In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", Suzie-Q
<sme617x@earthlink.net> artfully composed this message within
<news:sme617x-7218F9.15552914082004@news3.west.earthlink.net> on
14 Aug 2004:

Do you know how old they are? If they are not teeny tiny, you could
probably use mom as bait and they'll come to her. Either be ready
to grab them, or have a kitten trap or two ready and line it up
next to a cage or trap with mom in it. Good luck!

Yes, if they are old enough to eat (around 4 weeks), try borrowing or buying
a have a heart trap. Put a smelly fish in it. You can keep the mom in a care
near by for them to see her and come forth.
Gail

My sister's done this a few times (she lives next to a dairy farm, & feral
litters were showing up regularly for a while), both when the mother cat was
very feral, & semi-friendly.

Once the kittens start coming out w/ the mother & they're old enough to be
weaned, you can trap them w/ a Hav-a-Hart trap.  You can buy one or borrow
one from a shelter - they'll probably require a refundable deposit.  You may
wind up trapping one at a time.  Wet cat food, tuna fish, whatever for bait
in the trap.  My sister had a difficult time trapping one last kitten & the
very feral mother cat; she found that bacon finally lured them in.

The kittens - she kept & socialized them, & adopted them out when they were
ready.  The super-feral mother cat: she had spayed immediately (had already
talked to the vet saying that it would be on an as-soon-as-I-can-trap-her
basis) & released her.

Good luck w/ this bunch.

Cathy

The kittens will be easy to trap or even lure within reach if they aren't
too deeply within the building foundations.

Kittens around 3-4 weeks are mobile enough (though barely, at 3 weeks) and
innocent enough to lure to the hand if Mom isn't around to distract them.
In your case, the mom might even help lure her kittens out to you.  I have
rescued entire litters by hand by calling the (with a shrill mew, since I
can't manage a mother's trill) within reach of my hand.  Or simply sit
down and call and talk to the kittens with Mom there with you.

By 5 weeks (or even younger), the kittens are attracted to solid food and
can be taken with a livetrap.  We use a squirrel trap for babies, so we
don't get the mom before we want her.

Feral-born kittens are quite tameable up to 8 weeks and even older, but
the sooner you catch them after 4 weeks the better.  By 4 weeks they are
developed enough to wean to solid food.  But you are lucky, to have a tame
momcat on tap.

Let us know how it goes.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats