I think my rabbit problem has just been solved: Motion-Activated Sprinkler. I added it to my cart for the next time I make a purchase.
Also, my Norpro Ceramic Compost Keeper showed up and it is the perfect size for a single person and very stylish.
*** Update ***
You’d think this would be effective against wabbits:
David in NY
I wish you success with your newest gadget. (As I recall, you actually liked your dandelion puller, or do I forget?) But in my eternal pessimism about gadgets, I think that, for rabbits, a fence (and it need not be much of one) is the only thing that works.
Edit: “newest gadget” is the rabbit repeller not the composter, which will work if you don’t put too much in.
John Cole
I’m putting up a privacy fence in a couple months so the dogs and cat can go outside (I really want Tunch to experience the outdoors), and I may just splurge and extend it around the garden area, making a garden fence excess. I am loathe to spend a couple hundred on fencing for the garden just to find it outdated a few months later. The sprinkler, however, is useful regardless.
D-Chance.
OK, folks, if there are any strange disappearances in Cole’s neighborhood, we all know where to look first.
Keith G
Hmmm. Motion activated.
You aren’t buying from Acme are you?
demimondian
We used this kind of thing to combat raccoons. The only problem with is that our cats would occasionally get sprinkled until we added a timer…
gbear
Maybe you can get a gig as a secret shopper until your interest in politics returns (& I’m not knocking that. Politics really sucks right now).
My back yard is turning into a singles bar for Mourning Doves. I wish they’d take it home…
freelancer
Be funny to set that up pointing towards the porch for any Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormon Missionaries.
Keith G
@John Cole: Buy a cat harness and a leash first.
I did that once. My big lazy kitty got spooked climbed a fence I thought unclimbable.
I found him walking beside a nearby road a week later as a was driving home. Talk about a tearful reunion.
Pig Tralin
A half-dozen years ago, I remember reading a post some guy put up about how he built a motion-activated hose to spray kids who cut through his yard. In order to keep from getting in trouble, he kept referring to the kids as “rabbits”.
Jennifer
Darn you, Cole! I just posted a link to a birthday video for you at the end of the last thread, and here you are slapping up a new one already! So enjoy the damn thing, willya?
inkadu
@Keith G: I used to have a wire grid fence. The cat couldn’t climb it, but it sure could climb the trees next to it. I didn’t find out until I brought a stray dog home for the night while waiting for the pound to open in the morning. Fortunately, the cat had the good sense to land back in the yard instead of jumping onto the strip of grass next to a busy highway on the other side of the fence.
Glad you got your kitty back.
Morbo
@Keith G:
John Cole will get a chance to test his assertion that all the stories of Tunch planning to murder him are tongue in cheek.
Sean
wrong thread, but Happy Birthday Mr. Cole.
inkadu
I’d have a fish pond just to watch the herons eat ’em.
Jennifer
And, re: the bunny problem: my kitty is on a mission to wipe them out in our neighborhood – probably more effective than a sprinkler, though not as humane. One of them DID get a piece of her though…apparently it bit or scratched her on the lower lip…that one got away; I saw it go down. As I told her, “Eartha, sometimes the bunnies bite back.”
Mark S.
How many times will John forget to turn the thing off before he goes to do some gardening?
MikeJ
@Mark S.: I just hope somebody gets video of it.
southpaw
Uh, John, the dogs are going to have a merry old time with that composter. Maybe invest in a rubber mat with some drainage to put it on?
QuaintIrene
Sounds promising. And what also sounds good, your birthday menu a post or two back. With all the political posts today, I’m glad you’re doing something else than raising your blood pressure.
But maybe you are enjoying yourself.
sukabi
you’re in luck… according to the pic’s not only will it keep dogs, cats, kids and deer out of your garden, it will also banish the pope.
Kathi
Oooh! I used to have a Scarecrow. It worked for deer and the stray cats in the neighborhood but the rabbits & groundhogs laughed at it.
Cat Lady
We gotta get you a woman. (You and Rosie are about 2:00 in).
I’m worried about you John. I know a single guy who’s an old lady and an old man. It’s a bug, not a feature.
Kirk Spencer
You’re probably not going to like that composter. The handle has a tendency to come off. It’s not really a composter either; it’s a large tote meant to let you can take stuff to your compost pile once every few days instead of every single day. Unfortunately, since it’s ceramic it’s not an airtight seal, which tends to balance the carbon filter for odor control. There’ve been some comments about the ceramic chipping as well.
Personally, I use a plastic ice cream bucket — one of the two gallon plastic buckets with a sealing lid — and take out my waste every evening. Yes, it’s not as pretty. On the other hand I don’t have odors or fruit flies.
John Cole
@Kirk Spencer: Harumph.
Josie
If you want the fence to keep Tunch in, you need to add some like this:
http://www.catfencein.com/ because a fence won’t work for a cat. I have an 8 foot wood fence and one of my kitties got scared and cleared it. I never saw him again. There are several companies who make these or you can do it yourself if you are handy. The cat fence needs to slant inward and be well supported.
geg6
I’m sceptical that a little shower will deter any self respecting rabbits. I know it wouldn’t work with the rabbits around here. And the deer would laugh their asses off at it. And I live in not-the-backwoods-but-close SW PA. Where you live, Cole, I’ d imagine the wildlife is even more disdainful of such pitiful human technology. My John and I are firm believers in our sunken garden with a quadruple wire fence. Keeps everything but humans out.
And yay! My electricity just came back on!
sukabi
John, Tunch will get even with you for bringing another dog into his domain and will adopt all the rabbits in your neighborhood… sort of like this.
burnspbesq
OT, but this is really cool.
The Cubs are going to have a float in the Chicago Pride parade for the first time ever this Saturday – and Ernie Banks is going to be on it. Plus, the Stanley Cup will be on another float.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/story?id=5316909
Slowly but surely.
jl
Maybe Cole can train Tunch to amble over to the rabbits, lie down on top of them and take a nap.
Keith G
OMG! Tunch swollowed Lily.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Can’t you stake the dogs out in the yard every so often? That will keep everything from rabbits to deer out. Proper fencing can be a bitch because you’ll have to sink it deep enough to keep things from digging under.
Oh well, I look forward to the post in which Cole tells us he got all fancied up to go out on the town only to get bwasted by the sprinkler.
Elisabeth
@burnspbesq:
And the president’s from Chicago…hmmm…
jharp
“I think my rabbit problem has just been solved: Motion-Activated Sprinkler.”
Not a chance.
You underestimate the bunny. They’ve been around a long, long, long, time. And you think a little rain shower is going to keep them away? Seriously?
The Dangerman
Well, sure, that would be effective for rabbits…
…after they are caught, skinned, and cooked. Based on available evidence, I’m thinking 2 or 3 at a time.
CaseyL
@John Cole:
Omigawd, you mean he’s never been outside? Ever?
He will go bonkers, esp if it’s windy. Even cats used to being outside go nuts then, because the wind brings so many scents and noises from far away. He’ll have sensory overload, get the Kitty Crazies, and try to run in all directions at once. Please make sure the yard is not only fenced, but fenced in a way that he can’t climb over.
And if you have trees, or a way up onto the roof, be prepared to have to get him down from someplace.
Oh, I would give good money to be there on Tunch’s First Day Out. You gotta film it, and then post the movie. Please please please.
ETS: Wait a minute: Tunch *has* been outside, I remember now. He got out accidentally, and you were frantic. Did he enjoy his brief escape?
maus
So will it shoot child-sized animals in the face? How about solicitors?
Chat Noir (iPhone)
Tunch is so cool.
Waiting for J. Buffett to come on stage in Clarkston, MI. Whatever.
John Cole
@CaseyL: Only on the few occasions when he has escaped and sent me into a full on panic.
Litlebritdifrnt
I swear Tunch’s tail never fails to set me a giggling, it looks like he lost his original one and had to sign a new one out from stores that didn’t match. “No I need a white one” Stores assistant “sorry that’s all we got gov, take it or leave it” “but its Orange and I am white, it will look stupid” Stores assistant “well its that or nothing, so what’s it to be?” I see Tunch walking away from stores sighing dragging the tail behind him. “They are really going to piss themselves laughing at me at divisions” It cracks me up every time I see it.
Michael D.
Good to see the compost-types here. We practically recycle and compost everything here. We haven’t put trash out here in nearly 2 months.
Perry Como
It looks like Tunch has consumed a number of rabbits. Whole.
gwangung
@Litlebritdifrnt: This made me laugh. Heh.
WereBear
Be aware: most cats, first time they wear their harness and leash, will be… uncooperative.
Here’s an article I wrote about cat leash training.
Be ready for Tunch to do the famous, “I cannot move, I have no legs” scene.
demimondian
Tunch would be very useful against rabbits — if they’d sit still long enough for you to drop him on them.
Otherwise…yeah, no, not so much.
arguingwithsignposts
@burnspbesq: Wow, that is cool. I might just make a trip up there to see that.
ondioline
If that fucker Obama doesn’t grow some stones (one? a single stone?) he’s gonna be a one-termer, and we’re gonna get Prazdant Haley Barbour or Prazdant Jim DeMint.
Jesus fuck, he’s the biggest spineless pussy of all-time.
SORRY! VENTING!
eemom
@Litlebritdifrnt:
yeah, but what about that brown spot on the back of his head?
slag
I love it when cats turn their backs on us but point their ears toward us. That pose says it all.
ronathan richardson
Make sure you check the customer images on that Amazon link, it is the internets at their best.
Tank Hueco
@Litlebritdifrnt:
For some reason it always struck me as if there were an orange cat stuffed into him, like a Turducken, but they couldn’t fit the tail in.
ondioline
More on-topic, that picture above is clever in how it is actually of a half-dozen cats but makes it look like only one giant Voltron cat.
Neat!
RedKitten
He DOES look like Shmoo from behind. Your mind works in interesting and unusual ways, John.
Comrade Mary
Soft kitty, warm kitty, substantial ball of fur …
Annie
@Litlebritdifrnt:
LOL….
Mnemosyne
@slag:
When our late kitty Natasha was annoyed with us, she would follow us from room to room so she could pointedly turn her back and ignore us. With ears tilted backwards, of course, so she could make sure we were properly chastened.
jeffreyw
This recipe would work for wabbit, too.
kommrade reproductive vigor
@WereBear: Followed by full cooperation indoors and wild gyrating leaps in order to escape once outdoors.
Cat Lady
@John Cole:
You need to buy Tunch one of these. Tunch will be the King of the World!
Restrung
@Cat Lady:
Cole shares a birthday with Turd Runtgreen, in case nobody mentioned it earlier. Somebody did, right? or are you just lucky or subtle?
Keith G
The purrrfect keep Tunch safe in the great out doors:
http://florencehumane.org/catio.htm
John, does your banker like you?
Uloborus
I’m sorry, John, that would only be effective against bacon.
CaseyL
@WereBear:
The site WereBear links to has its own links to a terrific “kitty store” that has some amazing outdoor, all-enclosed playhouses for cats. Check ’em out:
http://www.kittystoreonline.com/page/115072202?wayofcats
burnspbesq
@arguingwithsignposts:
If you go, take pictures.
jnfr
I have a rabbit in my back yard right now – my fenced back yard. It’s the first rabbit that’s gotten in, and we’ve lived here since 1998. I can’t seem to get it to leave. I am distressed.
We have lots of bushes and vines it keeps hiding in, but I’ve just planted out my veggies and I DO NOT WANT rabbit in my garden! The bindweed is bad enough.
What to do, what to do?
schrodinger's cat
I iz in shape, round is a shape
You Don't Say
I hope Tunch and Lily/Rosie are going to enjoy the outdoors at separate times. The dogs may view Tunch very differently once they’re all outside.
And I agree with previous posts about indoor cats acting very strangely outside, jumping fences and the like.
Cat Lady
@Restrung:
Wow. Wish I could say that I was just being awesome, but it’s just another BJ mindmeld.
South of I-10
This cracks me up. That is all.
robertdsc
Love Tunch. Thank you.
jl
The delusional John Cole said:
“so the … cat can go outside (I really want Tunch to experience the outdoors)”
I predict that Tunch will experience the outdoors by sitting on the stoop within close sniffing distance of the food bowl when he feels like it, and nothing more.
Everyone please note the date and time of my outlandish and startling prediction. You all will be amazed and surprised.
Comrade Mary
@South of I-10: God damn it, I LOVED that.
Svensker
@CaseyL:
Had a beautiful old Siamese that I adopted when she was quite mature and she’d never been outside. She was so funny — she was convinced the grass could be dangerous so she tried to walk on her tippy toes. She finally got to like it but I could never get her to poo outside — she’d come scratch at the door and be frantic to get inside to her litter box. Wonderful kitty. She also craved canteloupe, would just go crazy for it. Ah, I miss her.
James in WA
I use two of those things to keep the deer out of my garden — they really work well, John. The main drawback is that when it’s windy, the moving trees will activate the sprinklers every 8 seconds.
I love hearing these things go off in the morning, knowing that I’ve just denied the deer another breakfast!
South of I-10
@Comrade Mary: I just watched it again!
John Cole
@Restrung: I have mentioned before that Todd Rundgren called me an asshole in 1988, haven’t I?
Litlebritdifrnt
@You Don’t Say:
Perxactly! My boxers will not bother my cats indoors, sniff the occasional butt, put up with the occasional licking, and sniffing. When they are outside it is a different matter. “Any cat who ventures into the back yard is fair game” is their rule of thumb. So if said cat is caught in the backyard when I let them out there after I get back from work, then they better have their sprint on. (which of course they do).
MikeJ
@John Cole: Was he right?
Just Some Fuckhead
@John Cole: He prolly knows you better than the rest of us.
Cat Lady
@John Cole:
Todd is God which means God called you an asshole. WIN!
ETA: Story plz. kthx.
capmarine
backside too big to be effective against any critters other than his sleeping enabler.
capmarine
backside too big to be effective against any critters other than his sleeping enabler.
daryljfontaine
@demimondian: That made me laugh so hard I think I sprained something.
Also: Happy birthday, John. How was your dinner?
D
PeakVT
You’d think this would be effective against wabbits.
I think a JRT would be a better choice of anti-rabbit weapons.
Restrung
(I searched BJ for “Rundgren” before I commented)
I think I called TR an asshole in 1988, but not on a blog. And not to his face… pretty sure that was someone else. What a jerk. :)
@Cat Lady– still awesome!
sputnikgayle
Mr. Cole, a fence around the garden will not only keep bunnies and other varmints out but will also serve as another surface for climbing plants to attach to (cukes, pole beans, squash). It really would increase your harvest. The varmints may nibble on the vines that grow outside the fence but you will be able to push the vines and produce inside the fence as they grow and flower. Training the vines is one of those mindless, easy tasks that I do daily and I find it to be soothing.
We started with chicken wire but now use field fencing and it has held up very well. We initially used cedar posts that we cut from our forest but switched to metal posts when we noticed ants just loved the cedar.
Restrung
Hang on, yep. it was Paul Metsa. Not even close!
Restrung
@Cat Lady:
srlsy. cmon, spill.
JR (not the other JR)
DAT ASS, Tunch.
adhocheretic
Couldn’t wait for a dog thread to pass this along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZzx9-sS3xY&feature=youtube_gdata
Violet
@John Cole:
Srsly? Must have story.
Yutsano
@burnspbesq: As the ex of a very awesome defenceman who probably didn’t get into the NHL because of his sexual orientation, this makes me haz a very big happy. I have zero doubt he would have been the first out player in the NHL. Granted I’m biased, but the Avalanche don’t fly you down to skate because you’re a slouch on the ice. As you said though, one step at a time.
Oh and thanks to your encouragement, I have an interview and test with the IRS on Thursday. And considering the paperwork they’re asking me to fill out, I’m wondering if this may just be a formality.
Pasquinade
John, I bought one of these so that my cats could enjoy the backyard:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753720
During the winter, I enclosed it and hung a heat lamp for the strays/ferals who climb over/crawl under my privacy fence. A wood pallet and some straw on the floor kept their paws dry and warm.
Sarcastro
Fat indoor cat ain’t never gonna run down a rabbit. Well, unless its a fat indoor rabbit.
I’ve only seen two cats in my life that were regularly successful at hunting adult rabbits and they were both nordic-type cats; a Maine Coon and a Norwegian Forrest Cat. Great hunters. Get one if you don’t want rabbits in your yard. Or mice. Or squirrels, rats, chipmunks, birds, snakes, large insects or small dogs.
Tracey Robertson
John,
I’d be happy to send you a ScareCrow for free if you let us know how it works on your rabbits (and because your blog is just plain funny).
John Cole
@Tracey Robertson: That is a very generous offer, but I will buy it. First, I believe in paying for good products so that the producers keep making them and innovating, second, because I really am uncomfortable receiving something from a corporation. I accept books to review, but I think this would cross a boundary.
But again, thank you for your offer! And I’ll post pics when I have it up and working.
Platonicspoof
@John Cole:
If it doesn’t work with plain water, put a hose end sprayer filled with fox “scent” in the line behind the ScareCrow.
Smells like . . . Victory!
asiangrrlMN
TUNCHIE! Cole, you seem to post more pics of Tunch when I’m not around. Hmmmmm….
@Mnemosyne: My Shadow does that to me when he is displeased that I am not sharing my noms with me. He will sit on my CPU, his back to me, his ears pointed at me, and then he will deliberately groom himself.