LPCullen Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I've developed a lil problem, and I'm hoping you all can help. I've had to drive the truck lately because I'm waiting on a part to come in for my car, and it's presenting a unique problem... As some of you know, I live in the country and there are wild cats around my house. My neighbor also moved out (due to the tree falling on her house) and although she attempted to catch her cat, the cat wouldn't come to her. She's always liked it better at my house, so there she stays. She has 4 kittens and has adopted another one that came up hungry. Anyhow, those 5 kittens have taken to going into my truck, under the hood and in the railing of the body of the truck. I always check under the hood and saw them there one morn. I tried running them out, did the panic button, walked around the truck beating and banging on it to get them out. Took the water hose and squirted all up around under the hood and under the truck. Started off down the road and heard screeching one morning, stopped, two kittens in the railing of the truck--not hurt. Scared, but not hurt. Got them out, took them back to the house. After that, I got into the habit of after doing the ritual checking, I crank the truck up, move it back a few feet, cut it off. Did that this morn, and then moved the truck across the street. Just on the off chance I decided to check under the hood one more time, and lo and behold there was a kitten. Got him out. Anyhow, this is getting to be a real pain in the neck. I really don't want to hurt one of the kittens, and I have sucker on my forehead for any critter that comes up. But, how in the world do I keep these little critters from crawling up in the truck? I've been late to work several days now, and I've done all I know to do .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa R. Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Gosh that's a tough problem. I wonder if the garden spray you can get to deter cats would work on a truck. Lisa R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluejay Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 IF the kittens are old enough, you might try luring them out with tuna (in water) and or some catnip. My mama cat and her kitten go nuts over both of these. Hang in there. I've seen this before and the kittens soon learn not to hop up into the engine compartment. Best of luck, Des Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallhouset Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Linda, Try soaking a rag in amonia and tying it someplace under the hood. It won't hurt the kittens but they won't like the smell and should stay away. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elicia Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 We used to put moth balls in our flower beds to keep the cats out. Maybe you can put moth balls in bags under the hood. Just remember to take them out. I don't think that would be a smell you would want coming back into the truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Good luck with that. One they have found somewhere that they feel secure, they will keep going back there. It may seem harsh, but how about just turning them over to a private cat rescue? There are lots of them and they get the kittens fixed and then adopt them out. I am guessing there is no garage? Even for a while, just to break the habit of them sleeping in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Ok, related story. Our nieces lived on the farm with grandparents for years. They were real cat lovers and wouldn't let us give any of the kittens away. Needless to say, the farm was alive with cats! We have a dump truck that they used to clean out the fire pit (back when we could still burn garbage). Papa had the dump truck parked near the firepit, and one summer we all got lazy about just throwing bags of garbage in the truck instead of burning it. When it got full of garbage bags, papa took it to the dump. He said when he raised the back of the truck so that the garbage would slide out, about 2 dozen cats came out with it. Apparently they had discovered the bounty of food in there! And no, he didn't try to catch them and take them back home with him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 In the country there are not many places for small animals to stay safe warm and dry. We have the same problem here but with squirrels. When you come home the engine is warm and they get up in there. We have even had nests on top of the air filter! Straw was brought in and a little nest was made in there. Anyway the kitties were lucky they were not killed. Poor things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Snakes also like to get up on the engine. We've had those too. One of our favorite cats (mine anyway) was an engine victim. We were on our way to church, it was raining, and the boys were small. When the engine started, we heard what we knew was a cat. DH said he'd take us to church then come back and take care of it so the boys wouldn't see it. When he got back, he discovered that the young cat was still alive but in bad shape. So he loaded her in the car and drove 24 miles to the vet, thinking that the cat would be dead by the time he got there. Now bear in mind, this was just some stray cat, not ours. The vet said he could save the cat and did...after 3 days in an incubator, a tail amputation, and a cast on her leg! Needless to say, after all that, she was our cat and lived in the house! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I go on 'stay at home' jags. So on one of them I had put my truck in the street for some reason. It didn't move for 3 days. I had to go to the store and when I opened the door a large black bird flew out the grill. I thought it was odd and popped the hood. The ENTIRE engine was FULL of straw from the neighbors yard (they had seeded the lawn and covered it in straw) It took me and another neighbor an hour to get it all out. Needless to say, I didn't leave it in the street anymore. Usually if I stay home for some project, I don't go anywhere for a week. What was funny was watching all the black birds frantically looking for my truck with mouthfuls of straw for a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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