It is getting close to a month since Brady got out. That was on Aug 12. Thanks to some good advice I got here on TCS I had been putting food out for him and getting him to come further and further up the steps leading to the sliding door on our deck. For abut a week and a half you could have set your watch by that boy. At 7:30 or so I would put out the food, turn on the light and wait. He would show up somewhere on the outer part of the yard at 7:45, meander his way around and then make a run for the food. He would be skittish until he actually got to the food. After that I could talk to him, move around, wave a toy and it didn't bother him. By 7:55 he would be done and leave.
I had been keeping track of all this to get to know his habits. If it was raining he was a no-show. Also if something noisy happened, like dog needing to go out, or DH having his kids over for labor day grill. A friend loaned me her have-a-heart trap and I had put in in the yard so that it would acquire the smell of the yard. It was kind of small, but it was the fastest way to get a trap.
After being a regular customer for the food, Brady was a no-show three days in a row, Sunday 9/2 (rainy), Monday 9/3 (guests) and Tuesday 9/4 (rainy). So I figured now would be a good time to bait the trap since Brady should be hungry, unless of course he is dining on mice which he can easily find. Wednesday morning I set and baited the trap and put it where DH could watch from his windowin case something happened. I figured when I got home I would do the food routine on the deck and perhaps Brady would head into the trap instead of going for our deck.
Well I got home at around 6:20, DH met me and we went into the house. After about 15 minutes I looked at the trap, it had been triggered, but nothing was in it. I asked DH and he looked around. The little tupperware container that had had the liver pate and pink salmon was outside the trap and had been licked clean. So who the heck retrieves a container from a trap without getting caught? A smart cat? A skunk? Something else??
I put out the food and Brady did not come. A skunk showed up at about 8:45, he was convinced to leave with the help of a BB gun.
So now I am stymied-did Brady not show up because he had already eaten the food in the small trap, did he not like the skunk being around, or is there some other reason. At any rate I now have a bigger trap (local Humane Society will loan for a week if you donate $10) so maybe tonight I will get lucky.
I had been keeping track of all this to get to know his habits. If it was raining he was a no-show. Also if something noisy happened, like dog needing to go out, or DH having his kids over for labor day grill. A friend loaned me her have-a-heart trap and I had put in in the yard so that it would acquire the smell of the yard. It was kind of small, but it was the fastest way to get a trap.
After being a regular customer for the food, Brady was a no-show three days in a row, Sunday 9/2 (rainy), Monday 9/3 (guests) and Tuesday 9/4 (rainy). So I figured now would be a good time to bait the trap since Brady should be hungry, unless of course he is dining on mice which he can easily find. Wednesday morning I set and baited the trap and put it where DH could watch from his windowin case something happened. I figured when I got home I would do the food routine on the deck and perhaps Brady would head into the trap instead of going for our deck.
Well I got home at around 6:20, DH met me and we went into the house. After about 15 minutes I looked at the trap, it had been triggered, but nothing was in it. I asked DH and he looked around. The little tupperware container that had had the liver pate and pink salmon was outside the trap and had been licked clean. So who the heck retrieves a container from a trap without getting caught? A smart cat? A skunk? Something else??
I put out the food and Brady did not come. A skunk showed up at about 8:45, he was convinced to leave with the help of a BB gun.
So now I am stymied-did Brady not show up because he had already eaten the food in the small trap, did he not like the skunk being around, or is there some other reason. At any rate I now have a bigger trap (local Humane Society will loan for a week if you donate $10) so maybe tonight I will get lucky.