Ouch, Jill! Most cat trees come with one instruction sheet and six pictures! LOL. I don't know which cat tree you bought, but the ones I saw on that website consisted of two poles and three shelves and that was about it! Sandpaper? My gosh ... are you refinishing it, too?

I know you can figure this out -- and, if not, then maybe Grace and Blondie can!

Clare, cats don't learn. Otherwise, Legs would not have gotten locked in four garages in four months. So far he's stayed out of them. Never have gotten the Pod Tracker on him. I wanted to get him used to wearing a collar first and that's not working. The only thing he likes rubbing around his neck are my fingers.

Thankfully, yours wear theirs and you can find out where they are at any given time. I worry when I see garage doors on my street open or work vans with their back doors open. I've tried to warn all my neighbors that Legs likes open garages and to make sure he's not in there when they close them. I've even had to check ours a few times. I pray Hendrix and Jagger stay safe from everything. They are not going to be all-indoor cats, and they don't seem to know how to be careful out there -- at least Hendrix.

Clare, have the foxes cleared out of your garden yet?

Not a bad likeness to our garden a few weeks ago lol. I had all four of the family brazenly running around it one night knowing I was watching!

It's definitely getting better. My deterrents seem to be sending them the message they're not welcome. I managed to set up the jet spray one this weekend. I was convinced it wasn't working, attached it to the hose, walked in front of it and got completely drenched. I had to get drenched again to turn it off! Fortunately it was a very hot day so getting a cold shower was quite nice.

I set it up that night and watched daddy fox jump from the shed roof in another garden on to our fence, jump down and get the fright of his life. I then saw another one coming back from the person who feeds them with a mouthful of roast chicken, and that one got a shock too

Unfortunately I got drenched again at 5.30 am the next morning when taking it back down so the boys didn't get caught by it. It was a bit chilly at that time of day so I didn't put it out the following night! I need to work on that!

Worth investing in the deterrents though as I can use them again next year as it's an annual issue. I'm using them on random nights now to confuse them and make them feel less safe. The jet spray is pretty powerful, it nearly knocked me off my feet so I can't imagine the foxes wanting to mess with that too often!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

I hear you! Between the raccoons, the snake and the mouse, there is too much nature running around my house for my comfort zone. Your neighbor should not feed the foxes…that will keep them around. I am sure you are frustrated by that. Every time I hear Blondie and Grace batting away at something out there I run to see what is going on. Yesterday I looked out and each one was sitting on a cushioned seat of two low arm chairs facing each other. It was so sweet and warmed my heart.

Clare, can't you just turn off the water supply without walking in front of them? We thought about getting a couple when we had problems with a neighbor's cat, but then thought about the guy who fertilizes the yard, coming around the house and getting blasted from two directions! So we didn't get them. The cat moved away, so all is well. I could not deal with foxes. Saw our wild turkeys (mom, dad and two babies) a few days ago. They usually come at the end of summer. Had a deer come up to our fence in the backyard. A small raccoon visits daily and clears out the cat food unless I spot him and chase him away. He runs just through the fence where he knows I can't get him. I have not seen a fox in years and years.

Hope the foxes get the hint and stay away.

Yes, but it still got me from the remaining water in the hose lol Had a fox free evening again last night but will put it out again this weekend, just to be sure!

Jill, I wouldn't be happy with a snake. These cats are lovely to point out to us all the wildlife surrounding us aren't they? I'm not even sure if the rats at the end of the garden are sorted yet - I don't know if Mr Pest Control has been back but the bait box is still there. My two did find a slow worm in the garden I had to rescue from them but that is classed as a legless lizard and not a snake. So I didn't mind picking that up and putting it somewhere safe. I couldn't do much about the frog they discovered recently, as I don't have a pond but it survived their attention. They would just pat it to make it jump all over the garden until they got bored. I checked on it and it was fine and unhurt and later had hopped off to safety.

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

There are some poisonous toads that will squirt their poison -- I don't know where they live, but I hope it's not where any of us are living!

Chamber of horrors indeed! My two rarely catch anything, but tonight Jagger proudly presented me with a still alive bird that I imagine he caught in our border. Not great timing, I'm supposed to be resting having had both my knees drained and injected at the hospital this morning... but I obviously had to get up and get the bird off jagger, get scratched for my trouble, put the bird outside to die (hopefully quickly) and clean up the feathers and mess where it flew around my bedroom and hall.

Feel terrible about the bird, but digging a hole in the rain would be a bit much for my knees right now.

Jagger looked a right little psycho with blood all down his chin. Lovely (not).

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

That's the worst, when you are out of sorts and in pain and they go and do something outrageous like that! I would be beside myself if I had to pry a bird away from them. I hope you feel better; knee pain is so draining.

I love that - Huffy the Bunnyslayer!

I'm not sure my two really understand that the birds they catch are 'alive' - I honestly think they consider them toys! Hendrix's face when the Great Tit he caught a couple of months ago, died, just says 'why has it stopped playing?'! I don't think they have a clue how to kill anything, it's generally an accident!

They certainly never try to eat their 'kills'!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

The last couple of days my two have not been spending time on the patio the way they used to. I open the door and they run out and then come back in and follow me around. I am not sure if the snake and rat have put them off being out there or if it is just too hot and rainy. If I go out they come out with me and when I go in, they follow me. Yesterday there was a funny odor, like an animal sprayed in the area. They sniffed around and went inside. Hopefully the hard rain we had last night and today will wash that away.