Trapping Tips
EQUIPMENT
HOPE loans out two traps and then an additional transfer carrier for each additional cat or kitten. I can show you how to transfer a cat from a trap to a transfer carrier. It’s simply a matter of abutting the two wire cages — trap and transfer carrier — and opening the doors so the cat goes from one to the other.
Are you having any females fixed? If so, they’ll need to convalesce for 3 days in a “recovery carrier.” A recovery carrier has a litter box, food, and water compartments, so all you have to do at the end of the 3 days is open the door and release the female to her known territory.
You will need a funnel to fill the food and water compartments of the recovery carrier once your female feral comes home from surgery. (HOPE does not provide the cat food or water, but we do provide the litter pan and litter.) The food and water compartments hang on the inside of the door to the recovery carrier.
ACTUAL TRAPPING
Cats have to be hungry to go in a trap. And you want to use something really stinky in the trap like tuna, sardines, canned cat food, etc. Some people swear by trapping with a KFC chicken leg or Chic-Fil-A nuggets. I’ve never tried it.
I usually go with tuna or sardines because I like to drip the juice from the can toward the entrance of the trap (onto the ground) to entice the cat to come in.
I also cover the trap w some old towels or a blanket and anchor those down w a few bricks or heavy rocks. Whatever is handy. (Never use anything like plastic tarps or garbage bags to cover a trap because the trapped animal could suffocate.)
And if there is a building or a fence to put the trap up against, that’s always better than just out in the open. The idea is to make the trap look like a dark tunnel with something yummy to eat in it.
Is mom still nursing — even though babies are running around and eating solid food on their own (4-weeks old plus)? You can also use her babies as bait to trap her. That’s done with a trap and a transfer carrier. The kittens go in the transfer carrier and abut the trap. Again, you cover the trap and transfer carrier, so mom thinks she has to go down a long tunnel to get to her babies.
WHOOPS! DID YOU TRAP A POSSUM INSTEAD OF A CAT?
No problem. The TruCatch traps that HOPE uses are designed so that when they’re turned upside down, the door opens. If you uncover the trap and have something non-feline staring back at you, use your foot, a broom or a shovel to push the trap over. The door will open and the animal can escape.
TRANSPORTING
When you put the trap with a cat in it in your vehicle, you will want to put a disposable puppy pad under the entire length of the trap.
Feral cats feel more secure when they feel like they are hidden, so try to keep them covered at the vet and in your car.