Attracting a feral into a shelter?

So I know this has been asked many times before, and I'm not saying mine is any different, but I'll add a lot of details so hopefully the replies are a little more tailored to my specific situation. It'll be a bit long, so here goes...

We have been feeding a feral male (that I neutered) for about a year and a half. He's approximately 3-4 years old and is probably a 10-12 pound cat. It took a year just to pet him and I haven't even tried to pick him up (obviously not forcing him or pushing him). Taking him in isn't an option, and in the instances he has come in, he ended up urinating on our couch. Incidentally, I did see him use the litterbox once. Anyways, he never stays too long, the call of the outdoors is too strong and he's learned to turn the doorknob of a pneumatic door. If he really wants out, he's strong enough to push but I usually help him push the door once he turns the handle.

Back to the problem, I built a shelter for him and he never uses it. I'm no carpenter, but it's sufficient and I'll fix the problems as it arises (leaks, etc.). The dimensions are 2 feet by 2 feet, and 15 inches high. It has three sides and I left the last panel open so he can be comfortable going inside and seeing it before I close it off and carve a small hole into it for the entrance. On top of that I built a little "gazebo", which is basically three sides of high walls that act as a wind guard, enough space to peek his head above it, and a slanted roof. This was to give him the option in case he felt trapped in the lower portion, he could stay in the upper part while giving him more space.

His old setup was 2 rubbermaid boxes stacked on top of each other with a step to get to the top one. Both had holes carved into them which he never used either. We put a bed on top of it and that was what he liked and used the most. He'd sleep and nap there, and maybe stay part of the night, at least until we turned all the lights off. I put the bed in the new box to give it a familiar scent, but he still doesn't seem interested. If I take the bed out and just toss it on the floor, he'll probably nap there.

His shelter is located on our porch on the second floor, so he has a pretty good view. I'll put a diagram below that hopefully won't get messed up when I post.

A- I put a large piece of plywood blocking the entrance to the stairs. He can fit through the little bars. This was mainly to prevent raccoons and any other large predators that may be around. Obviously this doesn't really stop raccoons, but maybe hinders them, or maybe they look up the stairs and sees a "dead end" and goes somewhere else.

B- I put a 2x4  that extends down to the adjoining fence of our neighbor. This is an "escape route" in case of emergencies. He uses this as he's coming and going.

C- He likes to stay here because he has a good view of anything coming up the stairs and can see pretty much anything else. I'm guessing the board at "A" blocks his view because sometimes he likes to stay here when the board is down during the day.

D- The location of the old setup of boxes and the new shelter

|||||||||STAIRS||||||||||------------------

-------------------------   A                 |

|   C                                                 |

|                                                       |

|                                                       |

|                                                       |

|                                                 B   |

|   D                                                 |

|-------------------------------------------

House

Some things to note: We have a lot of raccoons, but at least to my knowledge they don't come often, definitely not as often as we used to when we left their food dishes out...It's the main reason for the escape ramp.

I've also seen coyote sightings in the area. It's too big to get into our yard, but I've seen it through the fence and in my neighbor's yard.

I feed him inside with his son who we adopted, but since its winter, I give him extra portions at or around the shelter so he'll get more comfortable. Sometimes I toss a few pieces of kibble inside, or a few pieces of chicken but it hasn't really attracted him to stay in it.

So in summary, what are my options?

Is he too used to his preferences that all this was a pointless effort?

Do I move the shelter to "C" where he seems to like? I only moved it to "D" because of his old spot and it was raining, so our house awning would shelter it.

Does the direction of the entrance matter? If it's in "D", should it open towards "C" or "B"?

Is there any other information in this ridiculously long post that I need to tell?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, the diagram got a little messed up, but it should still make sense and convey everything.

It's great that he will come inside even for a little while,and that you can pet him. Sounds like you've really made some progress. That is absolutely amazing that the guy learned to turn the door knob! Did he see your other cat do it? That is remarkable.

The only real solution in getting him in the shelter is if he feels safe enough to do. Unfortunately, some of them just never feel safe enough to go into an enclosure of any kind, even with one side completely open. They certainly won't go inside anything if they feel there's a possibility of being trapped, so you may have to leave the one wall off indefinitely.  If you want to make the enclosure super-inviting you could put a heated pad in there. Does the awning extend the full width of the deck? If so, would it be possible to place the shelter at "X" so he would be closer to the 2x4? Would he still have a view of the stairs from there? Face the opening towards the most likely predator access, in this case the stairs. Raccoons can climb that 2x4 better than the cats, but if you could avoid putting food out there they'll eventually quit coming. The cat is smart enough not to mess with the raccoon but the cat doesn't feel safe with them there. The coyotes will kill the cat, plain and simple.

|||||||||STAIRS||||||||||------------------

-------------------------   A                 |

|   C                                                 |

|                                                       |

|                                                       |

|                                                       |

|                                                 B   |

|   D                                           X   |

|-------------------------------------------

House

Thank you so much for all your hard work for this kitty.

Your idea of a second "escape route" is a good one but he may also just need a bigger space to feel comfortable.  Cats are such individuals.  We have one outside cat who loves his Rubbermaid house with only one entry.  Another of our outside cats refuses to even look into the one we built him, even when I cut two entries in it.

One of our users, ShadowsRescue, went through a lot of work to set her outside housing up and her kitties never used it.  She ended up with a large "shed in a box" that she put a swing inside.  I can't find a picture but hopefully, she'll come along and post one here.

Again, thank you for helping him.

My outdoor boys would never use the rubbermaid homes or the feral villa my DH built.  They just didn't like the small confined space.  After spending an entire spring/summer and into fall on my deck with a retractable canopy for shelter, I knew I had to do something for them for winter.  The canopy could not stay out as it is not strong enough to hold snow.  I use a tent like structure from Shelter Logic called a "Shed in a Box"  It's a 6'x6' tent like structure where you can control the front flaps position.  My boys freak if it is closed all the way.  I start off in mid fall with the flap all the way open and gradually move it down.  It's open about 30 inches.  I have an outdoor love seat that holds 3 heat pads.  I have an electric outlet on my deck.  This shelter keeps them dry and mostly blocks the wind.  It's very sturdy and we bolted it to the deck so it could never blow away.  The other great thing about the shelter is that in late spring when it warms up, I can take it down and put it away.  The canopy can then be used and they don't need the protection.  So I then gain my deck space back! 

Here are a few pictures of my setup

Thanks, ShdowsRescue.