# Need Advice about Trapping Ferals



## KrazyforKatz (Apr 21, 2005)

Hi Everyone - Despearate newbie here. 

I've been trying to manage a feral colony for the past three or four years. When I first started out, I had great luck trapping them to do a spay/neuter/release. However, at any point in time, I seem to always have at least on female who will not go in the trap, so I'm still getting kittens.

I've been pretty successful catching the kittens and placing them, but like the wiley females, there seems to always be one kitten who I cannot trap, and my luck being what it is, the kitten ends up being female. :roll: 

So I now have at least four females and I am desperate. Worse still, I'm now not even able to trap the males (the colony is somewhat fluid, so new cats enter, and there are some new toms I have not yet neutered).

Any advice on how to best lure them? I usually drape the trap with a towel (but not on the ends), line the trap with newspaper, and make a trail of tuna up the newspaper to the plate of tuna at the end of the trap. This has always worked in the past, but it's almost as though they're able to communicate with each other and those who have been trapped have told the rest, "Don't go in there!"

This week I tried not covering the traps - still no luck.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can offer.


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## Feral Fan (Feb 9, 2005)

Ahhh yes I think the females are extra smart... but isn't that always the case? :wink: (gotta get those in where you can!)

You're doing a wonderful thing for these sweet little kitties! I hope you can catch the rest of them! Some things that might help...

Try covering the whole trap even the back (I've caught them that way).

Try moving the trap away from where you have it to a new spot. Maybe they won't recognize it.

Try putting tuna/sardines/greasy meat (think fast food) out but only in the trap so they HAVE to go in to get to it. Oh and if you are feeding them then maybe don't put out food, just skip one feeding and make them a little extra hungry?

Try lining the trap with scraps of fleece instead of newspaper (maybe they don't like the feel of it).

Maybe even try cleaning it well, maybe they don't like the smell.

Some cats actually don't like tuna so other bait might be the thing. I hope you find the right combination for these kitties! Good luck and keep us posted, again you are doing a wonderful thing looking after them!


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## catwoman (Dec 3, 2002)

Feral Fan has some great advice. In addition, I would try to skip just one feeding so you get them hungry and try placing a very small amount of smelly wet food at the opening (just enough to get them curious) and place a bowl of the food in the very back corner of the trap. You don't want to put too much food before the release plate because they may eat enough to be satisfied and never go in deep enough to set the trap. Also if you are not having any luck right now, you could wait a couple of days and try again. You may want to set up a few traps to help increase your odds and maybe even catch more than one kitty at a time. Good luck and thank you for helping these sweet kitties.


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