Anti-Cat Advice Sought

[Ian]

I feed the wild birds in my garden, and next door's cats prey on them, which displeases me greatly. I bought a Super Soaker XP 310 to scare off the evil moggies but a year later it now leaks like a sieve, and anyway it's far too large and garishly coloured for my liking.

Could anyone please recommend a water gun to persuade the foul felines to vacate my garden? Ideally I'd like something that's not too brightly coloured (as I don't want particularly to attract the attention of my neighbours), with a range of around twenty feet (more if possible), and no more than eighteen inches long. It doesn't need to have a high capacity water-tank, as one squirt at a time is all I'll need.

Many thanks,

Ian

[soakernerd]

As much as I hate to recommend this, the Super Soaker Shot Blast seems perfect for you. It is blue and grey, and it is 26 inches long.

If that is a little long for you, I would get the Water Warriors Pulse Force. It is green and black, and it is 15 inches long.

Those blasters are both Piston style Soakers, meaning that there is no trigger. instead, simply push the pump out and then pull it back in. the faster you pull the pump in, the stronger the stream is.

I would personally go with the Pulse Force, as I have found BBT, the company that makes it, much more reliable and better priced than Hasbro.

Both those soakers also have the advantage of not putting out much water, which decreases the probability that you will injure the cat.

[JuchTurtles]

A good one is the Quick Blast. It's styling is a little bright though.

I own one of these and they get about 30 feet of range and is good for firing one shot or so.

[martianshark]

The Bottle Shot would also be pretty good for this... or maybe the Secret Strike.

[zeda.beta]

Otherwise you could always build SCII , but seriously, you would probably be good with any piston based soaker, such as the bottle shot or the quick blast, and even a Stream Machine would probably work. Personally I would just drench them with a hose or a huge bucket, and lay an elaborate figure four deadfall to trigger it, but that is just me.

[martianshark]

Yeah, a stream machine would be perfect. Or with a Flash Flood or Arctic blast you could totally drench them.

[soakernerd]

I really don't think that he wants to have the neighbors complain about how their cat is soaked, which is why I recommended a small blaster with limited output.

[zeda.beta]

Then just shoot the cat on an overcast day, or set up a sprinkler that covers the entire yard.
-Zeda

[cantab]

I think a pressurised gun with a long firing time is better. With a piston pumper odds are you'll miss, a cat is a small target and piston pumpers are tricky to aim. With a pressurised gun you can send the stream around a bit to be sure of a hit.

The XP 220 or 240 would seem ideal. Maybe even the 215, though it'll probably fall short on range, as well as being so low output the cat may well just ignore it. They are garish mind, but most water blasters are. You could always repaint it, but be careful.

[Ian]

Thanks for all the advice.

It wasn't until I started searching for those guns on the Net that I discovered how few of them are available in the UK. Cantab, I see you're based in England; can you recommend anywhere to buy them online?

Incidentally, I do believe that domestic cats have their place: it's north Africa, genetically speaking, and I'd be very happy to see all of the trespassing, wild-life slaughtering, non-native pests repatriated there. Unfortunately, my wife's a cat lover and won't countenance any harm coming to the satanic beasts from next door; left to my own devices I'd probably resort to a couple of cat traps and some heavy-duty plastic sacks.

Ian

[C-A_99]

With a higher ranged pressurized blaster, you can also shoot from farther away instead of having to walk in closer. The Vindicator and Flash Flood may be good options, but the FF is bright orange and both blasters may also be overkill for the situation. Still, you can pump in a little water at a time and fire quick shots without drenching anyone or anything; whatever's needed to keep the cat away.

[JuchTurtles]

I think you should get a piston pumper stock and repaint it camo or something. Store it away and out of view and just occasionaly shoot the cat. For the piston, if you miss, just keep pumping until you hit. Piston pumpers are also cheap and easy to shoot.

A low output, drizzle, high PC capacity soaker would work well too. May I suggest the Pool Pumper?

[cantab]

It's really the wrong time of year for water blasters. Argos would probably be your best bet though. The Bottle Blitz is a piston pumper, while the Hydro Fury is a very small pressurised blaster. The colours aren't drab, but they're not lurid either.

In the way of bricks-and-mortar stores, during the summer Toys R Us, John Lewis, WH Smiths, TK Maxx, Tesco, Asda, and The Entertainer all have a good chance of having blasters in stock. Local newsagents and convenience stores often have cheap no-name guns too, that are sometimes pressurised and will likely work for your purpose.

The UK version of the Flash Flood is blue, not orange. But at £25 it's pricey.

[Ian]

Thanks again, Folks; your advice is much appreciated.

It looks like I'll be hanging on to my leaking XP 310 until the summer, and then seeing what's available in the UK. Meanwhile I'll print this thread and keep it safe for reference.

Ian

[zeda.beta]

If you are having trouble with your XP 310, then you should check out the link here. http://forums.sscentral.org/t5778/
-Zeda