind, this is a live trap--the cat was pretty pissed off, but unharmed. I've never once bitched about the loss of six healthy hostas (they have not recovered from all of the ammonia-rich urine showers they'd been given), but they were mad at me. I let them know that the next time I caught one of their cats, they'd be able to pick them up at animal control. A few days later, they had to spring one of their cats from animal control.

That was about six weeks ago. My plants are still pretty much dead, but I don't have a problem with the neighbor's cats anymore.

I have a live trap. Actually, I have two. I have one large enough for cats, raccoons and the like and one small enough for mice and rats.

I've used the larger one with great success. Even so, using it presents two distinct problems.

Opossums are not a problem, and I have caught many. I just release them and they scoot along. But it was only after I caught my first skunk that I realized I had no plan to get rid of it. I didn't even know how I was going to get it out of the trap! I ended up covering it with a blue tarp then carefully opening the trap. It was nauseating, to say the least. He sprayed while caged; he sprayed when I covered the trap; he sprayed while I was trying to get the trap door open; and he left me one final shot as he ran away.

The second problem is seeing my neighbors' kids canvassing the neighborhood posting pictures of their lost pet. I don't care for cats, but I don't want to take a kid's pet. I didn’t take them to the animal control but I did make their lives a living hell while they were in that trap. A little responsibility on the parents’ part would go a long way. But that’s apparently asking a lot.

BTW…I have a dog but he’s the village idiot. I’ve watched as he raised up, eyed a cat walking across the yard then laid back down and went to sleep. Completely worthless.