Hot Stepper

The battle between man and beast rages on in our neighborhood.  It's been a little over a year that we've lived in this home.  During the last summer, we ripped up the wood deck that was built into our entry courtyard area and lovingly planted all sorts of shade loving plants.  We've fed, mulched, pruned, and watered our courtyard area...delighted to see our investment thriving.  It really is beautiful...and SMELLY.  See, the house across the street from ours just happens to be hobo-cat headquarters and I hate them one and all.  Now, before you tear into me about the poor, innocent, homeless cats, remember that I've got two shelter pets of my own.  The difference is that I took these angels into my home and have cared for them.  They are fixed and vaccinated and groomed regularly.  The neighbor, on the other hand, tosses out kibble on a paper plate.  I've counted over twelve different cats and the numbers are only increasing because they keep breeding.  Our next door neighbors have traps to catch cats and other varmints.  They call the city to pick them up on a regular basis.  They've gone 'round and 'round with the neighbors for sending their "sweet babies" away, but really?  If they cared so much, wouldn't they do something to reduce the number of strays instead of promoting their increasing numbers?!

My husband has been so kind to point out that their is not much we can do to change the neighbor's ways, but I've been doing my damnedest to change the cats.  Yesterday, at a friend's suggestion, I planted Society Garlic which is supposed to be a deterrent since cats supposedly hate the smell.  Too, I literally peppered my yard.  The guy at the plant store told me that he's heard sprinkling your garden with a dusting of Cayenne pepper has done the trick so away I went with red pepper covering every inch of visible ground.  The result-

A cat crapped on my welcome mat.  Seriously.  My daughter almost stepped in it coming in from school.  So the battle continues...

This morning, I went to check on the peppered plants and Society Garlic.  Much to my dismay, I found their mess right next to the darned plant.  It's enough to give up...almost.

If you have any suggestions for keeping critters out, please share.  I'm open to revenge  suggestions : )