Feeding things in the outside world is difficult, especially when there are clever creatures like raccoons out there that will break in and steal everything given half a chance. [_ah6] wanted to build a feeder for feral cats that would dispense food, but without encouraging the local raccoons. So, they built a feeder that included a webcam that could see who was waiting for dinner, and dispense food remotely without spooking the cat.
The feeder is built around a modified cereal dispenser that is connected to a Raspberry Pi. This is also connected to a webcam and an IR light source. The camera view can be checked through a web browser, and the feeding can be triggered from a voice assistant. Cats are creatures of routine, so [_ah6] feeds them twice a day and the cats quickly figured out the routine. The feeder only dispenses small amounts of food, and the heavyweight construction of the feeder means that the local raccoons can’t get into the stored food. [_ah6] had originally planned to use a solar power source, but that remains a project for another day.
We’ve come a long way, but cat-facial recognition was en vogue eight years ago for guarding the cat door — keeping the dead mice out rather than the racoons.
Via [reddit]
OpenCV includes a haarcascade classifier for cat faces :
https://github.com/opencv/opencv/blob/master/data/haarcascades/haarcascade_frontalcatface.xml
An RFID tag on the cat’s collar would provide feeding without human intervention.
You have obviously never tried to put a collar on a feral cat.
Dart from a distance. :-D
That’s what the cats do to make hitting them with a projectile more difficult: dart from a distance. It’s like they have a sixth sense when you are scoping for ’em.
If you really want to destroy the local wild bird population, encouraging feral cats is the very best way…
Yeah that’s what I thought – but then again, if you make them less hungry, they _may_ hunt less.
And breed more.
Only if they are not neutered, if they are then feeding them will mean they hunt less.
Didn’t a dock in Norway feed their feral cats with birth control chemicals mixed into the food?
That way they controlled the cats, and the rats!
Certainly a better plan than the original. Cat condoms, and a cigarette afterwards.
B^)
I was researching this approach for feeding barn cats at my in-laws. This individual incorporated an RFID reader and stilledo recongnition for
their cat door. https://joakimsoderberg.github.io/catcierge/
The cats with a white stripe on their backs (skunks) are a bigger problem than raccoons in the southwest part of the US. This might actually solve that for outdoor pet feeding.
Speaking from Toronto, the self-proclaimed raccoon capital of the world (they even ride the subways and hang out at the airport here), there is no such thing as “raccoon-proof”. Once they know there’s food in there, they’ll figure out a way to get it. I expect they’ll lay in wait for the cat to come, then chase the cat off once the food has been dispensed.
Just wait till they’re engineered with opposable-thumbs. Racoon space race, here we come.
Maybe it has already happened…
http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/guardians-of-the-galaxy-101.jpg
Here is a most interesting podcast about this:
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/raccoon-resistance/
How about a sally port?
Raccoons will take big rats. Cats like mice because they can swallow whole and not get injured. Raccoons are more fun to have around than feral cats, but you have to feed them in person. Like scatter dry dog food on the ground as they eat. They will associate you with the food and just pass by if you are not there. If they can see you getting the food from a bucket or can, all bets are off.
Raccoons are obnoxious and destructive. Better to have a remote-controlled crossbow to take them out when they go for the food.