trapping cats is easy. Havahart traps work well. Put the trap up on an elevated platform to keep skunks out. You can drop them off at the nearest shelter or schezuan resturant (they taste like chicken), or you can take up tanning and the cat IS the hat... take that Dr. Seuss! Do not release them as they will return and you will never trap them again. If you must let them go, the center strip of a busy 4 lane highway is a good place. Many animals seem to like it and find it very peacful. I often see them sleeping on the side of the road where they can get the warmth from the tar. I think the singing of the tires lulls them to sleep. I've not had to use poly tape, would that work rather than replacing the entire covering, or is this an aesthetics thing being a business? How about a couple of strips of duct tape, sticky side out? or VELCRO!! It'll be tough pulling all those cats free from the side walls though. Wear gloves! A strip of Cat strength Tanglefoot? Cat strips? Do you have a bunch of hose that you can connect to a vacuum? I saw it on Tom and Jerry once where the cats all got sucked up into the vacuum bag. It's a hoot watching all those cat-shaped lumps work their way down the hose... I'd think you already have sprinklers you can set up. Should be easy enough to use a motion detector to trigger them. Just be sure to shut if off before the cusomers arrive. If there's a falconry club nearby they might appreciate a place to train... Obviously this is a big problem for you. Is it typical though? I am putting up a GH in a field where the neighborhood cats frequent. Am i doomed? Should i start clearing them out now? I have trapped them before and taken them to the animal "Shelter" next town over, never to be seen again, but there always seem to be new ones to take their places. I may need to get a couple of traps now. *sigh* Poppa

I love you too. When we lived in Ohio we named our property "Woof and Purr Acres". Maybe that name had something to do with it, but we always had a lot of stray cats find their way to our house, some very wild. The humane society helped me with catch them alive traps, got them neutered/spayed, then returned them to me and helped with the food. I raised the kittens those cats had prior to spaying (we kept 5 of them...all males) then the other 12 after I had them tamed and very loving, we took to the humane society lady. However, one didn't want to stay with her...kept coming back out of the cage to us. Hubby gave in and back home with us it came. LOL Had we stayed in Ohio the lady wanted me to take in all little kittens that needed tamed. She said she never saw such well adjusted, loving kittens. I would have loved doing that, but wanted out of Ohio to Georgia more. We brought 9 cats with us when we moved and are now down to 3. Sadly I think one won't be with us much longer. Like us they are getting old. Every cat and dog we have ever had, we've always had spayed or neutered. I am a firm believer in that.

Agree with Vernonia, common name is ironweed.

Thank you all so much for your kind words and your interest in our "growing" little family! Baby Tonto quickly found his way into our hearts, and as with Posy, we are absolutely smitten with this kitten! He is SUCH a little lovebug. He will literally run and jump into your arms when he sees you come through the door (he's still sequestered away from the rest of the gang, but we are doing slow introductions), and he nuzzles and kisses like crazy, and has his purr-motor going constantly. I have a fuzzy pink robe that I wear in the mornings, and he has taken to kneading it like mad and suckling on it. It must remind him of mama! I just let him do it ... it'll wash! In typical kitten fashion, Tonto is nonstop movement and it's hard to get him to sit still long enough to take his photo. This one looks slightly possessed, but this is pretty much him in action! He manages to somehow look like a big boy in the pictures I do get of him ... But he's still quite itty-bitty, as the size of his head will show here ... The other cats are having mixed reactions to Tonto. While Posy initially seemed ok with him, she's started acting a bit more aggressive towards him. She sits right outside the door to "his" room, but when brought INTO his room, she sits next to the door and whines and yowls, sticking her paws out underneath the door as though to say to the cats on the other side, "Get me OUT of here, you guys!" She has run at him a few times and slapped at him, and of course there's the hissing that comes from BOTH of them. Tonto sounds like the tiniest little snake! He seems to be able to hold his own, and while he hasn't been the aggressor, he doesn't run away from the others either. After awhile, they'll sort of settle down, and even sleep within a couple of feet of each other, but they are still keeping a wary eye out. The playful interaction I'm hoping for just hasn't happened yet. In the meantime, Posy is getting more and more integrated into the activities of the older cats. She is almost always in their presence, and they don't seem to mind her anymore. Penny especially is doing much better with her. Although they still won't play or cuddle together, Posy does seem to have infiltrated their little "posse" and more or less become one of the gang. Old man Pooh seems to like BOTH of the young newcomers. Molly is still ambivalent and a little grouchy about the whole thing. Penny is not at ALL keen on the new baby. I'm sure all things will work themselves out in Catland, as they always do. That doesn't stop me from longing for everyone to get along well in the here and now, so I'm working on my patience as well! Here is Posy after tiring herself out Friday evening being grouchy towards Tonto. Perhaps having a baby makes her seem so much bigger in comparison, but I swear she has had a major growth spurt just in the past couple of weeks. This pic of Posy was taken just recently: And this was taken on Saturday. (I love how her face is a little bit Spuds MacKenzie looking here! Remember him?) She is an amazing little cat. :-) Finally, here's a quick snap of Penny I took yesterday. Her eyes looked so green up against the colors of the bedding. Doesn't quite translate in this photo, but I thought she was still looking pretty. :-)