how long did it take you to trap your difficult ferals?

catclan

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Since I am looking at 8 weeks now for one avoidant cat, I was wondering how long it took some other people to catch trap-savvy or otherwise frustrating ferals. If you never did catch yours, you're welcome to weigh in on how long you tried, too.
 

jtbo

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Hardest one was around 12 months and we get arctic cold here at the winter, but she did not go to trap no matter what, until I took a brake and after nearly 1 month brake started again, then it was 1 week or so, can't remember exact amount of time, but something on that level.
 
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catclan

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:shocked: I will try not to lose heart after two little months, JTbo! It is cold here too; we recently had spells of below zero temperatures, and I worry about all the outdoor cats in the winter.
 

jtbo

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:shocked: I will try not to lose heart after two little months, JTbo! It is cold here too; we recently had spells of below zero temperatures, and I worry about all the outdoor cats in the winter.
Here below -30 is not very rare at winter, but at least she did settle with heated and insulated cat box I had made, so at least some cover from weather, but when water started to freeze in bowl while transporting it to near her, it started to be bit problematic.
 

ritz

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It took me around two months to trap "Quill", a Calico cat.  I wanted to trap her in early January because I believed she was pregnant.  That was later confirmed when (a) she lost a lot of weight overnight and (b) I started seeing and then feeding her only surviving kitten.  I finally trapped her in March.

The situation was somewhat complicated because although I wanted to trap her, I didn't want or need to trap the other eight cats in the colony, all of whom had been TNRd.
 

jtbo

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I believe that studying racoon trapping information from various places might give also some good tips, for me it appears that cats and racoons are not much different when it comes to trapping, except for cat something is good to be put at bottom of trap as walking on metal wires is something cat dislikes quite a bit.

Here is one site with bit of humane theme about racoon trapping:
http://www.raccoonatticguide.com/trapping.html

They forget to mention masking of the trap, so that it blends to surroundings a bit and appears as a tunnel.

With cats trap at open is probably not working too well, placing trap next to wall, fence, bush etc. is better, even better if can be put to base of bush so that bush acts as natural coverage.

When we hunted raccoons when young, good places for trap were in tall grass, so that it was hard to spot that trap from far, raccoons smelled bait from far and as such tall grass is natural hiding place for raccoon they did not feared to go into trap, similar way works with cats too as well as other animals that know how to hide.

Hunters that do trapping are great source of information also, placing of the trap is one of the most important things and there experienced hunter can give really helpful advices, also web has loads of hunting sites giving tips for trapping that can be then adjusted for cats and yard.

At indoors I have trapped so that I have placed trap next to wall and then mattress leaning against to wall, making kind of tunnel where trap sits in, hour of attempted trapping become one minute of trapping success, just needed to turn back really, they like tunnels that much.

You had elections recently, there probably is coroplast election signs at side of roads that one could source and put those over trap like a tent, just need to secure well, but as an example of improvised temporal masking of trap. Or putting trap next to wall and place coroplast leaning against wall over the trap etc.

Just make sure that bait is such that it can't be taken within or stolen from outside, my method is put cardboard piece to backwall of trap, using metal wire then tie smelly fish piece to it, so cat has to reach it and can't get it from outside, that way there is no stolen baits and if trap is not working as feather light as it should it still will work as cat puts all weight to trigger plank.
 

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We've actively been working on trapping Tommy since mid-December. Until Tommy, it's never taken us more than 3 days to trap the cat we were trying to get! :lol3:

Of course, the weather has worked against us, and he's not here every day, and doesn't necessarily come at "meal time" when he does show up. We may resort to building a box trap, rather than using the Have-a-Hart, because he is VERY reluctant to go inside the Hav-a-Heart.
 

feralvr

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There was one old, wise, savvy feral gray cat that I couldn't never trap even with a drop trap. He was only a passerby on occasion looking for food. Never "lived" in the yard or surrounding territory like the others. He just sauntered past the trap time and time again, no matter what enticing tidbits I placed in there. In fact there was only one time when he sat down about five feet from the trap looking at it. He then turned and looked into the house as I was standing looking out the window as if to say "YA AIN'T EVER GONNA GET ME, LADY":nono: Got up, walked over to a nearby tree and sprayed. :lol2: Then left. Usually, he would just walk through the yard not even giving the trap the time of day. I called him Yakky. I tried for three years to trap him. He is yet to be trapped!! :rolleyes:
 
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catclan

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Thanks, everyone. You give me hope. "Yakky" is giving me a smile, too, though I wish he'd let himself get caught for you, Feralvr!

Poor Quill. Do you still see her & kitten, Ritz?

LDG, Tommy seems something like my Night Cat. I had to lure Night Cat up to the big, scary Hav-a-hart bit by bit by bit of premium stinky fish, and then into it, all of which took about a month, but I couldn't set the trap because he only came in the middle of the night when I couldn't monitor it. :disa: And when I borrowed a night vision camera to try to see if he had a consistent schedule, no, he doesn't, and there's another Night Cat I didn't know about too! That would explain the abundance of cat tracks.

JTbo, those are all really good guidelines.
 

ldg

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Yeah, the problem I have is that we have about 8 ferals that are here for pretty much every meal. So if I bait the trap in my normal way, with enticing tidbits trailing up to it, and then in the middle of it - one of them will eat the stuff - even that bit in the middle of the trap! :rolleyes:

When the weather's better, if we haven't trapped Tommy by then, we'll most likely feed the crew, pull all the food, let them scatter, then bait the trap... in the meantime, we'll probably have to try with a drop trap.
 

ritz

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Catclan,

I moved 25 miles away in August 2012.  A woman feeds the colony twice during the week, and I feed them on the weekends and the holidays.

I saw a brief glimpse of Calico around two months ago, by the building she sometimes hung around.  She is a very feral cat and pretty savy.

And yes I see her son, Per Stirpes * frequently.    Per Stirpes is about 1.5 years old now, a very handsome cat who is doing well.  Still feral but doesn't run quite as quickly as he use you.  He is one of the few cats in the colony who will eat raw.

BTW, I have on occasion left a baited trap out all night, it is the only way I could trap some of the more skittish cats or when I was up against a deadline for whatever reason.  I monitored the weather closely, and would do it only when the temperature was 50 or above, no rain and little wind.  I put a heated (microwaveable) disk in the trap, and set the trap close to the building (radiant heat) (hidden).  I would immediately check the trap(s) in the morning around 4 a.m. (I get up really early).

* Per stirpes. Per stirpes is the legal term for transferring the assets of your estate to your children and their descendants.  If one of your children dies, the other children get his/her share.  I kind of interpreted the meaning loosely as 'after thought'.  Plus, Per Stirpes was the only kitten Calico brought to the dumpster.  I don't know if she had any other kittens.
 
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catclan

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LDG, I will be wishing you good Tommy-catching vibes before it is kitten season.

Ritz, that is a wonderful cat name. I'm glad you get to see your kitties a little.

I am not trapping for a few days since I have no heating elements for them at the site and it's already -5F and dropping. The temperature was -25F this morning. The kitties are still getting all the kibble they can eat, the poor babies. :sigh:
 

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my most difficult one took me nearly a year to catch. he would disappear for days on end and then when he would show up it was seemingly always at a time that i was leaving so i could not even try to get him.
 

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My most difficult one is ongoing, my indoor feral Patches.   I haven't tried to trap her continuously but I've made quite a few efforts over about four years!     Just a couple weeks ago I succeeded - she actually went in the trap and stood on the trip plate and ate the food - and the trap didn't spring.  Soooo frustrated!   This is why I've now bought a new trap.   

Here's the list of all that had to happen to get that failed success:

- first a trap that has no foreign cat smells on it

- line trap with cardboard over wire, newspaper of that

- have the trap out with the door tied up for weeks

- regularly put tempting dry food in the back, dry so it could stay there long periods

- have another cat who isn't scared of it go into the trap over and over again in front of her for weeks

- take other cat to board so she's alone with trap - he interferes even if I shut him in another room or her

- take up all food, bait trap (with tuna catfood, real tuna won't work tried that) and wait almost 24 hours and me hide out in another room

Fun fun I get to try to repeat all this in a few weeks, right now I have the new trap out for her to get acclimated to it now.

Feralvr, loved the Yakky story!   Sometimes I feel like Patches is playing with me.....kind of saying her own you're never gonna get me!   But I have to, so I'll keep at it.
 

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Bless you for your efforts...don't give up, your just fighting that rule of ecology "you can't trap the last one of anything"....but it can be done!
If he frequents an area regularly and will feed you can get him.
Remember ferals don't survive by making mistakes so this is what I did to tnr the 9 we caught over a period of 3 weeks:

Use multiple traps or "sets" as they are called. Set them up and tie the gate open. I use at least 3 of varing sizes. Place feed in these for a few days..use tuna, canned cat food, table scaps...anything with smell and good taste. I like to cover my trapes with grass so only the opening is accessible. Place under items if in old structures like a barn.
After three or four feeding events you are ready to set the traps. Hold off feeding for a few days to increase hunger.
I run the traps every 2-3 hours about 5 times a day or when you get tired. Tie the traps open and rest.
The key is to find the cats "pattern" or develop one by feeding them. If they are only infrequent travelers through your area then it becomes a sampling statistic of your being there at that exact moment in the day, eeek, or month you happen to see the cat...almost impossible so:
You must try to develop a feeding, food or something to keep them coming around.
By the way our last cat took three days of checking traps 6-8 times a day, releasing those other colony members who were "trap happy" etc.
But we got her...and as her punishment for being so difficult she now sleeps next to me at night and lets me cater to her every whim.
Keep the faith!
 

jtbo

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My most difficult one is ongoing, my indoor feral Patches.   I haven't tried to trap her continuously but I've made quite a few efforts over about four years!     Just a couple weeks ago I succeeded - she actually went in the trap and stood on the trip plate and ate the food - and the trap didn't spring.  Soooo frustrated!   This is why I've now bought a new trap.   
That is something that has happened to me too. My trap has a hook that holds hatch open position, when trip plate is pushed down, hook should move so that hatch closes as hook is no longer holding it up in the air.

Problem is that it that trap is possible to arm so that trip plate goes down, but hook is not moving quite enough, so I have to be careful to put only edge of hook to hold hatch up, if I push hook all the way it goes, then it is not working. Makes arming the trap bit frustrating.
 
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catclan

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Whaler, how do they know? Evil little masterminds.

Trudy1, thank you for your encouragement. I think I can get them in time, though now the race is on to catch them before the skunks and raccoons get all my cat food. I try to distract them away from the cat traps with other foods but my budget is very tight.

Bastfriend, one of mine did that too one time when I rigged the trap wrong and the hook slipped out or something. That's one cat I only see every few days, is unpredictable, and I really want to catch her! The next day, when I made sure I set the trap correctly, it caught a starling (a bird that weighs only around 3 oz or 80g). So frustrating! I would have had that cat!

Those are heroic efforts to get Patches-kitty in there. Vibes to you for your eventual success, though you deserve success yesterday and then some! :vibes:

Bastfriend and JTbo, what brands of traps are you describing? My (borrowed) Hav-a-hart 1079 always looks like the hook is just barely holding the door adequately open.
 

bastfriend

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Thanks for the vibes Catclan and good luck vibes to you too
!   I'll post in a few weeks when I start the next attempt - my vet is all booked up with dental month so Patches gets a reprieve for a bit.     My trap that was set but didn't go was a Havahart folding trap.   To be fair I think I might have put it together wrong or it was defective from the start because I originally trapped Patches and her kittens with Havahart traps borrowed from shelter and they worked without any problems.   The new trap I've bought is a Tru-catch and has a completely different trigger mechanism - kinda nifty and much quieter when the door comes down.   It's more expensive but I must catch this cat!
 

jtbo

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Whaler, how do they know? Evil little masterminds.

Trudy1, thank you for your encouragement. I think I can get them in time, though now the race is on to catch them before the skunks and raccoons get all my cat food. I try to distract them away from the cat traps with other foods but my budget is very tight.

Bastfriend, one of mine did that too one time when I rigged the trap wrong and the hook slipped out or something. That's one cat I only see every few days, is unpredictable, and I really want to catch her! The next day, when I made sure I set the trap correctly, it caught a starling (a bird that weighs only around 3 oz or 80g). So frustrating! I would have had that cat!

Those are heroic efforts to get Patches-kitty in there. Vibes to you for your eventual success, though you deserve success yesterday and then some! :vibes:

Bastfriend and JTbo, what brands of traps are you describing? My (borrowed) Hav-a-hart 1079 always looks like the hook is just barely holding the door adequately open.
I'm not sure if my trap even has a brand, it was bought from Saiturin Mekka in Seinäjoki, Finland and I have not seen similar ever since, probably it is some Chinese brand as it was so cheap, but it does work just fine once you learn how to use it.
Anyway I suspect that you don't have such traps there, but not sure how much Chinese import junk has replaced US/Mexico etc. made products there in last 20 years, here it is very difficult to find something not made in China.
 
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