Do your neighborhood cats think your beds are great... for potty purposes?

In 2014, I had cats pooping, coyotes pooping, and deer standing in and grazing in my raised beds. I had some problems!  Fortunately, two of the three critters were easy to dissuade.

Now coyotes, are a secretive bunch.  I'm not sure what discouraged them, but shortly after the cats started pooping everywhere, the coyote poop disappeared. Maybe one discourages the other.  If you don't have cats then... get a dog.

The deer were effectively discouraged by pinwheels.  The erratic spinning spooked them.  They also hate putting their heads down into things.  So if you have a favorite plant you're looking to protect, try a tight fence of some kind or strings that surround the plant about 2 feet high off the ground.

I have cats for rodent-control purposes (I had mice eating my tomatoes in 2013!).  And the neighbors have cats.  And since cats love to dig in loose soil to poop, I have cat problems! Not only is the poop gross, but they dig up my plants and bulbs with their cat hole digging and burying! aaarrrggg!

I read a lot of solutions for discouraging cats.  Some were great, some were worthless.

- Citrus- oil, spray, and peels.  Nope, didn't work at all and looked terrible

- Coffee Grounds- Also a "no"

- Human Hair-  Discourages feral cats, but not your own

- Yelling like a maniac and waving your arms- nope; they just get more sneaky

- Physical Barrier- YES!  Cats hate digging around or through certain things.  The best: fencing or chicken wire prostrate on the ground.  Thorns clipped from blackberry or rose bushes.  Woody clippings from rosemary or lavender.   Poky sticks too heavy to be easily moved.

- Pepper - YES!  Cats like to do a little gentle digging before they squat.  They do NOT like to get that scent of pepper.  Black pepper, chili pepper, and red pepper work!

- Water spraying - YES!  This works well with your own cats.  When you're out watering your beds.  Just squirt at them anytime they lay a paw on the raised bed and they will quickly get the picture.

If all else fails....    Human Urine


I'm just throwing it out there.  No one likes to talk about it, but it's free, it's easily accessible, it speaks to the animals on their level, and it almost always works.  The problem is; you gotta keep it fresh daily.  And... how do you get it outside... ?   I'll let you figure that one out.