[radtek]

The cat-lady who live catercorner behind me died six or so weeks ago. The bank foreclosed and law enforcement just cracked the doors for the Cats.

My directly-behind neighbor told me what happened and ruefully remarked about the five or more Cats that have been preying on the birds he leaves food out for.

Well, really his wife usually dumps leftovers in the middle of back-yard. The Grackles and Cats have grown fat and sleek on a diet of Mexican-rice, enchiladas and tortillas.

Personally I draw the Cardinals and Bluejays with seed but I'm not opposed to throwing extra out like my neighbors.

Anyway- one female just went into heat and they are all scratching like mad. Fleas. Great. And potentially double the number in six weeks.

I bought a trap @ Harborfreight. Bait was a mix of 3 cups of cooked rice (longrain LOL) and one can of Jack Mackerel pureed in the food processor.

I took 1/4 of a paper towel and dumped about a Tbs of the mixture in and folded it in half. This I placed under the end of the trap on my side of the fence. Another Tbs on top of the package. Then a scattered a tiny bit of the bait near the entrance of the cage- about a Tsp.

About mid-trigger on the trap.

I go back inside and less than 5 minutes later a cat jumps the fence. Five more and the cat is in the trap. LOL. I'll have to wait for morning to take the cat to animal control.

Any experiences with this? I have 4 more to go. Luckily this one was the one in heat AFAIK. Two of them have seen this one in the trap and I'm trying to see if they'll finally wander off before I put the trap in the shed.

Total beginner's luck...

 

[Kap]

Check with your humane society. Over here, they provide loaner traps for free and will come and pick up the animals.

 

[jmb324]

I'm wondering why law enforcement or someone "in charge" didnt call the humane society right after she died and had this taken care of....then the cats would have been spared as well as your neighborhood.

I've spent years helping round up feral cats in our area, tuna in the back of the trap always gave us good results. As previously mentioned, see if your HS will help, ours gave us the traps too. They might know of any organizations that help do round ups as well. Its important to get them all before they have kittens that would starve if only the mother was removed. Its a difficult situation, and the animals often suffer greatly.
I'd just like to say thanks for your efforts and compassion for the situation...it was a relief not to read a "kill them all" thread like some of the disturbing ones over in pest control. Humane socities have to exist because of the actions of humans.
Good luck with your efforts.

 

[radtek]

I'm doing this out of desperation. The is a serious feral cat problem in my county like any major populated area in the States. I don't need this around my house. Just doesn't feel right to poison or shoot them.

I checked with Animal Control (down the street) and was informed "all they can do is rent me a trap- $10 for 5 days". But they'll take any cats free of charge.

Haven't checked on the phone with the local Humane Society but their website states:

"The Humane Society rents humane traps for those looking to find a way to transport feral cats for the TNR program that is safe for humans and cats alike. Rental fee is $15 for ten days, with a $90 deposit refundable upon return of the trap."

I screwed up and the cat got loose when I was putting the cage in the shed. I hadn't secured the back door to the cage properly. It ticked me off but I can only imagine if it had gotten free while in my hatch-back while I was driving to AC. Locked in a car with a pissed off cat...

Back to square one. LOL

 

[radtek]

Got another! That Jack Mackerel must be some irresistible bait! Once trapped they just keep on eating...

Here's a few pics starting from last night- the grey cat is the one in heat.

 

[joed]

One at a time. Don't leave the trap out at night or you might have a different animal in there. Skunk or racoon.

 

[gma2rjc]

This isn't really about the cats, but....

When I read the title of this post, the Ted Nugent song (with a similar title to the title of this post) keeps getting stuck in my head. Not the whole song, just a few words of it.......over and over and over and over. LOL

Keep up the good work with the cats. It's nice that you're taking care of them like that.

 

[KHouse75]

Take them to the humane society on the other side of the country or they'll find their way back if they get into the wild again.

I always thought it was an old wives tale that cats and dogs can find their way back home until I saw it happen.

I trapped a cat and it's kittens a few years ago in my yard. A friend who lives 20 miles away takes care of abandoned animals and took them in. About 5 months later, the cat got out of her house and disappeared. A week later, I was mowing the lawn and I see this cat that looked exactly the same. I figured it was the one kitten we never found. I trapped it that day and found it had a collar. The address on the collar was my friend's address and it was the cat I trapped 5 months earlier that had the kittens! I wandered 20 miles back to my house.

She's back home with my friend and hasn't attempted another escape since.

 

[radtek]

Came home around midnight to find another cat in the trap. This is one of the shy ones I'd hoped I'd get. Female. I knew it was around since it had been hiding in my East-facing neighbor's back yard. I'd asked her this morning if they had any pet cats? Her answer was emphatically no... with a pleased glance at the trap!

I think if my generous back-neighbor holds back with the food I can get all the cats plus the one I lost. They are just too used to eating their fill whenever. Seriously. It's been a smörgåsbord back there for the past six weeks.

Really this is quite thrilling but sad at the same time. The meows are heart-wrenching. But I think this latest will be a scratcher or biter since she gives off warning coughs & grunts when I approach the cage. Cute cat but off to AC in the morning.

 

[jmb324]

quote:
"Really this is quite thrilling but sad at the same time.
The meows are heart-wrenching."

yes, it is...and wait till you have a litter of 6-8 of the cutest furballs in your shed, woodpile or under your bbq, boat etc running around, but they are wild by instinct and cant be handled. It took me a long time to get used to it all, but I know by personal experience how quickly they multiply and how awful the alternatives for them are: starvation, disease, being mamed by humans and other animals, run over by cars, I've seen some tragic suffering and also the problems for the residents and their domesticated pets as well...its a problem with many sides to it...and I learned the hard way that sometimes hard choices must be made, but humane choices are available.

Most humane societies work on limited budgets so thats why often they are not able to loan out the cages, or help in "private" round ups. It might be a good idea to mention to the shelter/animal control how the law enforcement handled this so that they can be educated as to avoid it in the future.
We had a similar incident here, where police and paramedics opened doors and windows and let out over 30 cats and several dogs of an elderly animal horder. Our local animal control sent them the bill for having to spend weeks rounding up rather than a matter of hours it would have taken if they had been left contained in the home.

There has a been a sharp rise in feral populations since the economy has tanked and all the foreclosures, I used to live behind a large condo complex and actually caught a father and daughter releasing 3 pet ferrets into the bushes...there is no way the shelters/animal control can take care of it all, many cities/towns have organizations of volunteers that help rescue and some even do the spay/neuters for free. Abandoned pets can usually have a chance at adoptions, but true born in wild ferals rarely ever tame up and their fate is indeed sad. As I said before I applaud your efforts...education and personal experience with this very real nationwide problem is the only way we will ever make a dent in it.

 

[radtek]

An update-

Took a cat to AC this morning. Came home and immediately trapped another. Back to AC. Then I came home tonight after work and found the first cat that got away on Monday in the trap! The one in heat... Yay.

So that is four cats in 48 hours! There are two more that I know of. Whew. Makes me wish I had bought more traps. LOL

I'm not surprised about Law Officials not doing a darn thing. I hate to say it but apathy is endemic in my area. The majority of people do just barely enough to get by and thats it. If I hadn't stepped up our immediate neighborhood would be overrun by cats by December most likely. But I like to say I'm a man of sloth and action...

 

[rick32]

On a similar note

The wife and I were wondering why the neighborhood cats suddenly took to digging up her flower garden and spraying our front stoop. Turns out our tenant (we rent out the upstairs apartment) has a female that was in heat! Apparently she drove him nuts so when she became intolerable, he would throw her on the front porch roof and close the window! Now little miss is fixed and I still cant get the smell out of my steps.:no:

 

[fireguy]

Put the trap in a heavy duty garbage bag, a little bit of Carbon Dioxide from a fire extinguisher will take care to the feral cats. they gently go to sleep, w/o any fuss.

 

[joed]

Or the exhuast from your car if you don't have a CO2 extinguisher.