Stray Cat Trap, Neuter/Spay, Release

I don't have to watch my cat 24 hours a day to know if Fuzzy has killed a bird or not. He wouldn't eat all the feathers - and none have ever been present in the run - let me make this clear - he isn't running thru the neighborhood, or even over most of the property, he is in a 40x20 run that I walk thru everyday so I would know if he is catching and killing birds.

I have had other cats that did kill, and Rita would love to but hasn't figured out how to catch anything yet (and there is something wrong with her back so she doesn't jump vertically very well and doesn't attempt to do so very often). Fuzzy just isn't interested since it hasn't been a necessity.

And let me also be clear that I am not advocating for cat colonies. I am just saying that an absolute all or nothing statement is probably not entirely accurate.

And yes, if I were let loose in the wild, I too would go into hunt mode .

 

I don't disagree that feral cats are a huge problem, but I have little use for statistics like this. I recently read in NY Conservationist magazine, where human homes are also responsible for approximately a billion bird deaths annually. So if you want to shoot cats that's fine, but this sort of justification probably won't "fly" if you go burning your neighbor's "bird killer" house down.

One of my neighbors is a "crazy cat lady" (any animals really). Actually nobody lives there now, because the house got condemned last year, and she actually had to go to the nut ward for evaluation, all over the animal hoarding. Anyway her daughter recently dropped off a load of unwanted kittens there. Two of them followed my girlfriend home on Saturday while she was walking the dog, and it's not the first time that's happened. We've seen her feed them exactly once, and last week we even dropped off a bag of cat food.

I wouldn't let her keep them cause we already have a couple pets and I don't like cats. So she took a couple cute pics of them and put them up on Facebook, and within about 2 hours they had new homes. The first person asked "if they were free", to which I suggested she should charge like $40... But in the end, we provided a bag of cat food along with them, just to make extra sure they would go bye-bye.

[EDIT] The estimate for bird deaths due to cats is more in the range of 1/2 billion. Source: Causes of Bird Mortality - Sibley Guides

 

Cooked chicken bones wrapped in tin foil make a kryptonite bait. Especially chicken wing bones from the watering hole down the road. the tin foil just adds to the suspense.
The tin foil keeps them in the trap longer thrashing around like a kid opening x-mas presents . More time to trip trap.

 

I have been trying the Sardines to entice the feral cats into the trap with some success. But the one I want, the one that keeps using my gardens as it's own personal toilet has evaded capture. It's a huge Tom and actually waddles when he walks! The thing about the sardines is, the feral cats have shown they like the oil they're packed in a lot more than the sardine itself. Such a waste! Since I too like sardines, I figure I'll eat at least 3 of the 5 in the tin making sure to leave as much of the oil as possible. I need to pick up a few more tins because I ate the last ones.

I'll also be trying the chicken bone wings in foil JustWood mentioned, but I'm not sure they'll like the bones from the HOT wings that I like. Never can tell though.

 

Hoo boy! lucky you didn't get caught in the trap you set out when you had those sardines!

 

Boy, I'd sure have lots of 'splainin to do!

 

wildwest I hope you don't come across anything like this!

 

Maybe add catnip to the mix! Even age some old meat until you can smell it rotting and sprinkle with catnip. Really I think any kind of smelly meat would work. And add a couple of smallish piles of catnip on the side. That should entice the tom into the trap!

 

wildwest have you considered other lures like Cat-Man-Do Bobcat Lure? That might be enough to entice the white and black cat into the trap. But I would highly recommend the Catnip for sure. Maybe some smelly fish like the sardines (ehh) or Mackerel as bait. Add some catnip and it may give it up and go into the trap. What cat can resist catnip? I did manage to trap the huge, elusive, nasty, garden pooper using Mackerel sprinkled with catnip, and a couple of small piles of the catnip on the side. Once it got a wiff of the combination, he just walked right on in. He didn't care for sardines with mackerel, sardines, any kind of canned cat food (I tried at least a dozen different flavors of canned cat food including one with cheese, hot sausage, hot wing bones, and bacon flavored Spam.) It was the mackerel with a little juice from the can, and the catnip that won him over.

Most of the time he kept his distance though on occasion he would poke his head in to see what I was offering as bait.

I had ordered a bigger trap and some of the Cat-Man-Do lure for him, so I may just send the trap back when it arrives since there is no need for it now.

 

Try dog kibble - laugh all you want but I've had several cats that wouldn't eat, or even feign interest in canned food, tuna, eggs (in any form) etc, but would at least nose up to the dog food.