Our second day of trapping was extremely successful! When I spoke to the veterinary's office Tuesday morning, they told me to catch as many as I could, because they had a light surgery load this week and would be able to spay/neuter all of them right away. So we set out to catch as many as we could Tuesday night.
Around dusk, we set the trap out on the deck with a piece of Boar's Head smoked chicken breast, and within minutes Smokey showed up with her two kittens, Oreo and Cocoa. The meat was more than Oreo could resist, and he was quickly trapped.
We relocated Oreo to a crate and reset the trap. Another piece of meat proved to be irresistible to Cocoa, and we added her to the large crate that Oreo was in. We were hoping to catch Smokey, the momma, next, but she was very cautious around the trap. She would walk all around it, even going in halfway, and then she would back out. Pretty soon, she just laid down beside it.
As we watched from the family room windows, another cat appeared on the deck, Marmalade (who is a beautiful orange color). Marmalade quickly took the meat and was trapped. He was a live wire and went ballistic upon being caged in. We quickly relocated him to a crate (while he was hissing at us) and reset the trap, hoping again to catch Smokey.
Smokey was still on the deck, observing the trap but not going in, when Jam appeared (beautiful orange colorings like Marmalade). Jam fell for the bait, was trapped and relocated to our last available crate. Still no Smokey.
We decided to leave the trap set overnight in hopes of catching Smokey, and went to bed. At 6:15 a.m., I was awakened by the sound of a ruckus from the trap. I roused Tom and told him that we had caught Smokey, and we needed to get her out of the trap. We were very surprised to find that it was not Smokey that was in the trap, but a cat that we had not seen for a very long time, Tiger. We had her pegged as a female because of the way she and Reese's were always together last winter. We thought Marmalade was a live wire -- he was tame compared to Tiger! We left her in the trap as we didn't think it was safe to try and get her out.
Five cats. I called the vet as soon as they opened to make sure that they could still take that many cats, and they told us to bring them on in. After some thought, we decided not to take the kittens so that we could use them to lure Smokey if need be, so we went to the vet with Marmalade, Jam and Tiger (who was not happy, by the way).
We transported Jam successfully into the office, and went back out for Marmalade. We can't believe what happened next -- while we were en route, Marmalade had pushed the plastic tray on the bottom of the crate forward, which meant that when Tom went to pull the crate out of the back of the Excursion, Marmalade was able to slip through bottom of the crate, as the wires were spaced further apart there than on the rest of the crate. We watched helplessly as Marmalade raced across the parking lot, across the street and into the woods. Tiger was still in the trap, so we were able to get her in without any problem.
We needed the crate back so we could continue to try and trap Smokey, so the staff at the office took Tiger back to get her out of the trap. They came back out with wide eyes and said that Tiger is totally wild (which we already knew) and got loose on them. They managed to get Tiger under control, and had a much easier time with Jam. The plan was for them to keep both cats overnight. Right after we got home after dropping the cats off, the vet's office called and said we would have to pick Tiger up late this afternoon, because based on their experience with her so far, she was going to wake up one grumpy kitty. It seems that she escaped in the surgical room, and was very difficult to catch. She was finally subdued, but not before she tried to run through a glass door.
We brought Jam and Tiger back home this evening, and they are resting quietly in their crates. The trap has been reset for Smokey, this time with sardines in it. She came on the deck looking for her dinner, sniffed at the trap, very much enticed by the sardines, but then walked away from it when she realized that she was going to have to go in to get her food. We will leave the trap set overnight and see what happens!
Around dusk, we set the trap out on the deck with a piece of Boar's Head smoked chicken breast, and within minutes Smokey showed up with her two kittens, Oreo and Cocoa. The meat was more than Oreo could resist, and he was quickly trapped.
We relocated Oreo to a crate and reset the trap. Another piece of meat proved to be irresistible to Cocoa, and we added her to the large crate that Oreo was in. We were hoping to catch Smokey, the momma, next, but she was very cautious around the trap. She would walk all around it, even going in halfway, and then she would back out. Pretty soon, she just laid down beside it.
As we watched from the family room windows, another cat appeared on the deck, Marmalade (who is a beautiful orange color). Marmalade quickly took the meat and was trapped. He was a live wire and went ballistic upon being caged in. We quickly relocated him to a crate (while he was hissing at us) and reset the trap, hoping again to catch Smokey.
Smokey was still on the deck, observing the trap but not going in, when Jam appeared (beautiful orange colorings like Marmalade). Jam fell for the bait, was trapped and relocated to our last available crate. Still no Smokey.
We decided to leave the trap set overnight in hopes of catching Smokey, and went to bed. At 6:15 a.m., I was awakened by the sound of a ruckus from the trap. I roused Tom and told him that we had caught Smokey, and we needed to get her out of the trap. We were very surprised to find that it was not Smokey that was in the trap, but a cat that we had not seen for a very long time, Tiger. We had her pegged as a female because of the way she and Reese's were always together last winter. We thought Marmalade was a live wire -- he was tame compared to Tiger! We left her in the trap as we didn't think it was safe to try and get her out.
Five cats. I called the vet as soon as they opened to make sure that they could still take that many cats, and they told us to bring them on in. After some thought, we decided not to take the kittens so that we could use them to lure Smokey if need be, so we went to the vet with Marmalade, Jam and Tiger (who was not happy, by the way).
We transported Jam successfully into the office, and went back out for Marmalade. We can't believe what happened next -- while we were en route, Marmalade had pushed the plastic tray on the bottom of the crate forward, which meant that when Tom went to pull the crate out of the back of the Excursion, Marmalade was able to slip through bottom of the crate, as the wires were spaced further apart there than on the rest of the crate. We watched helplessly as Marmalade raced across the parking lot, across the street and into the woods. Tiger was still in the trap, so we were able to get her in without any problem.
We needed the crate back so we could continue to try and trap Smokey, so the staff at the office took Tiger back to get her out of the trap. They came back out with wide eyes and said that Tiger is totally wild (which we already knew) and got loose on them. They managed to get Tiger under control, and had a much easier time with Jam. The plan was for them to keep both cats overnight. Right after we got home after dropping the cats off, the vet's office called and said we would have to pick Tiger up late this afternoon, because based on their experience with her so far, she was going to wake up one grumpy kitty. It seems that she escaped in the surgical room, and was very difficult to catch. She was finally subdued, but not before she tried to run through a glass door.
We brought Jam and Tiger back home this evening, and they are resting quietly in their crates. The trap has been reset for Smokey, this time with sardines in it. She came on the deck looking for her dinner, sniffed at the trap, very much enticed by the sardines, but then walked away from it when she realized that she was going to have to go in to get her food. We will leave the trap set overnight and see what happens!
Smokey, underneath the patio table, waiting for her dinner.
Jam, recuperating after surgery.
Reese's and Smokey's kittens - Oreo and Cocoa
A totally terrified Tiger, who has not moved from this position in several hours.
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