somebody help me... HELP

I forgot to mention something very important when catching kittens and then see willowy said it.

Cardboard piece that goes just to the end of the plate helps in 2 ways, the wire doesn't scare them with their small feet, plus it helps the trap be set off when they step far back on the cardboard.

ok, i did not catch them today and also they did not eat today.  I just got back from checking the food and the traps.  Neither have been touched.   I hope they will be hungry.

Mama is finally eating EVO mixed with Orijin.  She loves it.  She will be gaining weight in no time.  I got her two bags of kibble.  Orijin and Acana.  And 6 cans of EVO.  Three beef and three turkey and both 95 percent.  So she has food for a month........at least.

Fixing to gather her up AFTER she eats and take her to the baby site so she can call them out and hopefully I can catch them.  I have more mackrel and sardines.   I'll be leaving in 5 minutes.  It is nearly 5pm and I want to be home by 9pm.....

I'll take some cardboard too..... thanks guys....

not yet, heading back out. Will tell about it later.  Did make progress.

No kittens yet.

Yesterday, mama brought both kittens up under the shed.  The second one is a lighter grey and smaller.  Beautiful kittens.  When I got ready to leave, my truck would not start.  My husband is a deputy sheriff so 4 cops were up there last nigth trying to start my vehicle.  One of them finally took me home and I had to leave my vehicle.  Mama was in her crate while all this was going on.

I have been up there all day TODAY with mama while husband changed the fuel pump at their site...  It made mama nervous for so much activity to be going on so she attempted to move them today.  So I got her out fo there before she could do it.   I barely saw the kitten today except at a distance.  Beauty did not want to leave today.

I have the trap set in their main walking path and trees and leaves around it.....  I work tonight so we'll see what happens.

Here's a few new pics....

Mama is looking better...


Their current den.


The trap location with camo on top

Mama does look better!!! Enormous vibes for the kittens...

I get off work in approx 1 hr.  I have checked my traps twice.  No kittens.  I did hear them meow.  I am off the next two day, so I am going to go sit in the area for a couple hrs and talk to them and see if they will come out without mama being there.

I am at my wits end..... I can't wait for the day to send a pic of them at my house.....

I'm sending prayers - sure hope those kittens cooperate!   They probably got super-spooked by all the deputies and car repairs.  

Catwoman707, I'm going to be applying your cardboard trick myself in a couple of days because my indoor feral cat needs to go to the vet. 
 

dang..........no kittens....

I am convinced the problem is they are not hungry enough....... I've got to be tough and do like Catwoman said to do. A tiny bit of food one evening and then the next they will be hungry. They are so used to eating on an old table out there, that they run and jump on it and much down. I've watched them do it.

I think tomorrow I'll put their little meager amount of food next to the trap door. I have two days off to trick them. Tomorrow I 'm going to tie to trap open so all day or night they can come and go in the trap and eat. I might do that for a couple days and then set it. I'll put there whole bowl back there that they are used to eating out of. They can stare at it all day and then when they go in and nothing happens, they will relax. The trap has spooked them twice.

I "had" been leaving out three bowls of food with water in another to make sure they had enough. Since I work next to their site, I have been checking it several times a day. I need to let them see mama eating in it too...I think that will do the trick.

So I am going to tie it open and make them go inside to eat. I need them relaxed though so they won't be on edge when they trigger the trap door.. They are so darn fast. If they are relaxed about eating I can sit reasonably close to them and trigger the door myself with a stick when I get them both inside.

I just don't think I'l get them unless they are relaxed about going in. And then funny thing is, i had one of the traps in the back of my truck yesterday. My cats were trying hard to open the door. They wanted inside..

if I had waited to set the trap until I knew what I was doing, they would already be caught. I had water in there, a food bowl, soft cat food. They had many choices. And the water bowl kept the door from closing and they got out..... I am sick over that.

jcribbs said:

if I had waited to set the trap until I knew what I was doing, they would already be caught. I had water in there, a food bowl, soft cat food. They had many choices. And the water bowl kept the door from closing and they got out..... I am sick over that.

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 Please don't beat yourself up... I've been following what you've been doing and I think you're an amazing, dedicated and caring person.

 Lots of

Ok, I have decided to camo the bottom like the ground...  dirt and leaves.  I am going to tie it open and put lots of goodies in there for a couple days for food.  The crate is going to be their food spot..  When they are comfortable I'll set it. 
 

An EXCELLENT idea!!

Now you're sounding like us so-called "master trappers"    !!!

We start thinking all sorts of creative ways, think like a cat You can't imagine the tricks and loops I've jumped through to trap an untrappable or trap savvy kitty.

I just LOVE your persistence. Remember to be sure there is no remaining adrenaline smell from prior use.

Good luck, you will get them!

jcribbs said:

Ok, I have decided to camo the bottom like the ground...  dirt and leaves.  I am going to tie it open and put lots of goodies in there for a couple days for food.  The crate is going to be their food spot..  When they are comfortable I'll set it. 

 

Click to expand...

That is what I do and it really, really helps them to feel more secure about going in and out of the trap for food. THEN when you are ready and they are comfortable, set the trap and you will have success. The ONLY problem with trapping more than one kitten this way is the danger of a kitten being right under the trap door when another kitten steps on the trip plate. I don't want to throw a wrench in your plan, but just be aware of this possibility. I have heard of this happening from other kitten trappers. Like you need something else to worry about but just wanted to mention it to you.

I am waiting with baited breath for these babies to be trapped. It is such a worry too because they are so little and you don't want them to go without food but at the same time, they need to be hungry enough to go in that trap. More for a successful update. :cross:

I have sooooo thought of that possiblilty of one of them being caugth in the door and me not being there. 

I caught a racoon yesterday.  It tore all my cardboard up and chewed one of the plastic handles off oneof the traps.....  They hiss and growl like a cat.  I opened the crate and propped it with a stick and had to tap the rear of the crate and it shot out....

Just so you guys will know, I am going out there every day with mama cat.  And sometimes twice on my days off. I just don't have time to post every day.  Yesterday was one fo the "twice days".  Last night I stayed about 3 hrs with Mama and she brought them both up to me under the shed.   She is so good going back and forth with me.  I have a piece of an old chair that I covered with a bathroom shower curtain and that's where I sit.  I have my flashlights and coffee.  The city police know if they get a report of a spotlighter on this "posted lot", it is me, so they leave me alone.  I have drawn attention of the business owners and they ask me daily how mama is doing and if I have the babies yet, etc  ...

One of the the kittens, the smallest, has not been frightened by me yet.   So it actually drank water a foot and a half from my feet last night.  I wanted to just snag it up, but I think I would have missed at that distance.  Since they have come this close to me (if I am slow and deliberate in my movements), I have a regular crate sitting beside me baited as well -- so I can swing that door shut if they enter.  This actually happened once with the other kitten, the larger, and I missed.  That is why it is a little more skittish now.  but last night it was more relaxed again.  And this is the mama's crate.  It smells like her and has fish in the rear of it.  I talk constantly to mama and croon to her so they  know my voice.   I make slow movements and watch.

I also wiggle my fingers with arm extended to mama and she walks to me.  The babies watch that so I do that to them as well.  One of them did not run last night.  She sat about 2 feet from my wiggling fingers but did not approach.  But it will happen.

I had the live trap on the other side of mama's crate SET, which was  3-4 feet from me, last night.  The small one went inside and ate.  I had a stick ready to trip the door but it was not quite far enough inside.  I was worried about the door hitting it like you were saying and I certainly don't want to miss and have it get away .  That would cause a major setback, as they as reasonably calm right now in the evenings with me sitting there.  They watch mama getting petted and eating out of my hands.  They mimic everything she does except getting touched.

I am also worried about leaving ONE kitten there when I catch one.  What I may have to do when I catch one is leave mama there to protect it and bring the one kitten home.  Any ideas on how to do this when I have only one kitten there.  Will it stay on this lot if it is alone???  Should I leave mama there when I finally catch the one?  I think I will end up catching the little one first.  I hope the other does not see it happen.

I have an appointment at 11, so I won't be going this morning except to check the trap. I won't be going out there to sit for a period of time until 5ish.  She doesn't bring them up as much during the daytime, but at night by flashlight, she goes and get them.

Got one~~~~~~~

I went out to the site today at around 4:30 with mama.  Rearranged my chair and moved it away from the feeding table for some unk reason, but if I had not done that simple thing, I would not have caught the kitten. 

At 7:30 (three hours working crossword puzzles) I was thinking about leaving because mama had  not brought them up to me yet.  She was out at the rear of the lot with them.

So, I thought, "okay, just a few more minutes".   And then I heard footstep in the leaves, and all of a sudden the whole family was there milling around.

The kitten I caught went totally in the trap and ate a hearty meal, but did not set the trap off.   The other trap had a string tied to it for me to pull.  The second kitten never went in a trap

I was just about to give up for the night, when mama got up on the feeding table to eat a few bites and the kitten jumped up there with her.  The kitten was situated so that mama's body was blocking it's view of ME.  So I quietly got up, walked quietly over and quick as a snake, scruffed it.  I came down on it above it's head, so it never saw me coming.  It instantly went flat, so I had to work to get the scruff. It did not scratch or bite or hiss but all four legs shot straight out.  It just went stiff and was terrified.  I think it was in shock.  I put the baby in mama's crate.  One little foot hung onto the side, but I pulled it backwards gently and then put it back in.  There were sardines in the crate, so now it smells like sardines. 

That is brilliant!  The poor little guy does look so terrified, but he has his mum which is a real plus.

I'm hoping now you'll get some good advice from thosewith experience about getting the other one.

Well done   It just shows that patience and determination will win out.

Woo hoo!  Congratulations Jenn!   The kitten is so beautiful!  Great to hear some good cat news tonight.

Tips from my kitten trapping days - you need a trap with a hair trigger for the plate, set the metal loop so it is just barely holding.   Depending on your trap this might not be possible so you might even get another trap to do this, but then even little kitten feet should set it off.   Also don't be near the trap at all, get back by about thirty feet at least and let the food do the work.   The second fellow will be extra cautious after seeing his buddy disappear.  

Yay! Now you can set the traps without worrying about squishing one of the kittens, at least. Set them with a very sensitive trigger. . .kittens are so light. I'm sure you'll get the other baby, now that she's alone she might be more willing to get closer. that it's soon!