Why don't you set the trap where you know the mom is, put the baby in a
carrier and butt the front of the carrier up against the back of the
trap? This might get the mother to go in the trap to get to the baby.
Don't actually put the baby in the trap because it could get injured by
mom if she freaks when the door comes down. You should do this *right
now* since the mom is still looking for her baby.

Megan

                                   

One more thing-
If you don't catch the mother cat using the baby as bait, it doesn't
mean you can't trap her in the future. When setting a trap, I also can't
stress enough the importance of putting either newspaper or cardboard
along the floor of the trap so it covers the trip plate. This way the
can't won't see it and step over it. If it's windy cardboard would be
better although, if you don't have any, a few small rocks are useful in
weighing the newspaper down so it doesn't blow around.

This is what I did to catch a feral that had been caught once before and
was afraid of traps. It took a little over a week. I used canned
mackeral and began by leaving the trap out with the door tied up using a
bungee cord.
I started feeding the cat at the exact same time every evening and
putting the food about a foot away from the trap. I continued to do so
until I was certain the cat was eating it. I then began gradually moving
the food closer to the trap (a few inches each day) and then inside the
trap. When I saw that the cat was regularly eating the food when it was
in the trap, I then moved the food all the way to the back of the trap,
untied the door and set it so it would spring. I got the cat that night.

This method takes time, but you have nothing to lose here and if you do
this, you should be able to catch her before she has more babies.

Megan

                                   

Aimee, that must be really tough. You are saving one cat, but I'm sure
it's hard to watch the mother.

At least the mother carries on after an amount of time, and you are
saving the kittens for their lifetime.

I don't have trapping advice for you but Megan already gave you good
advice. I just wanted to say to hang in there, and keep trying for the
mother. That's the only way to stop the cycle. If she's stayed around
for 3 years, sounds like she'll be around for awhile yet.

Good luck, and let us know what happens.

Rhonda

Aimee,
I know how you feel - we had a cat out in our neighborhood for several
years who kept having kittens. We finally trapped her last summer :-) I
persuaded her caretaker to feed her in the open trap for several weeks,
but whenever he set the trap she somehow knew and didn't go inside. Of
course her caretaker felt sorry and never let her go hungry for more
than 36 hours, so there really was no need ;-) Finally I threatened not
to help him any more at all, so we fed the rest of the colony every day
and shoed her away (she is by far the most fearful of the crowd). On
the third evening, we fed everyone canned food till they wanted no more
(so they wouldn't be tempted by the trap) and laid a trail of small
pieces of honey baked ham into the trap. 10 minutes later we had her
and she went directly to the vet for her spay.
Good luck!