Any one have one?. I live in a development outside city limits that people are using us for a dumping ground for cats. Don't get me wrong cats are ok with me and all my neighbors cats are safe, well kept collar tagged and put in at night but the ones that are let loose are starting to become problems. I don't have a cat and don't leave food out or anything but in the morning there are prints on the vehicles and other messes around. We also have a rabbit population that is out of control. The question I have is I have a 760 Crossman .177 with scope my son shoots with in the garage during winter for fun. The Crossman is pretty loud during pumping and when firing even when I open the door and take a couple of steps back to keep noise and everything inside the garage. I also work shift work so I'm home when most of the neighbors are at work. Both side neighbors are approx 70 yards each from the house and my neighbor to the rear is close to 300 yards. I'm thinking of getting one in 22 cal but pellets for it is scarce here, Will the .177 still do the job or should i go with the 22 cal most shot lately were around 20-30 yards. Animal control won't respond when called and have a hart traps are expensive so I'm left with little recourse. Any Advice ?

I would worry about wounded cats running off and dying on a neighbor's property if you can't make a good head shot.

A guy I know uses a .22 LR and subsonic ammo to keep the felines from using his bird feeder as a happy hunting ground. He also works shifts. The cats are shot in the morning after work and tossed out on the highway at night. By the time a few vehicles run over the corpses they are just road kill.

I'm sure the air gun can do the job if you can make a head shot at a reasonable range, whatever that is, but I think the .22 LR and subsonics would be more flexible and lethal.

i have a neighbor, who after having his barn sprayed by tomcats, has started to shoot all unfamiliar cats on his property. he uses a .22 lr and still gets to have follow up shots. he said one cat had him keep pulling the trigger at least a half dozen times. so to me that would tell me that a .22 is the smallest i'd go. a bb gun to me doesn't scream cat killer but more like a cat crippler. use a .22 at the least...

From what I'm told feral cats are tough customers. That's a tough job for a springer or a pumper. I would recomend either a pcp or a .22. You can buy what they call city bullets(CB caps) or .22lr Colibri.

Your only going to cripple some cats with that rig. Try the humane society...I have never yet seen them fail to respond to feral or 'dropped off' cats. If the cats allow you to pick them up...you can deliver the critters to the HS or animal control door at no cost other than your time and gas. Your problem will be solved and possibly a few kitties might find a good home. Good luck

If you can pick them up they aren't feral cats! I've handled them with springers but a PCP would be better. You have to be a decent shot too. If you have cats running off from a .22 you're a crappy shot and shouldn't be shooting them in the first place. Sorry but that's the truth. Either that or get yourself a live trap and then carefully take them to your local animal shelter. You can get seriously injured by a BIG Tom feral cat. If you trap one put an old blanket or tarp over the cage like you would for a skunk when moving the cage. I've had cats go so crazy when you pickup the cage they almost shake it from your grip. And that's when they get you and who wants cat scratch fever or worse. Last but not least a quick dip in your cement pond on the first step will show you how many lives they have left and if they can swim.

Agreed...Feral cats would not allow someone to pick them up. However, od green said..."I live in a development outside city limits that people are using us for a dumping ground for cats" Most cats in that variety are nothing more than abused ex-house pets. Many of them most likely could be turned in....problem solved.

You're correct he did state that. I live in an area that gets cats dumped off at a park nearby. Unfortunately the cats go wild pretty quickly and shy away from people. They aren't often easy to catch and with the skunks we have from the creek which are often rabid we don't take any chances. In my book the only good wild cat is a dead cat, they have decimated our quail and pheasant population. They even make a dent in our turkey numbers too. Sorry but however you get rid of them good luck.

I've only caught one by hand wearing leather gloves and shot one with the 177 at very close range. the one i caught went thru the gloves like a buzz saw and the one i shot took longer to give up the ghost than I liked, I got some CB caps for that now, also the neighbor down the street has cats and keeps them locked up and set out live traps and she caught three or four. The problem has thinned for now till the next batch gets dropped off, also we posted at the development entrance about not dropping off any unwanted pets. Thanks for all the help and advice.

Good luck to you whatever you decided.
I think I saw somewhere that there's a feline AIDS. Be very careful whether you're handling them alive or dead. You never know what they may have or what they have been into before coming to your neighborhood.

hey try bacon grease and news paper! fry sum bacon , tear sum news paper up, and saturate it in the bacon grease. roll it into small balls, and put out at night for them to enjoy! they eat it and cant digest it, i know its not the most humane way, but there are no shots fired, nooone knows the diff!

feral cat + .30-30 = problem solved

Had a SSgt who used to call his .30-30 "The Evaporator" and was his feral cat caliber of choice. No walk offs, very little suffering and pretty catastrophic (no pun intended)...

I know a guy like that too

The subs will make quick clean kills if as long as the shot is placed fairly well. Air rifles....not so quick, not so clean. At least that's what HE tells me

I figure the subs will be good for a lot more range, too.

Of course you could probably use a low volume distress call or lip squeak to get them in a bit closer. Might even be fun.