For the past 2 years we have been trying to catch MamaKat - she is the
mother-cat of Weeble, Ernie, Mimi & Moe (but Weeb is older & from another
litter).

This afternoon I look out back, and there, in the shade of our dogwood tree,
I MamaKat.  This is her usual place, when she's hungry and wants food.  With
her was a 3-4 week old black & white bitty!  I knew she'd had another
litter, saw her moving one of them a few weeks ago.  Looks like there's only
the one.  Not sure if this was a single-bittie litter (as fat as she was
before, I doubt it), or the only survivor.

After I saw her moving the one, we bought some cans of kitten food to put
out, for when MamaKat taught the little ones to mooch.  Today is the day.  I
put out a can, and MamaKat stood defensively between me & Bittie, while
Bittie tried to hunker down and hide in the grass.  Would have worked, but
s/he had to meow.  As soon as I was safely back on the porch, with the door
closed, MamaKat then went to eat some, taking a big gulp, looking back at
Bittie, another gulp, look at Bittie.  After about 3-4 gulps, she went back
to Bittie.  I left them be for a while.  Next time I checked, there was a
lot more food gone, and Bittie was being brave and wandering over to the
food dish (not really a dish, but a large Tupperware lid - the bowl to which
it's supposed to go is long gone), over MamaKat's protestations.  It got to
the dish, there was a bit of food left, and it decided to try some.  Hey -
this is good stuff!  It actually got all the way inside the "dish" to eat.
By that time MamaKat had had enough of Bittie's insolence and when to get
her/him.  Bittie didn't like that one bit!  Cried that MamaKat was taking
him/her away from the goodies.  They managed to finish the food, and at last
sighting were "hiding" behind our tomato plants in the front garden, cuddled
up between the creeping phlox and the house.

Posting a piccie to alt.binaries.pictures.animals - poor quality as it's a
camera-phone and taken through a (dirty) window.  Bittie is IN the dish.
Dogwood tree is to the right, and so is MamaKat, just out of camera range.
Picture was taken right before MamaKat came & drug Bittie away from the
food.  In the distance you see a yellow doghouse - we bought that for
MamaKat & her brood last winter - but they never used it - it was in the
garage, until we found a opossum living in it in there.  Out it went.  With
Mr. (or Mrs.) Opossum in it.  Been there ever since.  You can also see, in
the upper left, the rear half of the left rear tire of my Jeep :).  At the
end of the walk is the trap that MamaKat refuses to get trapped in :(  I
know it would help if we would put the food IN the trap, but this is the
first we've seen the kitten, and we didn't wanna trap MamaKat and take her
away from any babies, lest the babies would die in her absence (or have her
abandon them after her release).

*HOW* can I convince MamaKat to let us take her to TED (local spay/neuter
clinic, they only charge $25 for ferals, and tip their ears, plus $8 for
rabies shot) so she will no longer have Bitties, and can therefore laze the
afternoons away under the dogwood tree, waiting for us to bring food????
Ping has talked to her through the screen door, and so has Weeble, Ernie
Mimi & Moe (her babies), but still she's leery of getting too close to us.
*sigh*