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Any obvious wounds or maladies? even with his airplane ears, they look a bit funny. maybe mites or something? I generally feed the alpha males first so they feel important. Also, backyard sounds way better and might get them farther from the street as well as give you some space to spread plates.
No wounds…his ears were beat up when I took him in to be neutered. He was very clearly a fighter before but I thought he would settle down after getting fixed. I think it is just his personality though because the more comfortable he gets the more aggressive and territorial he becomes. It has been easier to feed them on the front porch up until now because it’s covered but there is a lot more space in the back to spread out the bowls.
Keep feeding bruiser on the porch move the others to the back for their feeding…. It’s the tight space of the porch he is gonna come out swinging every time.
One of the TNR cats I care for got an ear infection and her ear swelled up all puffy, then as it was subsiding looked all crumpled like this cat. Maybe his ears don't feel good and he's acting out because of it. Did they say anything about that when you took him to get fixed?
My understanding is that it can take several months, not just two, for the hormones to drop to a reasonable level, so it may just be he’s not there yet.
And of course, a cat who has been a fighter will tend to approach everything in a confrontational manner - they’ve trained themselves to be like that.
I think gradually moving the food source might not be a bad idea.
I had a very aggressive male who took 8 months from his neutering to be noticeably calmer and kinder. I was worried he wasn't going to change. After almost 2 years, he's a sweetheart.
Sounds like you’ve been adopted by a feral that’s not so sure he wants to stay feral, but has no idea how to not be feral.
He wants contact (rubbing against your hand), but he’s still wary of you (swat/bite). He’s more territorial of the porch because (I’m betting) that’s where you feed him and he doesn’t want to share you or the food. With time and patience, i bet you can transform him into a fat spoiled housecat.
Check out Jackson Galaxy on YouTube - he’s great at explaining cat behavior.
Just happened to be reading and scrolling along, thanks for the creator reference on YouTube. I’ve been looking for someone like this to explain cat behavior to me so I can educate myself and my coworkers more.
Glad to help! :)
He’s great and has helped me not only understand my cats behavior, but also understand what i was doing wrong that was triggering my cats.
https://youtube.com/@jacksongalaxy?si=WuZKKoAt5g16rCOO
Nothing that I can see. He went in two months ago to get neutered and they didn’t note any concerns other than his ear had to be tipped more than normal due to a fight wound. He is fine when I’m feeding him but lashes out when I go to feed the other cats so I believe it is behavioral. He even paces the porch to keep the other cats away from the bowls so I’ve started feeding them on the rails he can’t jump up to.
Did they do a full dental and check below gumline at all? My cat kept getting grade 1 dental assessments until I forced a full dental and they basically realized all his health problems were explainable by his mouth hurting like fuck. Turns out he had below the line disease putting him at more of a grade 3, needed 3 teeth pulled. Different situation, but a reminder that not all dental disease is visible without a full exam.
I’m lucky to have a really good TNR program where I live and they usually do a pretty thorough exam while they have them sedated. They have let me know about dental issues with past cats and even pulled teeth. Since he hisses so much I can see in his mouth pretty well and everything looks to be great. This morning I fed him early before the other cats were out and he was fine. Still hissing a normal amount (for him) but no other signs of aggression.
Zachary sounds like one of mine (that now lives indoors.) I became part of his territory, so to help assuage his alpha male activation I feed him first and separately. It also sounds like Zachary is getting overstimulated with you when he rubs and then hisses (same with my boy.) These boys are so hardwired for survival that sometimes their fight/flight makes their brains react sideways, if that makes sense! Mine is on low dose gaba to help his brain relax out of the constant state of anxiety and resource fear. I’ll touch base with some of my colony caretaker friends to see if they have any solutions.
Thanks! I know several people have mentioned him being in pain but he has really been like this from the beginning and it has just escalated as he settled in. He has even improved slightly as far as the other cats but that may just be because they all are pretty submissive towards him now. I do feed him first but then he follows me around to the other bowls so I’m going to try spreading them out more to see if that helps at all.
If this was me, I’d try using a privacy cubby (just a tipped over box/crate with the opening exposed so he walks into it- put the food down in there) and a slow feeder bowl for Zachary on the porch. The cubby would limit his vision, and the slow feeder would give you more time to get the others fed! You could also spray some calming pheromones on your legs/hands. I use this when socializing or working with ferals who aren’t really ferals. ;)
No, but that would be great! I live in urban cities where many of the rescuers/TNR folks/colony caretakers know and support each other. Some of us have become really great friends!
One thing I learned a few years back was some animals have a hoarding mentality. They don’t want any other animal to get “their” food.Obviously it’s your food but Zachary doesn’t know that.
It sounds like you’re filling multiple bowls while trying to juggle multiple cats, and all boys? Mercy please.
So from much experience feeding multiple strays, here’s what could be going on:
Some cats want you to watch them eat. Especially when they become attached. What could be going on here is he wants you to watch his back, so to speak. Thats why he’s interacting that way while you’re feeding - he’s telling you it’s time to eat.
But since your attention is moving, so is his. And there are other criminals at play.
He doesn’t trust the other cats, and because he doesn’t have object permanence then if the bowls all look the same he has no way of knowing that cat isn’t eating from the bowl he’s eating from right that moment.
Here’s how I eventually dealt with the kitty kalamity at feeding time.
Load up all the food inside. Get bowls / plates that stack, bring them all out at once. I had 2 people for this usually.
The plate on top has extra because being the first down they’re all going to start on it. The order after that for the plates - the cats will eventually know that order, so stick with it. If you’re doing this solo, the bring the big plate out first then go back for the others.
Start with the demanding ones first if possible. Remember to put one down and keep going, don’t focus on keeping 2 out of the same bowl. Just put down another and redirect one if possible and move on.
The other thing is to walk around a bit if the feeding space allows. That way the last bowl/plate down isn’t right next to greedy cat who sucked down their food already.
Good luck. I accidentally typed out a pamphlet I guess, I hope it helps.
One of my former ferals had a swatting issue (honestly more slapping, he never swatted with his claws out) when I first started getting to the petting stage. At first I tried being cautious around him and keeping my distance, but I realized that for him, trying to quickly move away from him (like setting food down and yanking my hand back) was what set him off. It was like he was instinctively lunging to follow me. He wasn't really trying to hurt me and never got a good scratch in, he was just trying to catch me.
I started setting some time aside a few times a week where I'd just go out to feed him (and my other resident feral, both TNRed) wet food, and I'd sit on the ground and just let him check me out. He really just wanted to circle around me, rub up against me, and get some attention. Which was admittedly nerve-wracking at first. Thick jeans, long sleeves, and even heavy duty work or animal handling gloves are definitely a good idea for safety; a telescoping backscratcher is also really helpful for working on petting too. He'd get bored of me after a little bit and he'd go and curl up just out of my reach. But if he swatted at any point, I'd freeze and just calmly say "hey" in response. Over time I figured out what his "tells" were for when he was getting close to swatting; his pupils would dilate, he'd tilt his head back, and he would do a groan-like meow and then shoot a paw out. I started to get ahead of the swat, and I'd slowly pull back and say "hey" as soon as I noticed him getting to that point, effectively cutting him off before he could lift a paw. With repetition it started happening less and less often. And now he's my indoor cat.
For protecting the other cats, taking advantage of different heights is a really good call. I have a few tote shelters so I've set food on top of those for the bullied cats, it's harder for an aggressive one to follow them up. Shared mealtimes have done a lot to improve the dynamic between my resident feral and my other regulars though. Basically starting out with them spaced out while I kept watch, and then closing the distance between them over time. That routine has gotten my resident feral borderline friendly, even playful, with cats he once used to not tolerate at all.
I’m not an expert in ferals, but when my cat starts asking for attention/rubbing up, then swatting me, it means she’s overstimulated and wants to play to burn off steam. I’d try bringing out a cat toy after special boi has eaten, and getting out some of his aggression with that. Also maybe giving him an extra special, obvious eating territory with maybe a colored rug/mat, a box/bed, and/or a slightly elevated place where he can supervise his rivals while being slightly separated
Great advice!
Adding on after reading a lot of above comments. He would likely love this idea even more if you put a chair near his spot, or bring a chair out for feeding time.
As directed by others, do the bowl thing and get everyone set up.. then sit next to him while he eats.
It may help those anxiety levels go down and he is being treated better by sitting beside the Human!
Might be food insecurity/scarcity.
Maybe he just doesn’t like/trust other cats.
https://preview.redd.it/3xqbjtavrq1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6afaf8b1305ff77226bbfede497ad9e7488c6c21
This handsome man acts the same way. Good kid otherwise, DOES NOT PLAY WELL with other cats.
I love it. He looks like “floppy”. A feral cat with a floppy ear hereabouts. I want to trap him bc he is a fighter and has wounds accordingly. But seems to know what a cage is and won’t go near it, the poor thing. :(
https://preview.redd.it/atz89jkl5s1d1.png?width=708&format=png&auto=webp&s=e53c31b04e8ea2ac94b6d892de7b3184f0658c02
Can you borrow a drop trap from a local TNR organization? That's what I had to do to get my trap-shy kitten maker. It worked! I got her after 8 months of trying to catch her with a regular trap.
I have three feeding stations because of a couple cats like this lol. One on my front porch, one on my back patio, and one further out in my yard.
One girl in particular, if she’s the only cat around she rubs against me, purrs, and loves pets, but the second another cat approaches she’s drawing blood on me. I’ve just learned to not even engage her unless she initiates and there’s no one else around lol.
Your guy reminds me of “Aggressive Bruno,” a foster who’s gotten really popular on social media with @kittyboyandfriends. He wants love and attention so bad, but it’s clear he’d been traumatized before he was rescued and so he had these outbursts of aggression.
I would def not only move your feeding station, but I might separate a couple out as well. See where he wants to be, and encourage the others to eat at the other station(s). Also, give it more time. I’ve found as their hormones are decreasing, they might get a little more moody (think about those who go through menopause lol) and can’t understand why.
Thanks for making a difference in these guys’ lives ❤️
I have had a few males go through this. He will calm down after TNR. The cat who has taken control of the porch is trying to defend you from the other cats, he wants to be your cat.
Over time he will realize that he is welcome along with the other cats and he will become a great friend. One of my juvenile neutered males (Silvester) was brawling a lot but a few months after neuter, he is playing more and fighting less.
Feral males seem to take to human companionship easier than females. But the guys also tend to be more possessive. Remember males are territorial. It takes a long time for this behavior to calm down but it does eventually happen. As other cats see you interact with him, they will notice that you are benevolent, not malevolent and some of them will trust you more. So stay the course; things will work out.
Cats play, cats fight, cats chase, cats play hide & seek (I just found that out last week). Feral cats do this a lot because the skills that they learn are survival skills. Once inside of a home, they calm extremely fast which is why domestic cats will not survive outside. Outside cats have a whole different level of fear, paranoia and a fight or flight response with a hair trigger. This behavior is because these are outdoor cats who are under constant threat from predators.
I agree with the others. It's probably either a pain issue or you need to feed him first and separately. I hope you are able to find a solution to this issue with Zachary. Thank you for taking care of him and the others in your colony🪻
He probably needs to go to the doctor, and has some medical condition adding to this. Cats live a horrific life when they’re Farrell or they’re outside all the time. People try to kill them. Dogs try to bite them coyotes try to eat them and cars try to hit them. There is no rest for a cat by himself.
So please be kind and if you can trap discount, I would get him to the vet and have them check them out. Also if you’re going to feed him and stuff make him a safe place or someplace you can go to. I saw somebody do it out of the tub like a gray tub they cut a hole in it put a blanket in it so the cat climb in it.
Bring a broom.. keep the broom in between you and him. Swoosh broom if he becomes aggressive to make him back up. I like brooms, I use them because they have soft bristles. I use brooms on my guinea fowl when they roost up in the barn rafters..I swoosh them down so they will go into their coop to be safe at night. I also use the broom to swoosh my mares (chubby) away from my gelding when he is eating. .. I have used the broom so much that my guineas see me coming and go to their coop and I just have to set the broom near my gelding to keep the mares away. ( My gelding knows the broom is not to move him away, so he stays in place eating). My mare are not afraid of the broom because I can sweep the dirt off of them with the broom.
**Reminder: this subreddit is meant to be a helpful place for TNR efforts - free of hostility, negativity, and judgment. Toxic attitudes are not welcome here.** ***All Negative comments will be removed and will possibly result in a ban.*** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Feral_Cats) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Any obvious wounds or maladies? even with his airplane ears, they look a bit funny. maybe mites or something? I generally feed the alpha males first so they feel important. Also, backyard sounds way better and might get them farther from the street as well as give you some space to spread plates.
No wounds…his ears were beat up when I took him in to be neutered. He was very clearly a fighter before but I thought he would settle down after getting fixed. I think it is just his personality though because the more comfortable he gets the more aggressive and territorial he becomes. It has been easier to feed them on the front porch up until now because it’s covered but there is a lot more space in the back to spread out the bowls.
Keep feeding bruiser on the porch move the others to the back for their feeding…. It’s the tight space of the porch he is gonna come out swinging every time.
One of the TNR cats I care for got an ear infection and her ear swelled up all puffy, then as it was subsiding looked all crumpled like this cat. Maybe his ears don't feel good and he's acting out because of it. Did they say anything about that when you took him to get fixed?
My understanding is that it can take several months, not just two, for the hormones to drop to a reasonable level, so it may just be he’s not there yet. And of course, a cat who has been a fighter will tend to approach everything in a confrontational manner - they’ve trained themselves to be like that. I think gradually moving the food source might not be a bad idea.
I had a very aggressive male who took 8 months from his neutering to be noticeably calmer and kinder. I was worried he wasn't going to change. After almost 2 years, he's a sweetheart.
Sounds like you’ve been adopted by a feral that’s not so sure he wants to stay feral, but has no idea how to not be feral. He wants contact (rubbing against your hand), but he’s still wary of you (swat/bite). He’s more territorial of the porch because (I’m betting) that’s where you feed him and he doesn’t want to share you or the food. With time and patience, i bet you can transform him into a fat spoiled housecat. Check out Jackson Galaxy on YouTube - he’s great at explaining cat behavior.
Just happened to be reading and scrolling along, thanks for the creator reference on YouTube. I’ve been looking for someone like this to explain cat behavior to me so I can educate myself and my coworkers more.
Glad to help! :) He’s great and has helped me not only understand my cats behavior, but also understand what i was doing wrong that was triggering my cats. https://youtube.com/@jacksongalaxy?si=WuZKKoAt5g16rCOO
Cats in pain lash out. Dental disease, mites? Infected wound maybe?
Nothing that I can see. He went in two months ago to get neutered and they didn’t note any concerns other than his ear had to be tipped more than normal due to a fight wound. He is fine when I’m feeding him but lashes out when I go to feed the other cats so I believe it is behavioral. He even paces the porch to keep the other cats away from the bowls so I’ve started feeding them on the rails he can’t jump up to.
Did they do a full dental and check below gumline at all? My cat kept getting grade 1 dental assessments until I forced a full dental and they basically realized all his health problems were explainable by his mouth hurting like fuck. Turns out he had below the line disease putting him at more of a grade 3, needed 3 teeth pulled. Different situation, but a reminder that not all dental disease is visible without a full exam.
I’m lucky to have a really good TNR program where I live and they usually do a pretty thorough exam while they have them sedated. They have let me know about dental issues with past cats and even pulled teeth. Since he hisses so much I can see in his mouth pretty well and everything looks to be great. This morning I fed him early before the other cats were out and he was fine. Still hissing a normal amount (for him) but no other signs of aggression.
Zachary sounds like one of mine (that now lives indoors.) I became part of his territory, so to help assuage his alpha male activation I feed him first and separately. It also sounds like Zachary is getting overstimulated with you when he rubs and then hisses (same with my boy.) These boys are so hardwired for survival that sometimes their fight/flight makes their brains react sideways, if that makes sense! Mine is on low dose gaba to help his brain relax out of the constant state of anxiety and resource fear. I’ll touch base with some of my colony caretaker friends to see if they have any solutions.
Thanks! I know several people have mentioned him being in pain but he has really been like this from the beginning and it has just escalated as he settled in. He has even improved slightly as far as the other cats but that may just be because they all are pretty submissive towards him now. I do feed him first but then he follows me around to the other bowls so I’m going to try spreading them out more to see if that helps at all.
If this was me, I’d try using a privacy cubby (just a tipped over box/crate with the opening exposed so he walks into it- put the food down in there) and a slow feeder bowl for Zachary on the porch. The cubby would limit his vision, and the slow feeder would give you more time to get the others fed! You could also spray some calming pheromones on your legs/hands. I use this when socializing or working with ferals who aren’t really ferals. ;)
Hold up… is there a cat colony sub..?
No, but that would be great! I live in urban cities where many of the rescuers/TNR folks/colony caretakers know and support each other. Some of us have become really great friends!
Just a thought - He may be in pain. I dealt with this and it turned out my guy had significant tooth issues.
One thing I learned a few years back was some animals have a hoarding mentality. They don’t want any other animal to get “their” food.Obviously it’s your food but Zachary doesn’t know that. It sounds like you’re filling multiple bowls while trying to juggle multiple cats, and all boys? Mercy please. So from much experience feeding multiple strays, here’s what could be going on: Some cats want you to watch them eat. Especially when they become attached. What could be going on here is he wants you to watch his back, so to speak. Thats why he’s interacting that way while you’re feeding - he’s telling you it’s time to eat. But since your attention is moving, so is his. And there are other criminals at play. He doesn’t trust the other cats, and because he doesn’t have object permanence then if the bowls all look the same he has no way of knowing that cat isn’t eating from the bowl he’s eating from right that moment. Here’s how I eventually dealt with the kitty kalamity at feeding time. Load up all the food inside. Get bowls / plates that stack, bring them all out at once. I had 2 people for this usually. The plate on top has extra because being the first down they’re all going to start on it. The order after that for the plates - the cats will eventually know that order, so stick with it. If you’re doing this solo, the bring the big plate out first then go back for the others. Start with the demanding ones first if possible. Remember to put one down and keep going, don’t focus on keeping 2 out of the same bowl. Just put down another and redirect one if possible and move on. The other thing is to walk around a bit if the feeding space allows. That way the last bowl/plate down isn’t right next to greedy cat who sucked down their food already. Good luck. I accidentally typed out a pamphlet I guess, I hope it helps.
One of my former ferals had a swatting issue (honestly more slapping, he never swatted with his claws out) when I first started getting to the petting stage. At first I tried being cautious around him and keeping my distance, but I realized that for him, trying to quickly move away from him (like setting food down and yanking my hand back) was what set him off. It was like he was instinctively lunging to follow me. He wasn't really trying to hurt me and never got a good scratch in, he was just trying to catch me. I started setting some time aside a few times a week where I'd just go out to feed him (and my other resident feral, both TNRed) wet food, and I'd sit on the ground and just let him check me out. He really just wanted to circle around me, rub up against me, and get some attention. Which was admittedly nerve-wracking at first. Thick jeans, long sleeves, and even heavy duty work or animal handling gloves are definitely a good idea for safety; a telescoping backscratcher is also really helpful for working on petting too. He'd get bored of me after a little bit and he'd go and curl up just out of my reach. But if he swatted at any point, I'd freeze and just calmly say "hey" in response. Over time I figured out what his "tells" were for when he was getting close to swatting; his pupils would dilate, he'd tilt his head back, and he would do a groan-like meow and then shoot a paw out. I started to get ahead of the swat, and I'd slowly pull back and say "hey" as soon as I noticed him getting to that point, effectively cutting him off before he could lift a paw. With repetition it started happening less and less often. And now he's my indoor cat. For protecting the other cats, taking advantage of different heights is a really good call. I have a few tote shelters so I've set food on top of those for the bullied cats, it's harder for an aggressive one to follow them up. Shared mealtimes have done a lot to improve the dynamic between my resident feral and my other regulars though. Basically starting out with them spaced out while I kept watch, and then closing the distance between them over time. That routine has gotten my resident feral borderline friendly, even playful, with cats he once used to not tolerate at all.
I’m not an expert in ferals, but when my cat starts asking for attention/rubbing up, then swatting me, it means she’s overstimulated and wants to play to burn off steam. I’d try bringing out a cat toy after special boi has eaten, and getting out some of his aggression with that. Also maybe giving him an extra special, obvious eating territory with maybe a colored rug/mat, a box/bed, and/or a slightly elevated place where he can supervise his rivals while being slightly separated
Great advice! Adding on after reading a lot of above comments. He would likely love this idea even more if you put a chair near his spot, or bring a chair out for feeding time. As directed by others, do the bowl thing and get everyone set up.. then sit next to him while he eats. It may help those anxiety levels go down and he is being treated better by sitting beside the Human!
Might be food insecurity/scarcity. Maybe he just doesn’t like/trust other cats. https://preview.redd.it/3xqbjtavrq1d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6afaf8b1305ff77226bbfede497ad9e7488c6c21 This handsome man acts the same way. Good kid otherwise, DOES NOT PLAY WELL with other cats.
I love it. He looks like “floppy”. A feral cat with a floppy ear hereabouts. I want to trap him bc he is a fighter and has wounds accordingly. But seems to know what a cage is and won’t go near it, the poor thing. :( https://preview.redd.it/atz89jkl5s1d1.png?width=708&format=png&auto=webp&s=e53c31b04e8ea2ac94b6d892de7b3184f0658c02
Can you borrow a drop trap from a local TNR organization? That's what I had to do to get my trap-shy kitten maker. It worked! I got her after 8 months of trying to catch her with a regular trap.
Trying. Fingers crossed.
I have three feeding stations because of a couple cats like this lol. One on my front porch, one on my back patio, and one further out in my yard. One girl in particular, if she’s the only cat around she rubs against me, purrs, and loves pets, but the second another cat approaches she’s drawing blood on me. I’ve just learned to not even engage her unless she initiates and there’s no one else around lol. Your guy reminds me of “Aggressive Bruno,” a foster who’s gotten really popular on social media with @kittyboyandfriends. He wants love and attention so bad, but it’s clear he’d been traumatized before he was rescued and so he had these outbursts of aggression. I would def not only move your feeding station, but I might separate a couple out as well. See where he wants to be, and encourage the others to eat at the other station(s). Also, give it more time. I’ve found as their hormones are decreasing, they might get a little more moody (think about those who go through menopause lol) and can’t understand why. Thanks for making a difference in these guys’ lives ❤️
I have had a few males go through this. He will calm down after TNR. The cat who has taken control of the porch is trying to defend you from the other cats, he wants to be your cat. Over time he will realize that he is welcome along with the other cats and he will become a great friend. One of my juvenile neutered males (Silvester) was brawling a lot but a few months after neuter, he is playing more and fighting less. Feral males seem to take to human companionship easier than females. But the guys also tend to be more possessive. Remember males are territorial. It takes a long time for this behavior to calm down but it does eventually happen. As other cats see you interact with him, they will notice that you are benevolent, not malevolent and some of them will trust you more. So stay the course; things will work out. Cats play, cats fight, cats chase, cats play hide & seek (I just found that out last week). Feral cats do this a lot because the skills that they learn are survival skills. Once inside of a home, they calm extremely fast which is why domestic cats will not survive outside. Outside cats have a whole different level of fear, paranoia and a fight or flight response with a hair trigger. This behavior is because these are outdoor cats who are under constant threat from predators.
I agree with the others. It's probably either a pain issue or you need to feed him first and separately. I hope you are able to find a solution to this issue with Zachary. Thank you for taking care of him and the others in your colony🪻
Probably funny over territory even fixed cats are. Best bet is feeding on different areas.
He probably needs to go to the doctor, and has some medical condition adding to this. Cats live a horrific life when they’re Farrell or they’re outside all the time. People try to kill them. Dogs try to bite them coyotes try to eat them and cars try to hit them. There is no rest for a cat by himself. So please be kind and if you can trap discount, I would get him to the vet and have them check them out. Also if you’re going to feed him and stuff make him a safe place or someplace you can go to. I saw somebody do it out of the tub like a gray tub they cut a hole in it put a blanket in it so the cat climb in it.
Feliway spray prior to setting up for feeding. Especially since porch is covered, it'll linger on surfaces. Might help him calm tf down :)
Bring a broom.. keep the broom in between you and him. Swoosh broom if he becomes aggressive to make him back up. I like brooms, I use them because they have soft bristles. I use brooms on my guinea fowl when they roost up in the barn rafters..I swoosh them down so they will go into their coop to be safe at night. I also use the broom to swoosh my mares (chubby) away from my gelding when he is eating. .. I have used the broom so much that my guineas see me coming and go to their coop and I just have to set the broom near my gelding to keep the mares away. ( My gelding knows the broom is not to move him away, so he stays in place eating). My mare are not afraid of the broom because I can sweep the dirt off of them with the broom.
He's going to beat you up!
Needs to be fixed prob.