feral female got loose in the house while

Being transferred into carrier to be taken for spaying. As we tried to recapture her, she spied the opening into the space between our first and second floors. This space is also where our electric panel (covered/closed) and data/power lines run out of to the rest of the house. She was up and into that space as fast as lighting. One of my son's reached to grab her and I screamed for him to not touch her for fear she would bite and shred his hands and anything else that she got a hold of. This was Tuesday morning, the 14th. Our college son, who has studied the behavior of wild animals as part of his coursework, immediately shut off all lights and sources of sound and said we all needed to leave immediately to have the best chance of her coming out. And so we did. We have not seen nor heard anything since, save some faint sounds at the other end of the hole she went into. We have tried to take pictures and see if she is there but are seeing nothing definitive. College son suggesting that tonight we put some of the leftover salmon from dinner with some water in it to see if we can at least determine if she is still up there or is downstairs hiding somewhere. At least this way she will have some hydration, if nothing else. Husband is concerned about her bathrooming up there, but more concerned that she may expire if we don't have evidence that she ate anything. Anyone know of any ways to get her out without destroying the house or lines in the process? College son has suggested borrowing a special camera/snake/noose tool and at least seeing if she is there and where "there" is. Husband thinks she will come out on her own, given enough time. But isn't against putting out some food/water, but he doesn't want her to make a mess up there either so I am walking a fine line on the subject. He likes cat's but says she is more of a wild animal at this point and will act as such if we try and do a lot more. Any and all thoughts and ideas (as well as prayers that she comes out on her own and we discover that rapidly enough to block her re-entry) are most welcome! Thanks!

Welcome to The Cat Site and sorry it's under these conditions.

I had a similar instance, but the cat (Buckley) was fairly well socialized; he freaked out when being put into a cat carrier on his way to a furever home.  Buckley escaped into the crawl spaces in the attic.

We too were worried that he'd get stuck up there; he is/was a fairly large cat.

We did put food around, untouched.  We also put down baby powder (you could use corn starch or flower) to see if he walked along that path.

I would put food down where ever she was most comfortable.  Stinky food.

The cat won't pee/poop a lot, especially if she doesn't drink/eat, but he will likely poo/peep.  You might also try putting down some litter.

Your son has a good ideal about the camera; however, the cat probably won't stay in one place for long.

Finally, how long ago was the feral cat removed from wherever she was captured from?  She *might* try returning to that area.

In Buckley's case, he escaped from the house and returned to the colony from where he was removed, which happened to be in front of my condo building, two miles away.  He hadn't been to that area in nine months.  (PS:  he was recaptured, was in a much more mellow mood, and successfully adopted out a month later to the same home as mentioned above.)

Keep us posted, and good luck/vibes.

I don't know how feasible this is for your family because of the cold weather and/or safety issue regarding people or other animals, but if you opened the nearest door leading to outside for a while and either left the house and sat in your car or hid quietly somewhere, there's a chance he'll smell the outdoor air and make a bolt for it. I also agree that leaving out food like tuna might lure him out when he gets hungry enough.

Can you get a humane trap and bait it? When she goes in, cover her immediately and then you could transport her to be spayed.

msaimee, sounds like you've had the same experience I have. had. When my feral Dolly was spayed I had her recuperating in a dog kennel in the basement of the office building on whose property I had the feeding station for her colony. Two days into her recuperation the little hooligan managed to get the kennel opened (she's the only one that has ever accomplished that) and somehow got from the finished part of the basement into the crawl space area. Still don't know how she did it. She was under there for 3 days but even with the access door wide open, she would not come out. Finally, Sunday arrived and no one else was going to be in the building so it was nice and quiet.  I opened the basement door and left the building to sit in my car and wait. Four hours later I went back inside and locked up. Next morning, there was Dolly at the feeder, ready for her breakfast like nothing had ever happened.