Feral #32

We have been trying to get this girl into a trap for some time now.  She is extremely skittish and usually leaves the yard promptly when she sees us, making this trapping exciting and educational.

"Big Eyed Marble"

We trigger the traps manually so that we can avoid catching cats that are already fixed.  We use a stick tied to a long string to prop open the door.  Because this cat rarely stays in the yard when we are outside, this was going to be tricky. We started by running the strings the full length of the yard, but she still was leaving with us there, so we ended up running the ropes through the screen door of the house and sitting and waiting inside, out of view. This worked, she came into the yard while the traps were primed!

Also of note, we tried a fish based soft food this evening thinking, "What cat doesn't like fish?" Turns out, the feral cats in this colony don't.  A number of them didn't seem interested at all. The cats that did come by were only taking a few bites and leaving. So we took a risk and went outside while she was in the yard (since she clearly wasn't attracted to the trap bait) and swapped out one of the bowls with a chicken flavor bait. This brought a couple of cats over, attracted to the new smell. After little hesitation this time, she went in and we got her!