Feral or community cats are unowned and live outside. These animals usually aren't socialized, which makes them generally unfriendly and unlikely to be adopted. Unfortunately, if these cats have built a home in your backyard, your lawn and other wildlife could suffer. Before contacting wildlife control, practice the following tips to keep them away.

How to Keep Unowned Cats Away

1. Plant Repellants

Most animals have heightened senses of smell, so use that to your advantage. Since cats hate the scents of cinnamon, rue, rosemary, and citrus, sprinkle these spices around your garden to discourage them from laying there, and spread orange peels around your property. Mint, wintergreen, methol, and lavender are other possible repellants, but they're also poisonous to cats if ingested.

2. Remove Food

Cats will first come to your property if there's food. While dealing with these feral animals, remove birdhouses and birdseed for a short period and discourage other wildlife by closing your garbage cans and waiting to compost. Also, get rid of any smells that could entice cats, unless they're connected to a trap. Clean your grills and tables where food is served and spray a citrus cleaner on top to mask the smell.

3. Set Humane Traps

These animals work on a routine, and will commonly come to your property at a specific time. However, they'll stop coming if they feel uncomfortable. For this reason, if you have sprinklers in your yard, turn them on at random times to scare the cats away. If that isn't enough, call wildlife control or visit a hardware store and purchase a humane, spring-loaded trap that'll close behind the cat once inside. Place food, such as chicken or fish, into the trap before setting it in your yard.

If an unwanted guest keeps making your property its home, get the help you need from the animal control specialists at Urban Wildlife Control in Roswell, GA. For almost 20 years, they’ve provided cost-effective wildlife control services to safely and responsibly remove bats, snakes, rodents, cats, and coyotes. Visit them online to learn more about their feral animal removal, or call (678) 493-7194 today to schedule an emergency service.