please tell it's not just my two - this is awful they have got 3 birds in a day, all leaving the nest, I have been trying to keep them in but they are on the garage roof since early and refuse to come down, I have been out with the hosepipe...gone right off them.......
Cats on a killing spree
When I was last at the vet I saw they were recommending a sonic collar that senses how a cat is moving and makes a noise if it goes into hunting mode, they said it seems to work very well. If my vet has them I guess they must be available else where too.
Don't be too cross with them though horrid as it is they are only acting on instinct and probably can't help themselves doing it.
Don't be too cross with them though horrid as it is they are only acting on instinct and probably can't help themselves doing it.
Originally Posted by molliepops:
“When I was last at the vet I saw they were recommending a sonic collar that senses how a cat is moving and makes a noise if it goes into hunting mode, they said it seems to work very well. If my vet has them I guess they must be available else where too.
Don't be too cross with them though horrid as it is they are only acting on instinct and probably can't help themselves doing it.”
“When I was last at the vet I saw they were recommending a sonic collar that senses how a cat is moving and makes a noise if it goes into hunting mode, they said it seems to work very well. If my vet has them I guess they must be available else where too.
Don't be too cross with them though horrid as it is they are only acting on instinct and probably can't help themselves doing it.”
They don't work that well. My boys had them off in no time. They have several bells now but still manage to catch things. Tom has just got another magpie- his second this season.
I know how you feel - we had 4 birds brought to us in the space of 24 hours last weekend, another this afternoon and 2 mice during the week. Thankfully, only one of our cats is a hunter - otherwise we'd have twice that amount!
My Husband insists on burying all their kills and we now have a three tier burial system in the garden
My Husband insists on burying all their kills and we now have a three tier burial system in the garden
Originally Posted by beebo:
“please tell it's not just my two - this is awful they have got 3 birds in a day, all leaving the nest, I have been trying to keep them in but they are on the garage roof since early and refuse to come down, I have been out with the hosepipe...gone right off them.......”
“please tell it's not just my two - this is awful they have got 3 birds in a day, all leaving the nest, I have been trying to keep them in but they are on the garage roof since early and refuse to come down, I have been out with the hosepipe...gone right off them.......”
You are most certainly not alone! My youngest was into double figures in just over a week. I was at my wits end. We had baby sparrows, blue tits, 3 baby blue tits (the worst
) and she even managed to match a gorgeous goldfinch 
Anyway, it seems to have slowed down now, although the other day I did find a headless sparrow in the hall She is still getting them but they seem to not be so young so have a fighting chance if I can get to them quick and get the poor things off of her.
This time of year is the worst for the birds (& the best for the cats!) when all the baby birds are fledging. I'm lucky in that my 2 cats seem to be mousers rather than birders so I've only had one dead sparrow on the patio & I'm not sure that it was one of my cats anyway.
Would it be possible to keep your cats indoors at dawn & dusk to minimise the chances of getting birds as this is when the birds are most active & feeding?
Would it be possible to keep your cats indoors at dawn & dusk to minimise the chances of getting birds as this is when the birds are most active & feeding?
I've been really lucky with mine....I've always lived with cats, from the strays my nan used to take in, to my beautiful little Rosie, who I have now and none of them have been big hunters, or brought any dead presents home
I had one cat who used to bring live birds in, and watch them fly around, and Rosie brings live frogs home, never injured or harmed in any way
I think I must make them too lazy...
I had one cat who used to bring live birds in, and watch them fly around, and Rosie brings live frogs home, never injured or harmed in any way
I think I must make them too lazy...
Originally Posted by wilhemina:
“This time of year is the worst for the birds (& the best for the cats!) when all the baby birds are fledging. I'm lucky in that my 2 cats seem to be mousers rather than birders so I've only had one dead sparrow on the patio & I'm not sure that it was one of my cats anyway.
Would it be possible to keep your cats indoors at dawn & dusk to minimise the chances of getting birds as this is when the birds are most active & feeding?”
“This time of year is the worst for the birds (& the best for the cats!) when all the baby birds are fledging. I'm lucky in that my 2 cats seem to be mousers rather than birders so I've only had one dead sparrow on the patio & I'm not sure that it was one of my cats anyway.
Would it be possible to keep your cats indoors at dawn & dusk to minimise the chances of getting birds as this is when the birds are most active & feeding?”
Yes I have bought some cat litter and they are in for a while, last night I was hand feeding a baby bird with an injury live worms poor thing didn't make it....feel so guilty.
I don't know if this will help anyone concerned about their cat's hunting abilities & it certainly won't stop them, but might reduce their motivation to hunt so vigorously.
Studies of cats have shown that there is a link between how hungry a cat is and the amount of risk they are willing to take in hunting & killing prey. So, for example, a starving cat may be prepared to risk injury & tackle an adult rat, whilst a well-fed cat would not risk tackling a rat but may be prepared to make a token effort to catch one of the UK's extremely dangerous butterflies
.
Cats cannot help themselves when it comes to practising predatory skills ~ they are so highly motivated to keep their predatory skills toned that they will stalk, chase & kill prey, or things that resemble prey, even when not hungry.
If we put these things together then we can see why even well-fed cats will use fledglings for predatory practice ~ the young birds pose little or no risk of injury to the cats, they are relatively easy to catch, they make a lot of noise & movement that will stimulate a cat's motivation to hunt.
So what about trying the following to reduce the amount of time our cats feel like hunting:
Feed a variety of foods in small amounts split over many (maybe 5 to 10) meals a day. Cats usually like variety, only eat small (mouse-sized) meals at a time & feral cats can eat 6 to 12 small meals a day. This would mean that our cats would not feel really hungry at any time & therefore would be less-motivated to spend a lot of time & energy hunting.
Give larger meals of their favourite foods early morning & late afternoon so that the cats are fuller at times when the birds are most active.
Devote a lot more of our time to playing with our cats with interactive toys that resemble prey & stimulate predatory behaviours. Maybe try to do this for several minutes at a time 4 to 5 times a day whenever our cats are up & about.
As the weather's good, we can do this in the garden with feathers tied to string or even a piece of (raw?) meat tied to string. You can then eventually let your cat catch the meat, "kill" it & eat it. This way your cat would be performing the whole repertoire of food acquisition behaviours, from locating, stalking, catching, killing & eating its prey.
I don't know if anyone has tried this to reduce their cat's hunting behaviours but I would be very interested to know if it has any effect.
Studies of cats have shown that there is a link between how hungry a cat is and the amount of risk they are willing to take in hunting & killing prey. So, for example, a starving cat may be prepared to risk injury & tackle an adult rat, whilst a well-fed cat would not risk tackling a rat but may be prepared to make a token effort to catch one of the UK's extremely dangerous butterflies
.Cats cannot help themselves when it comes to practising predatory skills ~ they are so highly motivated to keep their predatory skills toned that they will stalk, chase & kill prey, or things that resemble prey, even when not hungry.
If we put these things together then we can see why even well-fed cats will use fledglings for predatory practice ~ the young birds pose little or no risk of injury to the cats, they are relatively easy to catch, they make a lot of noise & movement that will stimulate a cat's motivation to hunt.
So what about trying the following to reduce the amount of time our cats feel like hunting:
Feed a variety of foods in small amounts split over many (maybe 5 to 10) meals a day. Cats usually like variety, only eat small (mouse-sized) meals at a time & feral cats can eat 6 to 12 small meals a day. This would mean that our cats would not feel really hungry at any time & therefore would be less-motivated to spend a lot of time & energy hunting.
Give larger meals of their favourite foods early morning & late afternoon so that the cats are fuller at times when the birds are most active.
Devote a lot more of our time to playing with our cats with interactive toys that resemble prey & stimulate predatory behaviours. Maybe try to do this for several minutes at a time 4 to 5 times a day whenever our cats are up & about.
As the weather's good, we can do this in the garden with feathers tied to string or even a piece of (raw?) meat tied to string. You can then eventually let your cat catch the meat, "kill" it & eat it. This way your cat would be performing the whole repertoire of food acquisition behaviours, from locating, stalking, catching, killing & eating its prey.
I don't know if anyone has tried this to reduce their cat's hunting behaviours but I would be very interested to know if it has any effect.
Mine hardly kills anything as I feed her and look after her well with plenty of hunting fun in the house where she gets all the excitement stalking string or her knobbly wobbly.
Originally Posted by wilhemina:
“I don't know if this will help anyone concerned about their cat's hunting abilities & it certainly won't stop them, but might reduce their motivation to hunt so vigorously.
Studies of cats have shown that there is a link between how hungry a cat is and the amount of risk they are willing to take in hunting & killing prey. So, for example, a starving cat may be prepared to risk injury & tackle an adult rat, whilst a well-fed cat would not risk tackling a rat but may be prepared to make a token effort to catch one of the UK's extremely dangerous butterflies.
Cats cannot help themselves when it comes to practising predatory skills ~ they are so highly motivated to keep their predatory skills toned that they will stalk, chase & kill prey, or things that resemble prey, even when not hungry.
If we put these things together then we can see why even well-fed cats will use fledglings for predatory practice ~ the young birds pose little or no risk of injury to the cats, they are relatively easy to catch, they make a lot of noise & movement that will stimulate a cat's motivation to hunt.
So what about trying the following to reduce the amount of time our cats feel like hunting:
Feed a variety of foods in small amounts split over many (maybe 5 to 10) meals a day. Cats usually like variety, only eat small (mouse-sized) meals at a time & feral cats can eat 6 to 12 small meals a day. This would mean that our cats would not feel really hungry at any time & therefore would be less-motivated to spend a lot of time & energy hunting.
Give larger meals of their favourite foods early morning & late afternoon so that the cats are fuller at times when the birds are most active.
Devote a lot more of our time to playing with our cats with interactive toys that resemble prey & stimulate predatory behaviours. Maybe try to do this for several minutes at a time 4 to 5 times a day whenever our cats are up & about.
As the weather's good, we can do this in the garden with feathers tied to string or even a piece of (raw?) meat tied to string. You can then eventually let your cat catch the meat, "kill" it & eat it. This way your cat would be performing the whole repertoire of food acquisition behaviours, from locating, stalking, catching, killing & eating its prey.
I don't know if anyone has tried this to reduce their cat's hunting behaviours but I would be very interested to know if it has any effect.”
“I don't know if this will help anyone concerned about their cat's hunting abilities & it certainly won't stop them, but might reduce their motivation to hunt so vigorously.
Studies of cats have shown that there is a link between how hungry a cat is and the amount of risk they are willing to take in hunting & killing prey. So, for example, a starving cat may be prepared to risk injury & tackle an adult rat, whilst a well-fed cat would not risk tackling a rat but may be prepared to make a token effort to catch one of the UK's extremely dangerous butterflies
.Cats cannot help themselves when it comes to practising predatory skills ~ they are so highly motivated to keep their predatory skills toned that they will stalk, chase & kill prey, or things that resemble prey, even when not hungry.
If we put these things together then we can see why even well-fed cats will use fledglings for predatory practice ~ the young birds pose little or no risk of injury to the cats, they are relatively easy to catch, they make a lot of noise & movement that will stimulate a cat's motivation to hunt.
So what about trying the following to reduce the amount of time our cats feel like hunting:
Feed a variety of foods in small amounts split over many (maybe 5 to 10) meals a day. Cats usually like variety, only eat small (mouse-sized) meals at a time & feral cats can eat 6 to 12 small meals a day. This would mean that our cats would not feel really hungry at any time & therefore would be less-motivated to spend a lot of time & energy hunting.
Give larger meals of their favourite foods early morning & late afternoon so that the cats are fuller at times when the birds are most active.
Devote a lot more of our time to playing with our cats with interactive toys that resemble prey & stimulate predatory behaviours. Maybe try to do this for several minutes at a time 4 to 5 times a day whenever our cats are up & about.
As the weather's good, we can do this in the garden with feathers tied to string or even a piece of (raw?) meat tied to string. You can then eventually let your cat catch the meat, "kill" it & eat it. This way your cat would be performing the whole repertoire of food acquisition behaviours, from locating, stalking, catching, killing & eating its prey.
I don't know if anyone has tried this to reduce their cat's hunting behaviours but I would be very interested to know if it has any effect.”
Thats very interesting and my explain why my cats isn't much of a hunter
As well as morning and afternoon feeding times, I always give my cat "tip bits" of different types of biscuits and treats throughout the day..I never leave my cat without some food down, and change it when she asks (shes spoilt I know
) and of course we all play with her loads
So it seem we may have been actively discouraging any hunting without even realising it
Originally Posted by rosemary:
“Thats very interesting and my explain why my cats isn't much of a hunter
As well as morning and afternoon feeding times, I always give my cat "tip bits" of different types of biscuits and treats throughout the day..I never leave my cat without some food down, and change it when she asks (shes spoilt I know)
and of course we all play with her loads
So it seem we may have been actively discouraging any hunting without even realising it”
“Thats very interesting and my explain why my cats isn't much of a hunter
As well as morning and afternoon feeding times, I always give my cat "tip bits" of different types of biscuits and treats throughout the day..I never leave my cat without some food down, and change it when she asks (shes spoilt I know
) and of course we all play with her loads
So it seem we may have been actively discouraging any hunting without even realising it”
thanks Wilhemina for a great post. I do also find this really interesting. A while ago my youngest cat went to the vets just for being under the weather. Anyway, to cut a long story short the vet found her gums to be very sore, so asked me to reduce how much she ate, said it should only be twice a day and to try her on biscuits (which to this day she has never eaten!
) I reduced her meals by taking away her lunchtime meal. Took a while but I did it. She is now a really super hunter, one week we were into double figures. I couldn't keep up with it. I wonder if it is now because of what Wilhemina has written? Very interesting!!
Originally Posted by Zigesa:
“thanks Wilhemina for a great post. I do also find this really interesting. A while ago my youngest cat went to the vets just for being under the weather. Anyway, to cut a long story short the vet found her gums to be very sore, so asked me to reduce how much she ate, said it should only be twice a day and to try her on biscuits (which to this day she has never eaten!) I reduced her meals by taking away her lunchtime meal. Took a while but I did it. She is now a really super hunter, one week we were into double figures. I couldn't keep up with it. I wonder if it is now because of what Wilhemina has written? Very interesting!!”
“thanks Wilhemina for a great post. I do also find this really interesting. A while ago my youngest cat went to the vets just for being under the weather. Anyway, to cut a long story short the vet found her gums to be very sore, so asked me to reduce how much she ate, said it should only be twice a day and to try her on biscuits (which to this day she has never eaten!
) I reduced her meals by taking away her lunchtime meal. Took a while but I did it. She is now a really super hunter, one week we were into double figures. I couldn't keep up with it. I wonder if it is now because of what Wilhemina has written? Very interesting!!”
It may well be that her sore gums were previously inhibiting her hunting as it could make moving uncomfortable (toothache and many other conditions including soreness hurt much more if you jog or jolt yourself) and it would certainly make it uncomfortable to have a bird or mouse frantically wriggling in your mouth so it is unsurprising if her hunting improved once her gums were better. It she was also overweight that would also not help her hunting.
Research in the past, sorry I forget who did it now, has shown that feeding mousing cats does nothing to reduce their mousing prowess so farm and shipyard cats will catch and kill just as much when well fed although they are less likely to eat their kill and they may take long playing with their prey for entertainment value rather than killing it more quickly in order to be able to eat it. The point of the research was feline welfare as to whether it was necessary to have cats hungry for them to be effective working cats.
It stands to reason that well-musculed, fit, healthy cats will be more effective hunters than overweight, underweight, weak, unwell, painful, unfit or elderly cats.
Genetics, maternal example and practise also influence how good a hunter a cat will be. Many good mousing farm cat mothers will bring weakened or young prey back for the kittens to practise on.
I agree that well fed cats are just as likely to go out hunting for prey as feral or stray cats. There have been many studies of this (Leyhausen 1956 & 1979, Turner & Mertens 1986) but other studies (Liberg 1984) also show that well fed domestic cats will only spend just over half as much time hunting as feral cats. So by at least feeding little & often we may be able to reduce the amount of time that our cats spend hunting.
Most studies on cats' predatory behaviour have concentrated on the cat's activities after prey has been detected & concentrate on how cats deal with prey. Hunting really begins with the search for potential prey. If we, as owners, can try to satisfy the motivation to search for prey by providing object play that resembles predatory behaviour, then perhaps we can reduce the drive & motivation to go out looking for prey. Auditory & visual cues are extremely important once a cat has started to hunt so toys/objects that emit very high-pitched squeaking & move through vegetation in ways that resemble a mouse or ground-feeding bird, would probably be the best way to get the cat's attention & stimulate the prey drive. Perhaps there's a market for these sort of toys somewhere?
Hall & Bradshaw (1998) also found that object play & predation are similarly affected by hunger & the size of prey so perhaps more object play will reduce the drive to seek out live prey.
Another factor to consider is how intensively cats hunt. Whilst feeding our cats may have little effect on the cat's motivation to hunt, we can perhaps try to at least reduce the intensity of the hunting behaviour by providing more object play.
Leyhausen's research also showed that capturing prey, killing it & consuming it are relatively independent of each other & that the capture & killing of prey is independent of hunger. So on this basis, well fed cats would be just as likely to carry on capturing & killing prey but less likely to eat it. (Hence the array of dead bodies that are brought back to us intact). If we concentrate on providing an outlet for the first two parts of this sequence, i.e. the hunt & capture of prey, again this might reduce their motivation for the hunt/capture behavioural sequence.
Thanks every one for your views on this. I'll see if I can find some more up to date research. In the meantime I'm off to drag a small piece of raw meat through the bushes in my garden while squeaking in a high-pitched voice ~ I just hope the neighbours don't call the men in white coats.
Most studies on cats' predatory behaviour have concentrated on the cat's activities after prey has been detected & concentrate on how cats deal with prey. Hunting really begins with the search for potential prey. If we, as owners, can try to satisfy the motivation to search for prey by providing object play that resembles predatory behaviour, then perhaps we can reduce the drive & motivation to go out looking for prey. Auditory & visual cues are extremely important once a cat has started to hunt so toys/objects that emit very high-pitched squeaking & move through vegetation in ways that resemble a mouse or ground-feeding bird, would probably be the best way to get the cat's attention & stimulate the prey drive. Perhaps there's a market for these sort of toys somewhere
? Hall & Bradshaw (1998) also found that object play & predation are similarly affected by hunger & the size of prey so perhaps more object play will reduce the drive to seek out live prey.
Another factor to consider is how intensively cats hunt. Whilst feeding our cats may have little effect on the cat's motivation to hunt, we can perhaps try to at least reduce the intensity of the hunting behaviour by providing more object play.
Leyhausen's research also showed that capturing prey, killing it & consuming it are relatively independent of each other & that the capture & killing of prey is independent of hunger. So on this basis, well fed cats would be just as likely to carry on capturing & killing prey but less likely to eat it. (Hence the array of dead bodies that are brought back to us intact
). If we concentrate on providing an outlet for the first two parts of this sequence, i.e. the hunt & capture of prey, again this might reduce their motivation for the hunt/capture behavioural sequence. Thanks every one for your views on this. I'll see if I can find some more up to date research. In the meantime I'm off to drag a small piece of raw meat through the bushes in my garden while squeaking in a high-pitched voice ~ I just hope the neighbours don't call the men in white coats
.
Originally Posted by wilhemina:
“I agree that well fed cats are just as likely to go out hunting for prey as feral or stray cats. There have been many studies of this (Leyhausen 1956 & 1979, Turner & Mertens 1986) but other studies (Liberg 1984) also show that well fed domestic cats will only spend just over half as much time hunting as feral cats. So by at least feeding little & often we may be able to reduce the amount of time that our cats spend hunting.
Most studies on cats' predatory behaviour have concentrated on the cat's activities after prey has been detected & concentrate on how cats deal with prey. Hunting really begins with the search for potential prey. If we, as owners, can try to satisfy the motivation to search for prey by providing object play that resembles predatory behaviour, then perhaps we can reduce the drive & motivation to go out looking for prey. Auditory & visual cues are extremely important once a cat has started to hunt so toys/objects that emit very high-pitched squeaking & move through vegetation in ways that resemble a mouse or ground-feeding bird, would probably be the best way to get the cat's attention & stimulate the prey drive. Perhaps there's a market for these sort of toys somewhere?
Hall & Bradshaw (1998) also found that object play & predation are similarly affected by hunger & the size of prey so perhaps more object play will reduce the drive to seek out live prey.”
“I agree that well fed cats are just as likely to go out hunting for prey as feral or stray cats. There have been many studies of this (Leyhausen 1956 & 1979, Turner & Mertens 1986) but other studies (Liberg 1984) also show that well fed domestic cats will only spend just over half as much time hunting as feral cats. So by at least feeding little & often we may be able to reduce the amount of time that our cats spend hunting.
Most studies on cats' predatory behaviour have concentrated on the cat's activities after prey has been detected & concentrate on how cats deal with prey. Hunting really begins with the search for potential prey. If we, as owners, can try to satisfy the motivation to search for prey by providing object play that resembles predatory behaviour, then perhaps we can reduce the drive & motivation to go out looking for prey. Auditory & visual cues are extremely important once a cat has started to hunt so toys/objects that emit very high-pitched squeaking & move through vegetation in ways that resemble a mouse or ground-feeding bird, would probably be the best way to get the cat's attention & stimulate the prey drive. Perhaps there's a market for these sort of toys somewhere
? Hall & Bradshaw (1998) also found that object play & predation are similarly affected by hunger & the size of prey so perhaps more object play will reduce the drive to seek out live prey.”
The conclusion they came to about this was that bigger prey such as rabbits or rats could cause serious injury to the hunting cat while defending themselves so if the cat wasn't hungry the bigger prey wasn't worth the personal injury risk.
Unfortunately that means this consideration is unlikely to reduce a cat's inclination to tackle small relatively harmless prey such as mice and small birds/fledglings.
Additionally in many cases once a cat has found an unfledged nest, or an area with a brood of inexperienced and poorly flying fledglings about, they will waste very little time in repeatedly returning to it until they have caught them all so this aspect of hunting takes very little time, like the difference between popping down to the local take away fish and chip shop or spending time and skill and having a degree of luck when going trout fishing for your catch.
Bradshaw also claims house-living cats, unlike feral cats, are not good at catching experienced birds (from experience and RSPB survey results not a statement I would agree with in relation to all house cats ) so for these cats their killing sprees will be self-limited by the end of the wildbird breeding season and the resultant unavailability of inexperienced fledglings.
Originally Posted by wilhemina:
“Another factor to consider is how intensively cats hunt. Whilst feeding our cats may have little effect on the cat's motivation to hunt, we can perhaps try to at least reduce the intensity of the hunting behaviour by providing more object play.
Leyhausen's research also showed that capturing prey, killing it & consuming it are relatively independent of each other & that the capture & killing of prey is independent of hunger. So on this basis, well fed cats would be just as likely to carry on capturing & killing prey but less likely to eat it. (Hence the array of dead bodies that are brought back to us intact). If we concentrate on providing an outlet for the first two parts of this sequence, i.e. the hunt & capture of prey, again this might reduce their motivation for the hunt/capture behavioural sequence. ”
“Another factor to consider is how intensively cats hunt. Whilst feeding our cats may have little effect on the cat's motivation to hunt, we can perhaps try to at least reduce the intensity of the hunting behaviour by providing more object play.
Leyhausen's research also showed that capturing prey, killing it & consuming it are relatively independent of each other & that the capture & killing of prey is independent of hunger. So on this basis, well fed cats would be just as likely to carry on capturing & killing prey but less likely to eat it. (Hence the array of dead bodies that are brought back to us intact
). If we concentrate on providing an outlet for the first two parts of this sequence, i.e. the hunt & capture of prey, again this might reduce their motivation for the hunt/capture behavioural sequence. ”
Or it may enable or encourge them to become more practised at this as this is basically how their mothers encourage and teach them to hunt, according to Bradshaw
My boys caught their first bird this morning - not sure which one did the deed as they were both playing with it. They wear collars with several bells and are well fed and I don't let them out till 8am to give the birds a chance. Up until now their only victims have been bees, butterflies, flies and a tiny field mouse but I guess all the practicing has finally paid off!
. They wear collars with several bells and are well fed and I don't let them out till 8am to give the birds a chance. Up until now their only victims have been bees, butterflies, flies and a tiny field mouse but I guess all the practicing has finally paid off!
~My two are doing the same, there is never a day at the moment that I don't have a headless bird being brought home, sometimes more than one a day ... it's driving me to distraction!
I commend your efforts OP, I think you're doing what you can during the day, and using the hosepipe like a water cannon to disperse these feline hooligans is a good idea. A water pistol, or old washing-up liquid bottle filled with water kept on standby, might be quicker on the draw.
It's a question of what happens at night, as soon as dawn breaks, when you're not there. In this situation I would, besides having collars and bells on the cats, keep them in at night during the fledgeling season. If they kept me awake I'd put them in the garage overnight with something to sleep on, and keep the car outside in case they climbed into the engine bay (actually I'd use a porch I have). Or a shed, so long as they cannot knock something over and hurt themselves.
If they're on the garage roof from dawn waiting for a young and inexperienced bird to land then bells on a collar might not stop them, just as it doesn't stop them pouncing on blackbirds, the earliest bird, who hop across lawns towards shrubbery where the cat lays in wait, so unless something like wire netting can physically keep them off the garage roof, keeping them in at night would be the only answer.
It's a question of what happens at night, as soon as dawn breaks, when you're not there. In this situation I would, besides having collars and bells on the cats, keep them in at night during the fledgeling season. If they kept me awake I'd put them in the garage overnight with something to sleep on, and keep the car outside in case they climbed into the engine bay (actually I'd use a porch I have). Or a shed, so long as they cannot knock something over and hurt themselves.
If they're on the garage roof from dawn waiting for a young and inexperienced bird to land then bells on a collar might not stop them, just as it doesn't stop them pouncing on blackbirds, the earliest bird, who hop across lawns towards shrubbery where the cat lays in wait, so unless something like wire netting can physically keep them off the garage roof, keeping them in at night would be the only answer.
