somebody help me... HELP

mrblanche said:

In the wild, those kittens would have been driven away by mom, probably, very soon if not already.  Their chance of surviving for long?  Not good.  There is a mortality rate in truly feral kittens of almost 100% by the time they are six months old, except in established colonies supported by outside feeding.

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And mrblanche, what you describe, is not going to happen to these kittens.  I WILL catch them.  They are going to have a home other than piles of trash.. 
They absolutely have not lived half their life span.  Their mama is not feral.  Granted, she is terrified of everyone but me and no one has touched her in over a year but me, she is still not feral.  And since she trusts me, her babies will come around eventually and trust me also, even if they have not been touched by human hands yet. They deserve a chance.

I absolutly KNOW they will not survive this winter if I don't get them.  But they are not a statistic.  At least not yet.

I am so discouraged right now.....  I have missed one chance of getting them because I set the trap wrong and messed up the second.  I can sit out there again Saturday night and Sunday morning.  I'll just have to bundle up because of weather.

I hope the traps work tonight...  I'm not going to go check them until midnight after work.  Since I've been walking out there ever couple hrs, I might be scaring them.  I'm just going to stay away.  It is 1pm now where I live.  Midnight is 11 hrs away.  No one else goes back there but me.

And mrblanche, I'm sorry...  I'm just so emotional right now.  Trying to catch them has me on a roller coaster.  I can't think about their impending death, because I am trying to save them and so right now, there is no option but success for them.

If I get one of them, I think it will be the grey one. 

I walked down below the shed today too.  I might set a trap down there.  It's closer to their den.  The other way is way more afraid than the one that walked up with m.ama

Wonder if catnip woudl work in the crate????  To draw them in......

I tried everything to catch one last feral kitten and what finally worked was a packet of wet food that was tuna flavored (I forget the name brand but it was stinky and very moist). Recently I started volunteering for a TNR organization and they have good luck using sardine canned food for cats or a roasted chicken. Put some of the food in the trap and trail a few pieces outside of the trap to lead them in. Make sure the trap triggers are lightly touching so that it doesn't take much weight to close the door. If you have access to a Havahart trap that might be better for a small kitten. Best wishes!
 

roasted chicken trail.  I'm going to do that before I got to work......... Now there a thought...... thank you!!!
 

You are a wonderful caring person, I hope you are able to catch the babies soon. 

Keep trying! WIth your caring determination, you'll have them in hand soon. Alicia has a good suggestion -- trappers in the group I volunteer with often use sardines (cheap human variety) with an "appetizer" trail of juice from the can leading to the trap, and it's quite effective. Hope you're feeling better from the spider bite.

I'll try the sardine juice. 

Today, I went through the fridge before work and ended up putting out crab meat trails leading into both traps.  I also took the other food up temporarily.....  I'll check at midnight and see what if anything I might have caught.

Keeping my fingers crossed you'll catch them all tonight. 

One thing that helps, especially with kittens, is to put a piece of cardboard on the bottom of the trap. This way they don't have to walk on wire, and they don't have to step right on the trap plate (kittens are very good at avoiding it). And sprinkle a bit of leaves and dirt over the cardboard so they feel more at ease.

I made a very stinky mix for trapping. Sardines, mackerel, tuna, and some clam juice. Phew! But it did the trick. I've heard that rotisserie chicken or KFC works very well, too.

It is 10:30......  I was just telling my coworker about my little trail of crab meat.  I hope I catch them too.  I have not been over there tonight at all.  I'm waiting till midniight so I won't spook them in case they are feeding.  As a rule, they eat all night in the dark.  I moved their food slightly.  When they come up their little hill from their den, I hope they cross the crab trail and walk straight into the crates.  .....

Good luck Jcribbs!    You sure are bringing back the memories of when I trapped my feral mom and kittens.   I remember doing crazy things like going out all hours of the day and night to check on them and look for them.    Sitting in the cold on the dirt talking to her trying to make a connection and to figure out what to do.   For a while she moved the kittens frequently so it was suspenseful for about three weeks.    

My two cents are to remember that you do have some time - you know where the kittens are and they are eating so that takes some pressure off.   You could even gradually move their food closer to the traps and even into the traps (with strings sets so the trap doesn't spring) and try again when you feel sure they are going in all the way regularly.   Good luck!
 

Ok, tonight I did not catch them.  Traps are still set.

However, the little stinkers ate my crab meat.....  all the way into both traps.  But they never set it off..  They ate so much crab meat, they barely ate any other food.

I think tomorrow evening when I get back from springfield, I'm going to tie the traps open and for two days get them used to eating in them.  And I 'm going to put the traps in the bushes close to their  den.  Maybe 30 feet away.  They will have to take that path to get to their regular food and their rubbermaid crate.  There is no option there.   I held onto tree limbs this morning and walked down there.  Mama kitty has them a great den under dense brush and fallen trees.  Safe from predetors.  There is thick folliage, vines, huge tree laying on top of each other.  I am not sure exactly where their "spot" is but I know where she stands to call them and what direction they came running from.  So I am going to put it in that area.  I think this is two city lots completely grown over.  It's like a little sub-tropical rain forrest right in town.

I don't go back to work till Sunday at 4pm and my only plans tomorrow is to be in springfield missouri for the gender party.

Their mama is sitting beside me on the computer table eating a bowl of taste of the wild.  She like it pretty well.  I think she is looking a little better or maybe she feels better, so therefore I think she looks better.  I am getting her the Evo tomorrow as well.  She is getting along with my house kitty Cleo -- aka Patty Cake Kitty.   And that's a good thing.  If Patty acceps her, the other cats will.  She is the queen, the oldest female and she is the peace keeper.  If someone growls about anything, she jumps in the middle of it and makes them stop.  She rarely shows her claws.  It is just not necessary.  They do what she says to do.

Anyway back to the subj at hand.  the babies.......  Tomorrow morning -- I'm going to get some mackrel and sardines from the store and set the traps in the area close to their den and see what happens....  I'll check it when I get back from springfield.  I'm not going to put them close together.  Maybe 10-15 feet apart...

When I get home, I'll take mama back up there if I haven't caught them.  Also I might put her at the end of the trap back in her crate but close to the den.  Maybe she'll call them. 

Actually with her there close to the den and loose -- and me up top, they might just go right on in....... We'll see

And thanks Bastfriend --  I actually am thinking of doing just what you suggested!!  AND WELCOME TO TCS!!

Jenn

Thanks for the welcome Jenn and good luck tomorrow!  

I'm up drinking coffee with Mama sitting beside me eating breakfast. 

What I am noticing about her is that she likes to sit on the computer keyboard while I type..... 

Told my husband my daily plan and we hope it works.  The grocery store opens at 7am, so I plan on being their first customer today.  It is about three blocks or so from where I am going to set the traps.  I am going to have to drive up top, remove the traps from their current location and then drive around the block to where a driveway used to be and then enter the wooded area from there.  I think it will be easier that way.  Hopefully I won't scare them too much doing that.  Then I am going to go back up top and wait a bit and see what happens.  I am not taking mama this morning.  it is close enough to the top side that I will be able to hear the set if the door is set off.  Then I can just drive back around and pick the cat up.  

I am going to have to let them loose in our enclosure or the house....One or the other.  I cannot keep them crated for two days.....  I will have to recatch them for the vet.  Hopefully I can gentle them enough to put them in a crate in a week or so.  One of them I don't feel will be that difficult.  The other one has been totally out of sight until yesterday.  He never even ran around with mama before I caught her.  He stayed hid.  I hope I catch that one first.  I suspect if I catch the other and he is near, he will be trap shy since he is so invisible now.

Good luck and do keep us posted..

Traps are set.  One is on top and it has sardines and mackrel and some other stinky stuff.  10' juice trail leads to it.

The second is about 15' from den entrance.  About 5' of juice trail.  This on is surrounded by brush.  I cleared the front and stuffed it full of mackrel....

I have fish juice all over me.  My glasses are filmy and I can't see........hahahaha 

I am going to check them on the way to springfield and if there I 'll put them in my office till we get back.  And we'll check afterwards.  If no luck, I'm taking mama back this evening.

Good luck today!  I hope you catch them. "The stinky fish just has to work."

It's very important to know that your best chances are when they are VERY HUNGRY.

If they are eating all night long, why get into a trap the next day? They need to be given a very small amount of food one day, and the next evening go and you will have kittens alot more willing to be trapped.

When you leave a trail for them to follow to the traps it must be tiny amounts, otherwise if they are not driven by hunger you will not get them to go in either.