The cat I'm trying to catch is actually one of my own. He somehow slipped out last week. The house painters were not always good about making sure the door into the cat enclosure was shut or the gate from the fenced patio (cat fencing) was locked.
I've seen Kismet on video. He only comes around at night. I have food on the porch for the ferals (and racoons and whatever else wanders by). He seems to be coming from the back yard, but I'm not sure. I have walked the back yard during the day and night, calling for him and shining a flashlight looking for those glowing eyes. He has not meowed or made other noises.
I tried to trap him last night. I set the trap with tuna so he would get to that first. There was a food bowl further away from his direction of travel. I know the other cats are trap shy (I've already gotten them trapped and fixed) and I hoped the racoons would be too. I work, so I couldn't stay up the whole night watching. I got up twice in the night to check the trap, but no luck catching Kismet. I saw on the video that he had tried to get the tuna through the wire but then went on to eat out of the food bowl.
Unfortunately, I DID catch a racoon. The trap was sitting on tarp and plastic (from the painters). He pulled in a lot of the tarp/plastic, which must have been enough to get the door up just a bit and escape. For some reason the camera didn't record the effort...I'm sure it would have been interesting to watch.
I'm looking for advice and ideas on how to get Kismet. I know this is a feral/stray board, but many of you have experience trapping cats. Tonight I'm going to put out the trap but tie it so it can't trigger and put the tuna part way in. I want to see if I can get him to at least walk a little way into the trap. (I also need to sleep - 2 nights of less than 5 hours are hard when you are in your 50s.)
If all else fails, I have a drop trap and a remote trigger. I can't stay up Friday night (very early plans on Saturday), but I will on Saturday. He's worth the lack of sleep. I so miss my scardy Kizzy cat.
I've seen Kismet on video. He only comes around at night. I have food on the porch for the ferals (and racoons and whatever else wanders by). He seems to be coming from the back yard, but I'm not sure. I have walked the back yard during the day and night, calling for him and shining a flashlight looking for those glowing eyes. He has not meowed or made other noises.
I tried to trap him last night. I set the trap with tuna so he would get to that first. There was a food bowl further away from his direction of travel. I know the other cats are trap shy (I've already gotten them trapped and fixed) and I hoped the racoons would be too. I work, so I couldn't stay up the whole night watching. I got up twice in the night to check the trap, but no luck catching Kismet. I saw on the video that he had tried to get the tuna through the wire but then went on to eat out of the food bowl.
Unfortunately, I DID catch a racoon. The trap was sitting on tarp and plastic (from the painters). He pulled in a lot of the tarp/plastic, which must have been enough to get the door up just a bit and escape. For some reason the camera didn't record the effort...I'm sure it would have been interesting to watch.
I'm looking for advice and ideas on how to get Kismet. I know this is a feral/stray board, but many of you have experience trapping cats. Tonight I'm going to put out the trap but tie it so it can't trigger and put the tuna part way in. I want to see if I can get him to at least walk a little way into the trap. (I also need to sleep - 2 nights of less than 5 hours are hard when you are in your 50s.)
If all else fails, I have a drop trap and a remote trigger. I can't stay up Friday night (very early plans on Saturday), but I will on Saturday. He's worth the lack of sleep. I so miss my scardy Kizzy cat.