Live Trap Diaries

[gentle giants]

Hmm, mabye the trap is just shiny? LOL Raccoons love shiny things. Or mabye he is just hoping if he goes in there you will feed him!

 

[kherrmann3]

Haha! Maybe. Next time I need to trap raccoons, maybe I should just throw a bunch of tinfoil in the trap. Shiny enough? Last year, my roommate's mom had a blue jay ram into the window at top speed. It was trying to get to her (silver-tone) cell-phone. Why do shiny things attract certain critters? It fascinates me.

I've thrown in the towel on catching any more feral kitties. I just have to drop off the trap back at Julie's! I haven't gotten that far from the house... lol

 

[kherrmann3]

THEY'RE BACK!

Today, there was a fuzzy little black kitten near our patio, twice. Will saw a huge medium-haired tortie near the apartment manager's porch tonight. I saw a large gray one running around the parking lot last week. Crap. I thought they weren't going to come on my side of the apartment building anymore.

Ugh.

Can feral kitty kittens be tamed or are they pretty much a lost-hope-case?

This little black one didn't look over a year to me. Maybe even under six months.

 

[Cove]

Kittens came be tamed if there is someone willing to put forth the time. 6 months is older then I'd like for a feral kitten to be caught but it can still work.

 

[kherrmann3]

I am pretty sure that the last one we caught was destroyed. I feel terrible doing that, but I would rather have them humanely euthanized than to freeze to death in Winter, get hit my a car, starve, etc. The humane society here will keep any strays that come in for seven days. If no one comes to pick them up, they are either put down, or they are put up for adoption (if they are tame enough). I don't think they do the whole "taming" thing here. I won't have a cat (especially a feral one) here with the rabbits/hamsters/finches/fish. I have a kitty buffet in my apartment! I am allergic to kitties, too

 

[JadeIcing]

Aww poor kitties.

 

[kherrmann3]

One lady that was missing a black kitty (on Craigslist) emailed me back. Not her baby. *sigh* I feel terrible doing that to the kitties, but I really don't want them around.

Here is my list of "negatives" for them:
- The original one we saw was attacking our bedroom screen to get by Toby.
- They poop around outside, which is icky/smelly and possibly has nasty critters in it.
- They eat my chipmunks.
- They eat my songbirds.
- They scare away everything but the squirrels... Which leads to...
- The squirrels screaming most of the day because a predator is here.
- They can carry rabies.

The only positive that I can think of is that they are alive, and that is THEIR life.

I feel terrible by giving them to the humane society with a probable death sentence, but I really don't want them around. A few years back, Tracy (apt. manager) was taking in a litter of kittens a week to HAWS. They overpopulate here.

 

[JadeIcing]

:hug:You have to do what is best for you and those around you.

 

[gentle giants]

If they are feral cats, you could contact Alley Cat Allies. They are advocates for feral cats, and may be able to help you with trapping them, and may even be able to find a colony to place them in. That way they would be out of your hair, but you wouldn't have to worry about them being pts.