A pickled onion, a catapult, the neighbours cat & UK law?

Question

Every day l watch my neighbours fat cat climb into my garden, it wanders up to my favourite pear tree and begins to scratch its claws into it for ages, now that pear tree is only young and maybe wont last the winter at this rate. I was thinking, if l fired a soft pickled onion at the cat from my catapult, will it be against the law? I dont want to shoot it with my gun because thats cruel, lm thinking maybe the cat would smell the onion next time it comes in my garden and remember he got shot by it and leave, make sense?
:-)

Answer 1

The idea is the work of genius and you should try it at once.

Maybe start with little silverskin onions that aren't too strong, and if that doesn't work move on to the great big eye-wateringly strong home made pickled onions that my father-in-law used to do. They were hard as rocks and left you with breath that could stun a warthog at 100 metres.

As for putting your gun away, your thought for our dumb animal friends does you great credit. You, sir, are indeed a gentleman.

Answer 2

Catapult Cats

Answer 3

Nothing ventured nothing gained,it is going to cost you a small fortune in pickled onions ,how about an empty plastic pop bottle ,make a small hole in the top fill with water when cat is about to scratch squeeze bottle hard wet the cat and it will run,it works for me,and cat not harmed just wet

Answer 4

The law clearly states: "Feline invaders must be repelled from one's garden by humane means and the only means acceptable to Her Majesty's Government is by the airborne transmission of pickled vegetables, with an onion being considered the most suitable".
See, it's actually the law that you HAVE to do this when a cat comes into your garden so you haven't got a choice, you MUST shoot that pickled onion at it! If you don't you will go to prison

Answer 5

You should make a paste with cayenne pepper and water and put it on your tree where the cat scratches. It won't hurt the tree but it will keep the cat away. I use it in my garden all the time. It won't hurt the cat but it will sure make him think twice b4 going near the tree again.

Answer 6

Actually, you can wrap the trunk of your little tree with a foam pipe insulator, or some other material thats thicker than cat claws are long, and then that will protect the tree.

Also, bleach in a spray bottle, sprayed all over the newly placed cover, grosses cats out. it works really well for us and keeping all animals away from our garbage.

Answer 7

Hi Max...interesting idea, however perhaps you may find the following odour deterrents for cats more effectively helping your neighbour's cat stay away:


Citronella works best for cats as well as citrus scents such as orange or lemon (primarily towards cats), cayenne pepper, coffee grounds, pipe tobacco, lavender oil, lemon grass oil, citronella oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil, and mustard oil.

"Havahart's Cat Repellent" uses capsaicin pepper and oil of mustard as its active ingredients. It repels by both taste and odor, has a lemon scent.

Every animal responds differently to each of these. Some will not be phased by them and others will be quite revolting.

For training purposes they are applied on items that are to encourage avoidance behaviours and not for use with a squirt bottle as they could harm the eyes or respiratory system. Test each substance and observe to see which works as a deterrent so that accidental injestion does not occur as some could then be fatal.

Coleus plants can be effective, but every cat responds differently so it is uncertain without experimenting.

Many people believe mothballs work, however they are considered toxic and should NOT be used. Here's more information on this:
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/ope/enotes/showarticle.cfm?id=89
MOTHBALLS are toxic to cats which contains the ingredient Naphthalene. Mothballs are approximately twice as toxic as paradichlorobenzene, and cats are especially sensitive to naphthalene. Signs of ingestion of naphthalene mothballs include emesis, weakness, lethargy, brown-colored mucous membranes and collapses. Paradichlorobenzene mothballs may cause GI upset, ataxia, disorientation, and depression. Elevations in liver serum biochemical values may occur within 72 hours of indigestion.

Answer 8

You made me laugh. Unfortunately, unless you use something harmless like water its probably enough to get you into trouble; try tying a pickled onion to the tree and use a water pistol. And lag the tree with carpet, and rub that with garlic and orange peel.

Answer 9

oh do get over yourself you silly man. A cat will not kill your flipping tree. If you fire anything at the cat and injure it, you are liable for vet bills and open to prosecution by the RSPCA. I suggest you get yourself a life and perhaps a job so that you have less time to obsess about your neighbours cat , and less time to spend staring out of the window watching for the cat.
I have 11 cats and lots and lots of trees on my land. The youngest planted only this year. All the trees survive nicely.
Your neighbour might be someone like me who would wreak a terrible revenge for anyone caught doing something bad to my cats. One of the last people ended up with glass etching fluid sprayed all over their nice new double glazed windows. I was of course horrified by this act of vandalism and told the nice policeman so too.

Answer 10

Thinking logically i'd of thought that was against the law, it may be considered animal cruelty. I do know that bleach wont work though, i know a cat that loves the smell of bleach, so that wont work. I know it may be a problem for you etc but you might need to consider another plan.