Right this moment I can hear a cat outside my house, moaning. It won’t shut up.
You know what else I hear a lot of outside? All the mallard ducks quacking up a storm.
Now personally these don’t bother me too much. I’m used to the noises and accept them as a part of the neighborhood.
I suspect there’s been yet another muscovy duck roundup because I see barely any in the neighborhood now. 😦 Either that or some larger critter is prowling the neighborhood at night and eating them (which could be, but unlikely given the pattern).
I was speaking with a neighbor about this yesterday. It’s odd to us that people complain about the muscovy’s. They don’t really make noise. Sure they poop, but the mallards do too, as well as the cats that wander around, people’s dog’s, and all the other wild birds and critters that roam about. So why are the muscovy’s targeted? Well, probably because US Fish & Wildlife Service allows them to be rounded up *sigh* but everything else gets some sort of protected status; thus, muscovy’s are easy targets (due to the USFWS’s misguided regulations). As well, I know from talking to some people that they don’t like what muscovy’s look or act like because it doesn’t fit the stereotype of a duck, like a mallard does. At first we didn’t like them either, because at first glance the caruncles on their faces can be off-putting, but once you start to really look at them you can see how gorgeous these birds can be (plus they have some pretty cool personalities).
But meantime, there’s more disturbance and trouble from what’s protected than from what is not.
Isn’t discrimination wonderful?
Stuff From Hsoi 
You know- sooner or later, those cats will be spreading your trash all over.
We have three dogs, and the feral cats are still trashing the carport.
Hav-a-heart traps, canned fish and a .22 short.
Just saying, because cats bread faster than rabbits.
All the cats roaming around are neighbor cats… all owned, no ferals here. And all the neighbors are good about getting them fixed. Plus, they are good at keeping the rats and snakes and such at bay. So I’m not really all that upset about them. But again, that’s ME. I own cats myself (indoors only) and can live with it all.
This is a great time of the year to be picking up a ‘cat training tool’ — aka a supersoaker water gun.
I’ve had one stashed by the backdoor for over a year now. Usually filled and ready to go.
Anytime I see one of the neighborhood cats in the yard, I take out after it with the supersoaker. Those fun toys have quite a range on them and the cats hate them!!
I’m not doing it to just be mean though. I have a severe allergy to cats.
Doesn’t harm the cats and eventually they learn to avoid the yard.
Yup. That’s certainly a good way to get them to scoot.
Again, I really don’t care that much about the neighbor cats since they actually are doing a service in keeping the rats and snakes and any other little critters away from our houses. So I’m cool with that. It’s other things that bug me about how the uh…. “muscovy cleansing” proceeds around here.