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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / February 2004It's Not Working
Am I just being impatient (it's okay to say so LOL) or does this process of catching ferals take a really long time? They won't eat the food I put out, they won't come near the trap. I have found mice droppings in the cage, which means I am attracting mice not cats LOL You'd think the mice would also attract cats. I hate to just leave them out there, possibly unnuetered (my major concern cus they are WELL fed). I mean not at all skin and bones. Do cats roam long distances. We are not close to other houses, really, but down over our hill, and past the railroad tracks is a few houses. it would be a LONG walk for the kitties, They do not approach each other, and they do fight occasionally (we hear em and figure it's them since James is indoors mostly now. Anyway, it's almost as if they belong somewhere, not my backyard, but *somewhere* but no one claims them. Any other ideas? Or do I need to exercise patience? Hailey It takes patience. Can you cover the traps with branches and leaves?? Also, do not feed them except for inside the trap. Gail > Am I just being impatient (it's okay to say so LOL) or does this process of > catching ferals take a really long time? [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Hailey "Hailey" <hailey@cmi.net> dumped this in news:o9t%b.30070$kt2.3546593368 @twister2.starband.net on 26 Feb 2004: > Any other ideas? Or do I need to exercise patience? Yes, it takes a while sometimes. One stray here never went in the trap at all. 2 others I caught in the same night first try. You could try wiring the trap door open, and placing the food in the front of the trap initially. Then move it back a little at a time once you notice it being eaten. When you get it to the back of the trap past the trip plate, unwire and set the trap for real. Make sure the dish is small, or use no dish at all. If you must put anything in the bottom of the trap (which helps when you have one and need to move it), just use a thin layer of newspaper so as not to inhibit the trip mechanism. Good luck. You can do this! :) Don't feel bad about attracting mice; I just attracted ants. Oh, and slugs. > Am I just being impatient (it's okay to say so LOL) or does this process of > catching ferals take a really long time? It can take a long time but normally you'd catch something fairly quickly. How long have you been trying to catch them and exactly what are you doing? What if anything other then food is in the trap? What kind of food are you using? Were the cats coming regularly for meals before you started setting the trap? > I hate to just leave them out there, possibly unnuetered (my major concern > cus they are WELL fed). I mean not at all skin and bones. If you leave them as they are you'll get kittens out there and your numbers will grow rapidly. There are only so many one person can feed. > Do cats roam long distances. We are not close to other houses, really, but > down over our hill, and past the railroad tracks is a few houses. Ask them if they are feeding them. If they are ask them not to for a short while so you can catch them. I've even flyered neighbourhoods at times when a cat proves difficult to catch just to get everyone to stop feeding it and give me a chance. > They do not approach each other, and they do > fight occasionally (we hear em and figure it's them since James is indoors > mostly now. There is a chance that your lucky and they are all males in which case they would only fight and keep their distance but you're not going to know this for sure unless you catch them. > Any other ideas? Give me more details on the situation and I'll try and give you some more ideas on what might work. > > Am I just being impatient (it's okay to say so LOL) or does this process of > > catching ferals take a really long time? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > kind of food are you using? Were the cats coming regularly for meals > before you started setting the trap? We set the trap out about a week ago. It's inside a large cardboard box so they can have some *privacy*. I am baiting them with dry dog food. The trap is set away from our house about 50 feet (and there is nothing else around to spook them for many acres). No the cats won't come near the house. They've been around for a couple years and we see them on average about 2-3 times a day. Both in the front and back yards. > > I hate to just leave them out there, possibly unnuetered (my major concern > > cus they are WELL fed). I mean not at all skin and bones. > > If you leave them as they are you'll get kittens out there and your > numbers will grow rapidly. There are only so many one person can feed. They have neither grown nor shrunk since appearing, which leads me (perhaps erroneously) to think they are feral males. Which, of course, does not discount they could be procreating. > > Do cats roam long distances. We are not close to other houses, really, but > > down over our hill, and past the railroad tracks is a few houses. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > times when a cat proves difficult to catch just to get everyone to stop > feeding it and give me a chance. We don't live in a neighborhood, per se. We live on a long dead end road with only a few homes on it. Extremely rural. Our own acreage is large, as is most everyone elses. We canvassed the neighbors and no one claimed the kitties, or had heard of them. > > They do not approach each other, and they do > > fight occasionally (we hear em and figure it's them since James is indoors [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > they would only fight and keep their distance but you're not going to > know this for sure unless you catch them. Right. I hope they are males, and I am okay I guess, with them living in the backyard, they pretty much don't bother each other, and our outdoor kitty is down to being out only infrequently during the day now, and never at night any more (unless he escapes) I'd still like to know if they are nuetered, however. I am sure they'd find unnuetered females if not. They aren't my kitties, but they think this is home I guess and I don't want *someone* to suddenly find their little female is expecting. > > Any other ideas? > > Give me more details on the situation and I'll try and give you some > more ideas on what might work. > We set the trap out about a week ago. There's some problems here I think I can help you solve them. > It's inside a large cardboard box so > they can have some *privacy*. Get rid of the box, they will just see this as being scary the trap is scary enough without it. >I am baiting them with dry dog food. Problem two right there, wrong bait. Think about it like a cat for minute you got this big scary box you don't really care to go in, ok if your starving you might think about it but when the end result is dry dog food its just not worth it, mice taste better and are more fun to catch. Forget about dog food, forget about all dry food, get some tuna, or other really stinky fish I use tuna all the time so I promise you it works. Put the food at the very very back of the trap cats have long necks and they can reach over the triger to get the food, leave a tiny bite size trail of tuna on the way into the trap bites being about 6 inches apart with a big heap of it at the very back of the trap. You'll catch something. =) >The trap > is set away from our house about 50 feet (and there is nothing else around > to spook them for many acres). Location of it seems fine. Do you normally feed them in this spot when not trapping them? If I get called out to trap and neuter cats people are feeding I always ask them where they feed them and put the trap where they are used to going for food. If you haven't been feeding them before this it might be worth feeding them in this spot for a week to get them used to it and then stick the trap out there with some great smelling stuff in it. Remember they have to be more hungry then they are scared of the trap and they have to want whats in there. You'll do fine keep at it. I think your main problem was the food change that and you'll be catching them in no time. I agree to get rid of the cardboard box. Also, use a smelly fish such as tuna for bait. Gail > > We set the trap out about a week ago. > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > You'll do fine keep at it. I think your main problem was the food > change that and you'll be catching them in no time. > Get rid of the box, they will just see this as being scary the trap is > scary enough without it. Okay, gone. > >I am baiting them with dry dog food. LMBO! I meant to say dry CAT food. And okay, re: the tuna. > Problem two right there, wrong bait. Think about it like a cat for > minute you got this big scary box you don't really care to go in, ok if [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > smelling stuff in it. Remember they have to be more hungry then they > are scared of the trap and they have to want whats in there. I do not feed the cats at all. We've tried in the past and they've never touched anything. so we left them alone. As I say, they are both very well fed, so it was not an issue. This is a problem now because they are *not* hungry. But I will try the tuna. :) Thanks.
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